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Community Corner

Waterfront Group's Newsletter Leaves People Out of the Equation

Naval Architect and Chair of the Berkeley Waterfront Commission Paul Kamen weighs in. Have an idea for a Letter to the Editor? Write to monica.lam@patch.com

It's interesting to note that in the entire four-page spring newsletter from Citizens for East Shore Parks (CESP), within which most of their major plans, goals and upcoming milestones for the Eastshore State Park are outlined, there is no mention of any park or shoreline improvements that would actually allow people to get in or on the water.

It would seem that, in the view of CESP, San Francisco Bay is to be looked at and admired, but never touched or floated on. This despite eight miles of park shoreline and some primo locations for kayaks, kiteboards, windsurfers, small sailboats, and just splashing around in the shallows with and without dogs. This despite enabling legislation that created the Eastshore State Park as a shoreline recreation unit of the state park system. This despite non-motorized boating facilities as a priority in the early drafts of the park plan.

CESP and its allies (factions of Sierra Club and Audubon) are only doing themselves long-term harm by neglecting water access. Kayakers and other muscle and sail-propelled boaters are among the most motivated stewards of the natural shoreline. Every new kayaker equals one new birder and one new wetlands protection advocate. (Maybe it's because we don't have enough jetskis or bass boats here on the cold and windy part of SF Bay - normally these thrillcraft would be the common enemies of the kayakers and environmental groups.)

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And speaking of dogs: The CESP article titled "The Long View for Albany Beach" never even mentions the dog issue. Hello? A broke all records for number of responses in the first week. Can CESP really be oblivious to the controversy? Do they really not know about the petition currently circulating to preserve Albany Beach for off-leash access? Don't they know that even some of the anti-dog folks are talking about time-sharing? They can't make this issue go away by ignoring it.

CESP has done much good work in the past, but they need to balance their current act with some support for active recreation, especially support for activities that allow us all to experience San Francisco Bay as more than a visual backdrop.  

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This was abundantly clear on a recent Saturday at the Berkeley Bay Festival. While CESP and state and regional park planners were celebrating the end result of spending $6 million to protect a small patch of meadow habitat, 600 people got out on the water for a free sail with the Cal Sailing Club or a free dragon boat ride with the Berkeley Racing Canoe Center. Note that neither of these organizations require significant public subsidy to operate.

The meadow was a worthwhile project, but it misses the point of the urban waterfront: Our most valuable shoreline open space resource is the water, not the land, and that is where our waterfront access priorities should be directed.

Paul Kamen
Coalition for Diverse Activities on Water, Grass and Sand
www.CDAWGS.org

[Editor's Note: This Letter to the Editor also ran on Albany Patch on May 6, 2011]

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