Point Molate in Richmond to become park after lengthy battle over development
On Tuesday, environmentalists in Richmond celebrated a long-sought victory when the East Bay Regional Park District voted unanimously to accept Point Molate as the newest addition to the park system.
The land will now be preserved as outdoor space for the public, despite years of struggles with developers.
With a million-dollar Bay view of the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge, Point Molate Beach often sits empty. It's sometimes referred to as the "most beautiful Bay Area spot that no one's ever heard of."
But that's about to change. It will soon be the East Bay's newest park.
"It's really rare to get a bayfront property to create a park that's something this size," said EBRPD Board President Elizabeth Echols. "And so, it is truly a unique opportunity. It is truly a cause for celebration."
It comes at the end of a long fight. In 2018, Richmond was being sued by a developer and the Guidiville Rancheria tribe over the city agreeing and then reneging on an earlier deal to build a casino at Point Molate.
To end the lawsuit, Mayor Tom Butt helped broker a closed-door settlement deal that would require a massive housing development on the land. And he warned the public what would happen if they did anything to invite another lawsuit.
"The city could lose the case, get hit with a judgement of $50-100 million dollars--maybe more--bankrupt the city, and we could end up with a casino at the end of the day," the mayor said at the time.
"I think it was more a misrepresentation than a bluff. He was the architect of the sweetheart deal that was the settlement agreement," said Norman La Force, who represented the Sierra Club in the struggle over Point Molate. "And we never believed that that was 'it.' If we had believed that, truly, we would have gone away."
But they didn't go away. La Force joined other environmentalists and community activists in one legal challenge after another.
"We were told, this is never going to happen," said La Force. "You're going to have to make a deal. You're going to lose. And, in the end...we won."
Eventually, the developers lost interest—or faith—in the project, leading to the current park deal. With help from state funding, the district will pay Guidiville $40 million to end their claim...and the public gets a new bay front place to play.
"That's the beauty of it, right?" said Echols. "People may have slightly different interests, but in the end, everybody came together in a shared vision and a shared agreement to move forward with a world-class park out there at Point Molate."
"It's vindication of what we kept telling everybody from the beginning." said La Force. "This should be a park. We want it as a park and open space area, and it will be that. It won't be anything else. And let's figure out how to do that!"
There's still a lot to figure out. The district says there are no plans yet for what amenities will be included in the park. Those will be decided, not in closed-door meetings, but after an open public input process.
Official transfer of the property is expected to happen sometime this year. The funding for the purchase of Point Molate came with the help of State Sen. Nancy Skinner as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom's "30x30 Initiative," an effort to preserve 30% of state lands and coastal waters by the year 2030.
