Blue Greenway Update: 11/9/2010

Blue Greenway Project for San Francisco's Southeast Waterfront Gains National Support Federal Support Provides a Local Voice for 13 Miles of Waterfront Parks

NPC was recently awarded $175,000 from the EPA to heighten local community involvement in the execution of the Blue Greenway through a Brownfields Area-wide Planning process.

The geographic area of focus of NPC's Area-Wide Plan will include brownfield-impacted land currently not funded for remediation along the Blue Greenway alignment in Bayview, and India Basin. These neighborhoods represent the historical industrial heart of the city and are plagued by Brownfields, areas of containing industrial waste and toxins.

With the support of the EPA's Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Pilot Program, NPC will facilitate local engagement in area-wide planning of the Blue Greenway for the revitalization of the brownfield-impacted community of Southeastern San Francisco. Drawing upon expertise from the Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR), EPA funding will also be used to generate an area-wide plan with the community that will address how to remediate and transform 5-10 areas along the Blue Greenway that continue to have negative health and safety impacts for adjacent low-income neighborhoods.

The NPC-led engagement process will give the neighbors an opportunity to express their open space, park and recreation needs.

CCLR (Center for Creative Land Recycling) will be partnering with NPC on this important initiative designed to support a full community process for the development of parks and open space along our long neglected southeastern waterfront. CCLR will bring its expertise in the redevelopment of contaminated land having assisted hundreds of communities across the state with the clean up and revitalization of historically-neglected and environmentally-challenged property.

The area-wide planning process will leverage existing efforts to identify and reduce threats to human health and the environment, and will facilitate assessment and revitalization of brownfields in the target area by identifying site-specific reuses for them. The plans will integrate site cleanup and reuse into coordinated strategies to lay the foundation for addressing community needs such as economic development, job creation, housing, recreation, and education and health facilities

Download the press release by going to sfnpc.org/press-releases/.

View images from the November 10 Press Conference from Flickr.

Blue Greenway Planning Update:
The Port of San Francisco is in the process of developing the Blue Greenway Planning and Design Guidelines through a Community Planning process. For more information on this, go to the Port's Blue Greenway web site at www.sfport.com/bluegreenway. This planning process is funded by the 2008 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond, and is being coordinated with all City Agencies that have jurisdiction within the Blue Greenway.

Blue Greenway Proposition A Planning

The Port of San Francisco will be hosting its first in a series of community workshops to discuss the Blue Greenway and the development of the Blue Greenway Planning and Design Guidelines.   

The meeting will be used to provide an overview of the planning process and schedule, existing conditions, opportunities & constraints and to discuss potential program uses for the various open spaces.    

The meeting date is Wednesday, May 19th from 5:30 to 8:00, on the second floor at the Mission Rock Resort, 817 Terry Francois Boulevard (near Mariposa Street).  Prior to the meeting (probably on Monday, May 17th), the Port will post a document on the Blue Greenway web site that will present the information that will be reviewed at the community workshop.    

More information about the Blue Greenway can also be reviewed on the Port's Blue Greenway web site: www.sfport.com/bluegreenway.

Parks of the Blue Greenway
The parks described below are explained in order going from north to south on the map. Click here for a concise Excel spreadsheet that further explains the map. Click on the map to see a larger version.

The project known as the Blue Greenway, which will run from AT&T; Park to Candlestick Point, not only incorporates the hiking, biking, walking segment of the Bay Trail, but also the parks and open spaces that will be at 5-7 minute walking intervals along the way, as well as the Bay Water Trail.

The various segments are under the jurisdiction of several different public agencies, and implementation will take significant interagency cooperation. Neighborhood Parks Council is working with the Mayor's Office, Planning Department, Redevelopment Agency, the Port, Association of Bay Area Governments, Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) and community stakeholders to move the project forward.

Mission Bay

The northern end, between Mission Creek and Mariposa Street, will be developed as the streets and parks in Mission Bay are built, as part of the Mission Bay South Redevelopment Plan.

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Seawall Lot 337

There are also Port of San Francisco parcels alongside Mission Bay. Seawall Lot 337 - aka Giants Parking Lot A, between Mission Creek and Mission Rock Street, for example, is the subject of an active planning effort by the Port that will determine where the bike/pedestrian path goes, what a Blue Greenway "gateway" park will look like, and whether water access will be included. The 16-acre site is located immediately south of AT&T; Park and is currently used for surface parking.

The Port of San Francisco granted an extension to November 13, 2008 of the deadline for submittal of a joint development proposal by the San Francisco Giants and Kenwood Investments, LLC for Seawall Lot 337 (SWL 337). The Port Commission, while recognizing that additional time is warranted to foster a responsive submittal with the greatest chance of eventual Commission acceptance, also expressed its desire to see a proposal in time to present it publicly before year-end.

The Commission reaffirmed the importance of this project to expand public open space as an integral part of creating a vital, engaging urban waterfront. As set forth in the objectives for the SWL 337 Request for Development Proposals, the Port seeks a proposal of the highest quality worthy of this extraordinary site, to improve the shoreline and create activities for broad public use and enjoyment, as well as significant economic benefits to fund public open space and historic preservation improvements elsewhere along the Port of San Francisco waterfront.

On August 19, 2008, The Cordish Company, which includes the San Francisco Giants and Farallon Capital Management, and Boston Properties, including Wilson Meany Sullivan and Kenwood Investments, jointly informed the Port of their decision to combine forces and work together "to devise the best possible design for the site, and to increase the likelihood that a financially beneficial and viable project can move forward and begin generating revenues for the Port." Click here to read a recent news article about the merger. For more information about Seawall Lot 337, visit http://www.sfgov.org/site/port_page.asp?id=56101.

