Save Estuary Park!
Dear Residents, Organizations, Community Groups, and Advocates for Public Open Space, Dog Parks, and Waterfront Access,
The Threat
The Estuary Park Master Plan to renovate and expand a key recreational resource is at risk. This major Measure DD effort will provide a waterfront park for Oakland and Alameda County residents, and serve the many people of Brooklyn Basin and the Jack London neighborhood.
But now, the developer of Brooklyn Basin is asking City approval to construct 81 private homes on a large portion of the Estuary Park site, known as Parcel N.
Why Privatization of Parcel N Matters
Filling Parcel N with expensive housing would invalidate the already-prepared $1.4M Estuary Park Master Plan, forcing a complete redesign and removing many features sought by the community. It would sacrifice a landscaped park entry, spacious parking with food truck plaza, family picnicking adjacent to a water-wise/habitat garden, a multi-purpose area for lawn games, an enclosed dog park, boat storage building, and public restrooms—recreational amenities defined by residents during four interactive community design sessions. The park would be invisible from Embarcadero Road.
Stopping and restarting the project’s design and development phases is costly, wastes effort, and would require repetition of community participation and major regulatory changes.
What You Can Do
The Estuary Park Task Committee of the Measure DD Community Coalition urges you and/or your organization to join the effort to save and re-invigorate our major park on the Estuary. Please write today! (See the sample letter below.)
The Position of the Measure DD Community Coalition
On July 15, 2024, the Measure DD Community Coalition unanimously adopted this position statement on Estuary Park:
It is the position of the Measure DD Community Coalition* that the City should move forward with its established Estuary Master Plan, and should reject emerging initiatives to convert any portion of the designated park site for private residential or commercial use—which change would also conflict with the Development Agreements for Brooklyn Basin.
We, the Measure DD Community Coalition, urge City policymakers and staff to reject any such privatization of legally defined public land. The Measure DD Coalition, various stakeholder groups, and the broader affected community will vigorously oppose administrative efforts to amend, rezone, or modify the density or land use designation of Parcel N.
A statement, however forceful, can always be shelved and forgotten. What cannot be ignored is the voice of the people, their community organizations, and their insistent advocacy.
Let’s build the long-anticipated, expanded, and improved Estuary Park.
Estuary Park Task Committee of the Measure DD Community Coalition:
Jennie Gerard, John Klein, Naomi Schiff, William Threlfall, James E. Vann
For additional information, contact info@save-estuary-park.org.
*The Measure DD Community Coalition was sanctioned in 2003 by the Oakland City Council to oversee the implementation of the 2002 $198-million-dollar ballot measure.
SAMPLE LETTER
Please email:
TO: <officeofthemayor@oaklandca.gov> <officeofthecityadministrator@oaklandca.gov> <hduffey@oaklandca.gov> <mkashiwagi@oaklandca.gov> <wgilchrist@oaklandca.gov> <emanasse@oaklandca.gov> fkelley@oaklandca.gov
CC: <NFortunatoBas@oaklandca.gov> cfife@oaklandca.gov> <creed2@oaklandca.gov> <ctan@oaklandca.gov> <tfashing@oaklandca.gov>
BCC: <info@save-estuary-park.org>
Mayor Sheng Thao
City Administrator Jestin D. Johnson
G. Harold Duffey, Asst. City Administrator for Public Works & Parks
Michael Kashiwagi, Interim Director, Public Works Department
William Gilchrist, Director of Planning & Building
Edward Manasse, Deputy Director of Planning
Fred Kelley, Director of Parks, Recreation & Youth Development
Dear Mayor Thao and City Administrators,
(Organization name) and our members express our strong support for the City’s plan for renovating and expanding Estuary Park—the City’s major park with access to the waterfront and the Estuary.
Recently, we learned that the developer of Brooklyn Basin is seeking City approval to construct 81 private homes on “Parcel N”—a portion of the Estuary Park site. We understand that if approved, this proposal would invalidate the $1.4M Estuary Park Master Plan already developed by the City of Oakland, forcing a complete redesign to a smaller park without many of the features sought by the community. Such a change would be costly, wasteful of City staff resources, and disappointing to local citizens. Instead, we support the City Council’s principle of “Public Land for Public Good”.
We stand firmly with the Measure DD Community Coalition and The Portobello Residential Owners Association—neighbor to Estuary Park—in opposing any changes in the Master Plan. We strongly urge the City to proceed immediately with the community-approved Plan.
Sincerely.
(Names & Titles)
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