Seventeen Unanswered Questions

Seventeen Unanswered Questions

1   How realistic is SunCal’s proposed project? Is there any reason to think it could sell 2,040 units at an average of even $600,000 over the next forty years? Will homebuyers be willing to pay an extra 25% in property taxes to live there?  Aren’t most of the units small condos?

2   SunCal says their plan is to “do the infrastructure” and then sell the development lots to “Merchant Developers.” What happens if they don’t materialize? Or if they only want to build 50-75% of the proposed project?

3   How could the City’s share of County property taxes from the project ever cover the cost of operating a fire/police substation? For the City, how does this project compare financially to 2,040-units built in the Richmond Bay South Shore or Downtown PDAs?

4   Is part of the proposed sewer fee increase going to be used to subsidize part of the infrastructure needed for this project?

5   Is Chevron willing to be part of a new Point Molate sewer system?

6   What are the risks associated with pumping raw sewage uphill from the project site to the municipal system in Point Richmond?

7   How sure are we that the proposed project will get approvals from the SF Bay Conservation and Development Commission, California Fish and Game and the National Marine Fisheries department? Our Supervisor, John Gioia, is on the Board of the SF BCDC and he has written the Judge supervising the Settlement Agreement arguing against development of the southern part of the property.

8   What are the risks of litigation for project violation of federal, state, regional and city environmental laws, regulations and guidance?  What about the City’s agreement to keep 70% open space?

9   If the indirect impacts of the development damage the eelgrass beds, what makes us think an appropriate mitigation is restoring beds somewhere else?

10  Is the overall biodiversity of the southern part of the Point Molate property special and worthy of full protection? If Miller-Knox Park and Point Pinole were worth protecting fully, why wouldn’t we also protect the southern part of Point Molate? We need a more complete profile of the site’s biodiversity.

11 How bad will the everyday commute time delays be on 580 in 2050? With a 2,040 unit project, how long will it take to get to work in San Rafael from Hilltop Drive or Central Avenue? What kind of back-ups will happen on Stenmark Drive in the morning and onto the Point Richmond and Canal exits of 580-E in the evening?

12  How bad will emergency vehicle response times be? Imagine if 100 cars per hour were trying to get onto 580-W at the toll plaza in the morning and there is an accident on the bridge. The back-up on Stenmark Drive could stop all traffic from leaving the project site. How long might it take an ambulance to get into and out of the project site during morning commute?

13  What assumptions are being used to determine the cumulative morning traffic load on 580-W over the bridge? How many new housing units will be built in Richmond, San Pablo, and El Cerrito over the next thirty years? How many more cars will be traveling over the bridge?

14  What will be the Contra Costa Transportation Delay Impact Fees assessed on this project and how will they be paid?

15  Is it safe to approve the DSEIR and negotiate a contract with the Developer without an evacuation plan? How long does it take to get 4,000 people out of the site on a one lane road? What if Stenmark Drive was out of service?

16  What’s the plan for protecting the Ohlone shellmound found to have archaeological and cultural significance and for evaluating the Chinese shrimp camp?

17.  Isn’t it important to find a place where we can have multiple soccer fields?

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