Return to Goal 3. Regain Environmental Health and Safety

Condominium Towers Wrong Use for
Richmond's Zeneca Site

Courtesy of the
Newspaper of the San Francisco Bay Chapter
May-June 2004 issue

Do 18-story condominiums belong on a shoreline property wedged between the north end of the Eastshore State Park and an industrial area?

Richmond's Zeneca property, off Bayview Avenue near I-580, once held Stauffer Chemical. Zeneca bought the site, cleaned up its toxics to a level appropriate for industrial use, and then sold it to Simeon Properties, a large developer with projects all over the West, which has proposed an exclusive gated community for the site. It would include 2 - 3-story lofts, 4 - 6-story townhouses, three 18-story towers a la Emeryville or Albany Hill, and a beach club. At full build-out the project would house 2,500 - 3,000 people on about 60 acres. No affordable housing is proposed.

The Sierra Club has a wide range of concerns about this proposal.

It is risky to site residences next to an industrial area with significant hazards of toxicity (from metal-plating) and explosions (from liquefied natural gas).
A large residential community adjacent to the Eastshore State Park would bring in lots of cats and dogs that would devastate the park's birds and other wildlife. The night-time lighting would also harm wildlife that depends on natural light conditions.
Bringing this many residents, so close to the Shoreline Park and the Bay Trail, would strain park maintenance, but no additional resources are identified.
The tall buildings would block views from neighboring areas, including Marina Bay and Richmond Annex.

The developer has just started to try to get city approval for this project. This would require amending the General Plan and changing the current zoning from industrial to medium-density residential. At the Planning Commission's first workshop on the project, 27 speakers spoke against the project. Club leaders Debbi Landshoff and Norman La Force expressed concerns about the size and scope of the project, its impacts on the Eastshore State Park, the lack of financial benefit to the city, and the risk of residential development on a site that is not cleaned up to residential standards. Only the developer spoke in its favor.

The current zoning was determined through an involved city process that brought in wide community input. The city should not change this zoning without a similarly open process. It must weigh whether residential use is suitable for this location, and if so, at what intensity and building size. There must be assurances that all toxic hazards have been cleaned up to a level compatible with any new use. This may require additional clean-up or the capping of remaining hot spots to prevent human contact.

What You Can Do

To join in the Club's efforts for this site, contact Jonna Papaefthimiou at (510) 848-0800, ext. 312, or: jonna@sfbaysc.org

Norman La Force, chair, East Bay Public Lands Committee

© 2004 San Francisco Sierra Club Yodeler