Open Letter #8



To the Paddling, Rowing, Windsurfing, and Sailing Communities:

This is a reminder that Monday, September 24, is the big public workshop for the Eastshore State Park. 7 pm, Hs. Lordships Restaurant, Berkeley Marina, in the upstairs banquet room. A good showing is critical.

The main issue is the amount of support that the new park will provide for water-related activities. Launch and storage facilities for a very diverse range of non-motorized watercraft, from kayaks to dragon boats, are possible on the Berkeley and Albany waterfronts. There might even be State Park money to help make it happen. See
www.well.com/user/pk/waterfront/ESP.html for more background information on goals and policies for the Eastshore State Park.

The Sierra Club and Citizens for the Eastshore State Park (CESP) are opposed to facilities development on the land areas of the Park, and have called for virtually all of the water areas to be designated as "preserve" with limited human access. Their literature suggests that the park is threatened by RV campsites and launching ramps for jetskis and powerboats.

Unfortunately, non-motorized water-borne activities are being put in the same category as jetskis and bass boats. So a good showing on Monday night is very important if we expect the park plan to include reasonable compromises between habitat protection and non-motorized human recreation.

Since the last open letter there have been some interesting developments. A new coalition of park users has been formed, the Coalition for Park Access and Conservation (CPAC). This new organization represents off-leash dog advocates, kayakers, sailors, windsurfers, and playing field users, with many more groups expected to sign on. You can see their recommendations for the park at
www.well.com/user/pk/waterfront/CPAC/index.html.

Unlike previous workshops, this one will actually give the public an opportunity to draw things on a map. For the first time we'll be asked to provide input in spatial and quantitative terms, which is the key to understanding just how easy it really is to find compromises that satisfy the goals of all the various interest groups - including CESP and the Sierra Club.

The scale for the working maps is 1:6,000, or 1 inch = 500 feet. This is a small scale, but it will work out well if we all understand how big or how small things really are on this scale.

Some examples:

A square inch at this scale is 5.7 acres, or enough space to park over 700 cars (at 125 cars/acre).

A single acre is about 7/16" on a side.

A typical soccer field, 100 yards by 65 yards, is about 5/8" by 3/8".

A typical soccer field, 100 yards by 65 yards, is about 5/8" by 3/8".

A 12 ft high earth berm (proposed as noise barrier alongside freeway) with 30% slopes and a path on top would be about 100 feet wide, or less than 1/4".

The entire South Sailing Basin shoreside facilities area, including two big aquatic programs supporting sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, rowing, on-site storage, boat repair, offices, clubhouses, two docks, two boat hoists, and parking, all fit in a space about rowing, on-site storage, boat repair, offices, clubhouses, two docks, two boat hoists, and parking, all fit in a space about 5/8" by 1/2". Add the third dock and rigging area, private boat keelboat storage, and the overflow parking lot, and it's up to 1-1/2" x 1/2".

You can find a template sheet drawn to the correct scale on the CPAC web page at www.well.com/user/pk/waterfront/CPAC/templetes.html.

This should be extremely useful in positioning proposed improvements and facilities on the working maps. CPAC will also have copies of these templates available at the workshop entrance.

And, if you can't be at the meeting, remember to weigh in on the public comment area of the planning consultants' website, www.EastshoreStatePark.org.



Paul Kamen
Chair, Berkeley Waterfront Commission
pk@well.com 510-540-7968
www.BerkeleyWaterfront.org