Once again, the fate of the pedestrian/bicycle trail linking the rest of Richmond (including the Bay Trail and the Richmond Greenway) to the San Pablo peninsula and Point Molate is in the hands of the State Lands Commission., which will be meeting in Santa Barbara January 29. A Richmond delegation, including City Manager Bill Lindsay, Bruce Beyaert of TRAC, City Council Member Jim Rogers and many others will be testifying.

You can make a difference by emailing the commissioners. Click here for further instructions and an automatic email message.

YOUR EMAILS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Ask  the State Lands Commission to Require Chevron
to Pay for Long Wharf Bay Trail

This Thursday Jan. 29, the State Lands Commission (SLC) will meet in Santa Barbara to consider certifying a final EIR and granting Chevron a new lease of state lands for continued operation of Long Wharf.  

Chevron has refused to accept the SLC's request to contribute $5 million toward the "stone soup" funding package for design and construction of the $13 million Long Wharf Bay Trail segment between Castro St. and the existing trail under the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge.  This means no mitigation for the adverse impacts on the Bay Trail alignment and costs imposed by continuance of Long Wharf operations.  It also means that there will be no safe means for bicyclists and pedestrians to travel to/from Point Molate or the Bay Trail planned on the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge.  

Please email and/or telephone the three commissioners urging that Chevron be required to help fund construction of the Bay Trail gap between Point Richmond and the existing trail under the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge as a condition of approval for the Long Wharf lease as urged by the City of Richmond, East Bay Bicycle Coalition, Bay Access, Citizens for Eastshore Parks, Save The Bay, East Bay Regional Park District, Trails for Richmond Action Committee (TRAC) and many other organizations and individuals.  

For more background, see http://www.pointrichmond.com/baytrail/pointsanpablo.htm .

This is what I emailed this morning:

State Lands Commissioners:

At last night’s City Council meeting, the Richmond City Council confirmed the City’s share of the “Stone Soup” solution proposed at the SLC December meeting. It is essential that the SLC compel Chevron to commit their allotted $5 million to the pot.

Yesterday, I received the following from Mike Coyle, manager of the Richmond Refinery:

Tom:

Thanks for your continued commitment to developing a long-term solution to the Bay Trail issue.  

Like you, we are interested in resolving this issue in a manner that works for everyone involved. 

Chevron has been working cooperatively with the City of Richmond, ABAG, Caltrans and other stakeholders to discuss the outstanding issues. Last night, we had a good conversation with Councilmember Jeff Ritterman and Supervisor John Gioia. We've agreed to continue working together to resolve these issues and hope you can be part of that dialogue.

Best regards,

Mike

I sense that the refinery manager is trying hard to be more responsive to Richmond’s needs but is being restrained by his superiors at Chevron Headquarters. In our opinion, the SLC has the power, the jurisdiction and the legal justification to compel Chevron to join in the soup making. Remember, this is a life and death issue. Please do the right thing for the people of California and the City of Richmond.