Citizens for East Shore Parks
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Established | 1985 |
Founders | Dwight E. Steele, Norman La Force, Sylvia McLaughlin |
President | Shirley Dean |
Exec. Dir. | Robert Cheasty |
Membership | 3,000 |
Non-profit type | 501(c)3 |
Focus | Natural habitat restoration, Environmental justice
|
Area Served | East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
|
Location | Albany, CA United States |
Homepage | www.eastshorepark.org |
Citizens for East Shore Parks (CESP) is a
Mission statement
The mission of Citizens for East Shore Parks (CESP) is to preserve and enhance the natural resources and recreational and educational opportunities of the east shore of San Francisco Bay, creating a necklace of shoreline parks from the Oakland Estuary to the Carquinez Strait.
Organization
CESP has a twenty-five member volunteer Board of Directors, including prominent community members, environmentalists, and public officials who have a long record of working on behalf of environmental issues in the East Bay. They include Tom Bates, Robert Cheasty, Shirley Dean, Whitney Dotson, Norman La Force, and Sylvia McLaughlin, among others. Most board members also sit on subcommittees addressing specific environmental or operational issues. The board does not include park user groups.
Although the scope of its work is large, CESP operates with a very small staff. There is one executive director who manages day-to-day affairs, as well as interns and volunteers.
History
CESP was founded in 1985 to oppose Santa Fe Railroad’s proposals for large-scale development at the Berkeley and Albany waterfront. Historically, CESP grew from the wider movement among East Bay residents to protect San Francisco Bay and its shoreline from capricious and irresponsible development. A coalition of local environmentalists, public officials, and concerned individuals banded together to form Citizens for the Eastshore State Park, with the original goal of creating a state park that would permanently and strategically preserve the shoreline for public and recreational use.
By 1990, Albany, Berkeley, and Emeryville residents had overwhelmingly approved ballot measures to protect the remaining open space on the shoreline. With its plans stymied, Santa Fe Railroad became interested in selling the land. Citizens for the Eastshore State Park played an important role in the park planning process. CESP helped draft two successful bond measures that would eventually enable the California Department of State Parks and the East Bay Regional Park District to acquire the land and administer the park. Moreover, CESP served as a forum for diverse groups and individuals to agree on a common vision for the shoreline park, as well as an intermediary between the public and public officials.[1]
Controversially, the CESP and Sierra Club vision for Eastshore State Park (its "Conservation and Habitat Restoration Plan," which was also distributed under the names of Golden Gate Audubon Society and Save the Bay) would have restricted recreation on North Point Isabel. North Point Isabel, a former toxic landfill, had been used by park visitors (and serviced by East Bay Regional Park District) as an extension of Point Isabel Regional Shoreline since the mid-1980s. Point Isabel, also a former landfill, is a multi-use park that has allowed off-leash dog walking since 1987. The CESP/Sierra Club plan would have restricted recreation dramatically, requiring dogs to be on-leash on North Point Isabel (thereby reducing off-leash recreation overall from some 50 acres to just 23 acres). Park users mounted a vigorous effort to preserve recreation, submitting 20,000 signatures to state park planners, and when the planners' Preferred Park Concept was presented to the public on March 21, 2002, both Point Isabel and North Point Isabel remained available for off-leash recreation.
In December 2002, the
In 2004, CESP changed its name from Citizens for the Eastshore State Park to Citizens for East Shore Parks in order to reflect its broader commitment to acquiring and preserving open space in the East Bay.
In 2006, CESP led a successful campaign to preserve the Albany shoreline from Magna Entertainment Corporation’s development efforts. The proposed shopping mall would have split the Eastshore State Park in two.
Leading up to it culmination in 2008, CESP joined with the local groups in Richmond to create a vision to protect the Richmond shoreline for open space, public access, habitat protection and recreation. CESP advocated for the direct acquisition of Breuner Marsh as part of the East Bay Regional Park system. As part of the North Richmond Shoreline Open Space Alliance, CESP urged the East bay Regional Park District to acquire the property. The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) attempted to purchase the land from the landowner who instead announced intentions to build a development partly in the marsh, with the matter ending up in court finally and in 2008 the Court rule that the acquisition could go forward and put the price at $6.85 million.[2] CESP and other environmental allies encouraged this acquisition to preserve and restore more than 200 acres (80 ha) of the North Richmond Shoreline.
