Prospects sinking for marina project
Developer’s proposal to build 313 slips at Clipper Cove encounters rough waters in S.F. supervisors’ committee
A long-running and controversial proposal to build a private marina at Clipper Cove, a stretch of calm water between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island, could suffer another setback this week.
On Tuesday, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors is expected to approve a resolution affirming the city’s commitment to preserving Clipper Cove as a public recreational and educational space. The measure, which passed unanimously out of the board’s Land Use Committee last week, was introduced by Supervisor Jane Kim, whose district includes Treasure Island.
The resolution doesn’t kill the marina plan. But its tenor, with repeated calls to preserve Clipper Cove for public use, provides a glimpse at how city lawmakers want to see it used.
For more than a decade, a venture called Treasure Island Enterprises has been seeking to develop the marina at Clipper Cove. The size of the proposed marina has changed over time, but last Clipper Cove, between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island, is preserved as public space under a measure before the supervisors. year, the Treasure Island Development Authority approved the 313-slip plan. The full Board of Supervisors would have to sign off on any development proposal at the cove.
The development authority’s director, Bob Beck, did not respond to requests for comment.
The cove is a cherished spot for sailing enthusiasts, and given its still waters and protection from winds, it’s used extensively for sailing instruction, largely through the nonprofit Treasure Island Sailing Center. The center provides nearly 30,000 hours of sailing instruction each year.
That’s a big reason for the public’s concern about the proposal to build a private marina at Clipper Cove capable of parking boats up to 80 feet long. Critics say a marina of that size would take up about 32 percent of the cove, potentially eliminating opportunities for amateur sailors, who would otherwise be forced to head farther east, into choppier waters.
“It’s like taking 32 percent of Golden
“It’s like taking 32 percent of Golden Gate Park — and we’re supposed to be happy about that?” Hunter Cutting, Save Clipper Cove founder
Gate Park — and we’re supposed to be happy about that?” said Hunter Cutting, who is opposed to the marina project. He also started the organization Save Clipper Cove.
Should the marina plan move forward, “I think the scope of our programs would be reduced for sure, and I think the overall experience would be as well,” said Carisa Harris Adamson, the sailing center’s president and board chair. “It limits our ability to run a lot of the programs that I think are most meaningful to kids’ development.”
Sailors still learning the sport are “totally dependent on the protections of the cove, with no currents,” said Paul Heineken, coach of UC Berkeley’s sailing team. Heineken was one of the many members of the public who spoke at the Land Use Committee meeting last week to oppose the marina plan. Some called the proposal a “giant boat parking lot” for wealthy yachtowners, at the expense of the public’s ability to access the cove and its waters safely.
The cove, Kim said, is best used “as a space for as many members of the public as possible. The current usage ... really does provide the greatest access for so many families and youth.”
The cove is also home to beds of eel grass, an important species for the bay’s ecosystem, which could be disrupted by the marina’s construction.
“My preference is that we keep our commitment to public recreation and environmental protection in this public open space,” Kim said.
Jay Wallace, vice president of development at Kenwood Investments, which is part of the Treasure Island Enterprises development venture, told the committee his group had already made concessions, agreeing to shrink the size of the proposed marina from 400 slips to 313, along with other compromises.
“In each instance, we shrunk and shrunk and shrunk because we had one goal in mind as well, to make sure the sailing center’s programs could continue, and that kids would be safe,” Wallace said. “There’s no reason why we can’t continue to have a dialog so we can continue to resolve these issues.”