The State Coastal Conservancy  voted today to approve the proposed $36 million Point Molate 52-acre acquisition with only Marce Gutierrez-Graudins abstaining.

Several representatives of the Guidiville Tribe objected to the lack of conferring with the Tribe prior to approval and filed several critical written comments objecting to erroneous statements in the staff report. Tribal representative Michael Derry complained that the plan to fund the acquisition with a special appropriation carried by Senator Nancy Skinner had been months in the making in complete secrecy but revealed to the Tribe only after it was signed by the governor.

Public speakers in favor speaking at the meeting included Norman LaForce, Robert Cheasty and EBRPD Director Elizabet Echols. No one from Richmond or even from Contra Costa County spoke in favor.

While several Conservancy board members appeared to have concerns about the lack of tribal consultation, they were assured by staff that the EBRPD would take care of that and seemed to be satisfied.

I made the following public comments, but no one on the board appeared to have any interest in what I had to say.

My name is Tom Butt. I served nearly 30 years on the Richmond City Council including eight years as Richmond’s elected mayor. During that time, we acquired Point Molate from the Navy for $1.00, spent nearly $30 million cleaning it up to the highest reuse standards and adopted a Reuse Plan that preserved 70% of it as public open space, including a park along the entire shoreline,  while also preserving the historic buildings and infrastructure of the Winehaven Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The action that is before this body today is to spend $36 million of public funds to purchase land that was previously purchased for $1.00. Because the current City Council has abandoned the development entitlements, the land is virtually worthless. The current appraisal has never been made public but likely reaches the same conclusion.

The agenda item deceptively describes “creating a regional shoreline park,” but none of the 52 acres to be acquired is actually on the shoreline, which is already owned by the City of Richmond and has always been committed to use as a shoreline park.

But what I really want to bring up is the Winehaven Historic District. Although the $36 million is not being used to acquire the portion of the property occupied by Winehaven, it is part and parcel of a plan to abandon the Winehaven Historic District and let it crumble into oblivion. Today, with an atmospheric river impacting Richmond, the rain is falling through the roofs of Winehaven’s historic cottages, resulting in decay and mold that may be impossible to mitigate.

A park is not necessarily just open space. Indeed, many of our state and national parks, including Richmond’s Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park, include priceless cultural resources that help interpret our nation’s history. Even the State Coastal Conservancy recognizes in its Coastal Access Project Standards that part of its mission includes consideration of historic sites and cultural resources.

Winehaven was once the world’s largest winery and epicenter of the California wine industry, now a $54 billion market, and yet no one connected with the concept of a park at Point Molate has ever articulated how Winehaven will be preserved and what its future will be. To the contrary, both elected officials and community park advocates have stated that Winehaven has no value and should just go away.

I urge the Coastal Conservancy to delay approval of $36 million to acquire a major portion of Point Molate until there is a viable plan to save Winehaven.