By Julia Foote
Before the 1960s “save the bay” efforts began, the San Francisco Bay was treated like a dump — a place for trash and sewage. Most cities planned to sacrifice their shorelines and fill wetlands for development. A dire fate for the San Francisco Bay became apparent, and spurred a grassroots movement to save the bay and create the first urban national wildlife refuge. This effort led to a trajectory of respecting and restoring our wetlands.
Yet today, a backwards phenomenon is happening in Newark. Instead of pushing efforts to restore wetlands and wildlife habitat to help our region become more climate resilient, developers and city leaders are pushing to advance plans to fill in Newark’s Bay shoreline. The proposed “Sanctuary West Residential Project” would build 469 luxury units along the City of Newark’s shoreline on a 559-acre site called “Area 4,” which is made up of historic Bay wetlands and wildlife habitat nestled between the Newark salt ponds, the Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
This project fails to identify threats to endangered species and poses inadequate mitigations for other impacts to those species, putting their existence in jeopardy. Area 4 is host to approximately a dozen special status species –including the endangered Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse – and it is directly adjacent to Mowry Slough, a primary breeding ground for San Francisco Bay Harbor Seals. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife have stated that “this wetland is an integral component of the San Francisco Bay ecosystem,” and “critically important to waterfowl and shorebirds.”
Area 4 represents a rare opportunity to provide an area for tidal marsh species to move up slope in response to sea level rise. Developing on areas that serve an irreplaceable ecological purpose and provide natural flood protections that are better and cheaper than any artificial levees or man-made barriers is not considering the future well being of the City of Newark or the San Francisco Bay Area.
On top of being a historic wetland area and habitat for many species, Area 4 falls entirely within the FEMA flood zone. This area is already pumped annually to avoid flooding and will be completely inundated by sea level rise. Why would the city of Newark choose to put thousands of new residents at risk?
What our region critically needs is to protect our natural infrastructure, like wetlands, that can buffer our communities from rising sea levels. Area 4 presents a valuable opportunity to restore the health of the Bay. Rather than paving over it, let’s protect and embrace it. Area 4 has been prioritized by the scientific community for protection, and is already included within the expansion boundaries of the Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge. If restored, Area 4 can help provide flood protection for our community in the face of sea level rise, provide critical habitat for wildlife, and reconnect Newark residents to our Bay shoreline.
Of course, we must address our regional housing crisis by building more housing, but this is not where or how we should build. Rather than sprawl into restorable wetlands to build single-family luxury homes, the city should pursue infill development: building dense, affordable housing within the urban limit line, near transit, jobs, and other amenities. This is how we address our regional housing crisis and the global climate crisis simultaneously.
Environmental organizations opposed to development in Newark Area 4 include: Alameda Creek Alliance, California Native Plant Society - East Bay Chapter, Center for Biological Diversity, Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge, Defenders of Wildlife, Greenbelt Alliance, Ohlone Audubon Society, San Francisco Baykeeper, Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, Sierra Club SF Bay Chapter, Save The Bay, and the Tri-City Ecology Center.
Newark Area 4 image courtesy of Carin High