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Bay Water Trail

The EIR for the Bay Water Trail has just been released. You can download it here: http://www.scc.ca.gov/index.php?p=38&more;=1&c;=1&tb;=1&pb;=1 - more38. Several possible sites for non-motorized watercraft access along the Blue Greenway have been identified, but aside from the kayak launch ramp on the north side of Mission Creek (which will open soon), the new Pier 52 public boat launch ramp on Terry Francois Boulevard, and the Islais Landing small boat launch ramp, all are subject to the progress of other development plans.

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Bayfront Park

Bayfront Park in Mission Bay also has a Port of San Francisco component - the Port is responsible for improving the shoreline edge, while the Mission Bay South Redevelopment Plan mandates construction of the rest of that park. The Proposition A Clean and Safe Neighborhood Park bond that passed on the February 2008 ballot will give the Port $33.5 million to build its share of the trail and parks (including design elements for the Blue Greenway, shoreside improvements to Bayfront Park, Warm Water Cove Park, Islais Creek, etc.) and the first bond sale will be this fall. Catellus Urban Development is working with Redevelopment on the design of the Mission Bay Parks, and with the Port on Bayfront Park, and the Mission Bay Citizens Advisory Committee will be reviewing the plans, probably at the September 11th CAC meeting. For a map of the Mission Bay land use plan, visit http://sfgov.org/site/sfra_page.asp?id=5597 (click on Land Use Map).

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Pier 70

Between Mariposa Street and Islais Creek, redevelopment of the Port property at Pier 70 will determine the route of the Blue Greenway, how big a park will be included, and whether water access will be feasible. Pier 70 is also subject to an ongoing Port planning effort, which includes environmental remediation, adaptive reuse of the significant historic industrial buildings on the site, and funding for infrastructure and open space improvements. Find out more about Pier 70 here.

View the Final Pier 70 Preferred Master Plan here. This plan culminates a three year community planning process and will serve as the basis for soliciting development partners to move the project into implementation.  The final document incorporates all of the various comments the Port received from the public, stakeholders and regulatory partners.   

On March 9, 2010, Port staff presented to the Port Commission how the plan was going to be revised based upon community comments and recommendations on how best to attract real estate development partners to implement the Master Plan. Details are available at on the Port website as Item 11A.

Now that the Plan is finalized, Port staff will return to the Port Commission on May 11, 2010 to seek authorization to issue development solicitations for the Pier 70 project.

Striping of bicycle lanes on Illinois Street was cleared when the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the SF Bicycle Plan was certified in June 2009.  Learn more about this project here.  Read the MTA's Project Description here. 

How successful bike lanes are along Illinois Street may also be influenced by the need for freight rail access to Port maritime uses north of Islais Creek, and whether the rail lines can be removed from the street north of Pier 80. We don't yet know whether that will be possible. The proposed turnaround for the MUNI T-3rd light rail line on Illinois between 19th & 20th Street may also impact the bike lanes.

How close the Blue Greenway path can get to the water's edge will also be influenced by what happens with the Mirant Potrero Power Plant. The plant is scheduled to close by the end of 2010, and when that happens, we may be able to have waterfront public access connecting Pier 70 to Warm Water Cove Park. Environmental remediation of the coal tar sludge underneath the Potrero Power Plant, which cannot begin until the plant closes, will influence development of Pier 70 as well as the Blue Greenway.

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Warm Water Cove Park

Warm Water Cove Park, east of Illinois Street at 24th Street, will also be improved, but planning for those improvements is on hold until there's a resolution by the City about whether or not the new "peaker" power plants are located next door, among other factors. Finding stewardship and active uses for that park, which is isolated, will be a key to its success. Click here to read a history of Warm Water Cove.

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Islais Creek/Islais Landing

At Islais Creek, there are several planning efforts underway to improve public access around the Creek. Some of the plans involve MUNI and other adjacent property owners. There's nothing definite enough to talk about yet, but SPUR's Piero Patri Foundation Fellowship this year was awarded to a landscape architect who is doing a comprehensive analysis of Islais Creek. The presentation of her findings will be in September (tentatively September 23rd), so check the SPUR website: www.spur.org. Click here for a history of Islais Creek.

Kayaks Unlimited has just been approved as stewards of the Port's Islais Landing park on the southeastern side of the 3rd Street bridge. They'll be moving their kayak operations in there very soon.

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Cargo Way

The new Illinois Street Intermodal Bridge over Islais Creek has just opened. It includes dedicated bike lanes, and will connect Illinois Street with Cargo Way. There was a community planning effort sponsored by the Redevelopment Agency, Planning Department and Port to come up with a new Steetscape Plan for Cargo Way. That plan now needs to be funded.

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Heron's Head Park

The entrance to Heron's Head Park at the foot of Cargo Way will be one of the Port parks to be improved with Prop A bond funds, but as far as we know, no timetable has been established for the community planning process for these improvements.

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India Basin Shoreline Study Area

When you get to Jennings Street and Innes Avenue leading to the Hunters Point Shipyard, there is a well-attended community planning process under way. The area is known as Area C - India Basin Shoreline Study Area - and there have been three community meetings to discuss what will happen there. Click here for the SF Redevelopment Agency's Area C Study Area plan.

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Hunters Point Shipyard

The Hunters Point Shipyard portion of the Blue Greenway will be established as the Shipyard is built out. That is, in itself, a major undertaking. Again, check the Redevelopment Agency's website for information: http://www.sfgov.org/site/sfra_page.asp?id=5588. It will take year to remediate the serious environmental pollution left over from the Navy's dumping (including radioactive waste). Improvements to and connection with Candlestick Point State Park are also tied into proposed plans for the Hunters Point Shipyard, as are improvements to Yosemite Slough.

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This page was updated on April 15, 2010.