CESP played a pivotal role in the successful creation of the Tom Bates Regional Sports Complex, opened in 2008. CESP brought its allies together to successfully fight for the creation of a regional sports complex at the shoreline as an adjunct to the Eastshore State Park. CESP (with allies Sierra Club, Golden Gate Audubon and others) persuaded the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) of the advantages in buying a little-used 16-acre (6.5 ha) lot on the shoreline from Golden Gate Fields in the middle of the Eastshore State Park. CESP worked to set in motion a massive cooperative effort among the five cities along the Eastshore State Park and the EBRPD, along with the dedicated hard work of many ballfield user groups, to push the project forward and finally to see its opening for play in 2008. The complex was named after CESP Vice President and Mayor of Berkeley Tom Bates, in recognition of his decades of consistent work in helping to create the Eastshore State Park and for his stalwart leadership among the five cities and the EBRPD in bringing this complex to completion.[3]
Current projects
CESP is currently focusing its efforts on two geographic areas: Eastshore State Park and Richmond.
Eastshore State Park
CESP continues to support the development and operation of the Eastshore State Park, including
CESP is involved with various
CESP is also staying abreast of developments in the Albany Waterfront Visioning Process.[5] The Albany City Council is considering future alternative land uses for what is now the Golden Gate Fields racetrack, which occupies much of the waterfront, in the event that the racetrack closes. CESP is working with local residents to adopt a plan that would environmentally restore the site and incorporate it into the Eastshore State Park, while also addressing the need for responsible development.
Richmond
The City of Richmond is currently updating its
CESP’s vision for the Richmond shoreline consists of three parts. The first concerns the North Richmond Shoreline, which extends from
Another area of concern is Point
On the South Richmond Shoreline, CESP is mainly concerned with the status of the Zeneca/Cherokee site and University of California's Richmond Field Station. Zeneca is one of the most toxic superfund sites in California. Beyond the immediate goal of achieving a comprehensive clean-up and restoration of the site, CESP opposes Cherokee-Simeon Ventures’ housing development plans for such a site and wants to incorporate the shoreline into the adjacent Eastshore State Park after appropriate clean-up.
Publications
In 2007, Citizens for East Shore Parks published a brochure, Our Vision for the North Richmond Shoreline, to make the case for parks and open space in Richmond.
In 2008, CESP began publishing a periodic newsletter entitled Shore Lines, focusing on developments in the Eastshore State Park and Richmond.
In 2016, CESP published a brochure, Birds of the Albany Shoreline Albany Neck and Bulb Bird Survey, this brochure was a collaboration between CESP and Golden Gate Audubon Society. The brochure and survey was funded by the California State Parks Foundation.
Partnerships
CESP has partnerships with more than a dozen local environmental organizations and foundations that share some of its basic objectives.
Supporting organizations
- Golden Gate Audubon Society
- Sierra Club
- Save The Bay
- NRSOSA (North Richmond Shoreline Open Space Alliance)
- Oakland Waterfront Coalition
- Berkeley Partners for Parks
- California Native Plant Society
- Environmental Defense
- Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge
- Friends of Aquatics Park
- Oceanic Society
- Regional Parks Association
- Urban Creeks Council
- Contra Costa Hills Club
- California State Parks Foundation
- Citizens for the Albany Shoreline
- Ecology Center
Supporting foundations
- California State Parks Foundation
- Columbia Foundation
- Dean Witter Foundation
- East Bay Community Foundation
- Firedoll Foundation
- Gerbode Foundation
- Heller Fund
- Loveland Foundation
- Patagonia Tithing Fund
- Points of Light Foundation
- Recreational Equipment Inc.
- Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund
- Rose Foundation
- San Francisco Foundation
- Strong Foundation
- True North Foundation
- Walter & Elise Haas Fund
- William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Notes
- ^ Norman La Force, Creating the Eastshore State Park: An Activist History, p. 113
- ^ Rich Walkling, “At What Price, Breuner Marsh?” Shore Lines: News from CESP, Spring 2008, p. 5
- ^ Jessica Tse, “Play Ball!” Shore Lines: News from CESP, Spring 2008, p. 4
- ^ Shirley Dean, “CESP Works with Park Agencies to Forge an Affordable Brickyard Plan,” Shore Lines: News from CESP, Spring 2008, p.4
- ^ Steve Granholm, “Albany Waterfront Visioning Begins,” Shore Lines: News from CESP, Spring 2008, p. 3
- ^ Patricia Jones, “The Fate of Richmond's Shoreline Lies with the City’s General Plan,” Shore Lines: News from CESP, Spring 2008, p. 1
References
- La Force, Norman. Creating the Eastshore State Park: An Activist History. El Cerrito, 2002.[verification needed]
- Gies, Erica. The Health Benefits of Parks. San Francisco: The Trust for Public Land, 2007.[verification needed]
- Sherer, Paul M. The Benefits of Parks: Why America Needs More City Parks and Open Space. San Francisco: The Trust for Public Land, 2006.[verification needed]