By Hunter Cutting
On October 30th, the Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA) made official their proposal to take one-third of Clipper Cove at Treasure Island for a private luxury marina. The plan now heads to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, who will be asked to approve the development plan, a 66-year lease to the private marina, and $6 million in “rent credits” (i.e. free rent) to offset construction costs for the developer who will own and operate the private marina.
The proposal would demolish Clipper Cove's existing marina dedicated to small and medium boats, and replace it with a sprawling luxury marina dedicated exclusively to large yachts. Clipper Cove is currently home to the only venue for community sailing in San Francisco, as well a science and sailing STEM program that puts over 1,500 public-school fourth graders onto the Bay each year. For most of these youth, these classes are their first time on the Bay and for many it is their first time on water.
The proposed private marina would be built across the protected heart of the Cove, forcing educational programs to be severely scaled back — especially the youth programs that depend upon the sheltered waters of the Cove. The Science Department of the San Francisco Unified School District has spoken out against the plan, as have 23 SFUSD fourth grade teachers.
Earlier this year the California Division of Boating and Waterways issued a feasibility report that pointed out the marina is likely to change circulation and sedimentation in the Cove and cited similar outcomes in other nearby marina projects. The state agency projected the changing sedimentation would lead to annual maintenance dredging expenses running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars just to keep the marina open.
The Sierra Club followed the state report by pointing out that changing sedimentation and annual maintenance dredging would both pose a potential threat to eelgrass beds in the cove, a perspective that has been affirmed in an opinion written by the leading professional biological expert on the Cove’s eelgrass beds. Eelgrass is a threatened and critically important keystone species in the Bay.
What You Can Do
Board action is currently slated for late November. Advocates for the Cove are asking supporters in San Francisco to send a quick message to their supervisor: Protect public access to the San Francisco Bay. Find your Supervisor’s contact information at http://sfbos.org/roster-members, or use our online action center to send a message at http://tinyurl.com/saveclippercove. We wouldn’t give one-third of Golden Gate Park to a private luxury resort and we shouldn’t do that with Clipper Cove!
Photo: Fourth graders from San Francisco's Dianne Feinstein Elementary School learn to sail through a STEM program at Clipper Cove's Treasure Island Sailing Center. Photo courtesy On Clipper Cove.