Abany Beach Community Workshop

[WindMuch]

Hi All,

After attending the first planning meeting along with a bunch of y'all back in December, I guess I ended up on the park district's email list. I received the invite below and thought I'd pass the word along. Unfortunately, I've got a band rehearsal and won't be able to be there that night.

East Bay Regional Park District invites you to attend a community workshop to discuss a study that is underway examining the feasibility of improvements identified in the Eastshore State Park General Plan for the Albany Beach area. These potential improvements include restoration of beach and dune habitats, improved access to San Francisco Bay, closing a key gap in the San Francisco Bay trail, shoreline stabilization, restrooms and other park facilities.

Date: February 17, 2011
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: East Bay Regional Park District Board Room
2950 Peralta Oaks Court
Oakland, CA 94605

Individuals needing accommodations for disability access should contact us at 510-544-2627 at least one day before the event.

Chris Barton
Senior Planner | Environmental Programs
East Bay Regional Park District
2950 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland, CA 94605
Tel: 510-544-2627 | Fax: 510-569-1417
cbarton@ebparks.org<mailto:cbarton@ebparks.org> | http://www.ebparks.org<http://www.ebparks.org>

It was great to see how many kiters were at the meeting in December, voicing our desires for continued access to the beach and Bay behind Golden Gate Fields. If you kite there or ever want to be able to kite there, it's not a bad idea to show up and make it known what works for kiters (big open areas) and what doesn't work for kiters (fences, light posts, etc.)Hopefully a few of you folks can attend.

Kirk out

[fishmeal]

Posting a reminder that the next East Bay Regional Park District workshop on the Albany Beach is Thursday, Feb 17, 7 pm at the EBRPD headquarters in Oakland. "2950 Peralta Oaks Court" for your GPS.

By far the most powerful force at these meetings is turning out to be the off-leash dog people. But there is a natural alliance here between dog advocates and water access advocates: For both of these groups, the use of the Albany shoreline would be severely restricted if certain factions of the Sierra Club and CESP (Citizens for East Shore Parks) have their way. These park advocates did good work in the past securing shoreline land for public use, but their current vision is more appropriate for wilderness sites, not for active urban waterfronts.

More of this on the CDAWGS website: Coalition for Diverse Activities on Water, Grass and Sand. This is an informal list of dog owners, kayakers, windsurfers and kiteboarders who would like to replace the CESP shoreline park vision with something a little more accommodating to the public.

http://www.CDAWGS.org.

There is one feature that CESP, Sierra Club, the dog owners and even the native plant advocates all agree we need: Running water on the site. That would allow for real bathrooms and a washdown area (plus dog-watering and native plant irrigation).

There is potential to transform Albany Beach into a superb regional kiteboard launch site, with parking, bathrooms and washdown, etc. right near the beach.

I think the first step is to team up with the dog advocates for political clout. There is lots of room to sort out possible conflicts between off-leash dog areas and kiteboard launch as detailed site plans develop. But the main thing is to get the park district to acknowledge active recreation as the priority, and to recognize the unique value of the site as an East Bay kiteboard launch.

Paul Kamen
Chair, Berkeley Waterfront Commission
pk@well.com http://www.CDAWGS.org