In a surprise move at tonight's Richmond City Council meeting, developer Stan Davis, through his attorney, requested that the City Council sustain the appeal of the previous certification by the City's Environmental Assessment Panel (EAP) of the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) on his proposed Breuner Marsh Mitigation Project and Edgewater Technology Park.

The appeal was filed by Trails for Richmond Action Committee (TRAC), Adams Broadwell, attorney for IBEW Local 302 and the Sierra Club and endorsed by dozens of community and environmental organizations. Some 60 persons had signed up to speak in favor of the appeal but got to go home early instead.

In an equally surprising turn of events, the staff report by the City Planning Department released on March 7, recommended reversing previous staff recommendations and upholding the appeal.

The City Council voted (I believe 8-1) to adopt the staff recommendation and uphold the appeal, with only two speakers from the audience providing testimony. One was Ed Schafer, the applicant's attorney, and the other Bruce Beyaert, representing TRAC.

I would like to take this opportunity to commend both Mr. Davis and City staff for their wisdom and courage in agreeing to send this matter back for further environmental review. Under the circumstances, it was the right thing to do, and I am sincerely optimistic that this signals a new way of doing development business in the City of Richmond. I believe that whatever project emerges will be a better project, and Richmond will be a better city as a result.