Some bad news and some good news in the fight to save Point Molate:
First the bad news: On September 8th the Richmond City Council voted to approve the development agreement handing over Point Molate to a private developer for luxury housing. The vote was 2-4, with Councilmembers Eduardo Martinez and Melvin Willis voting against the plan and Mayor Tom Butt and Councilmembers Ben Choi, Demnlus Johnson, and Nat Bates voting for it (Jael Myrick was absent). We encourage you to reach out to Councilmembers Martinez (eduardo_martinez@ci.richmond.ca.us) and Willis (melvin_willis@ci.richmond.ca.us) to thank them for their vote.
But this isn’t the end for the dream of saving Point Molate for the people of Richmond! That brings us to the good news:
This week, SPRAWLDEF, Citizens for Eastshore Parks and four Richmond plaintiffs won a legal victory that opens another avenue for saving Point Molate. A ruling by Ninth Circuit Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers puts their lawsuit against the City back on a clear path to a court trial. The lawsuit is over the City’s Brown Act violations in agreeing to a settlement selling Point Molate without a public process.
With Judge Gonzalez Rogers’s decision, we can now go back to the trial court and push forward with our lawsuit to nullify the City’s decision awarding SunCal the right to develop Point Molate into a luxury housing enclave. Kudos go out to our attorneys Norman La Force and Stuart Flashman for this success.
Read more about this week’s legal victory at ptmolatealliance.org.