My Comments, May 19 2001:
The full text of Measure Q is available
on request from the City Clerk's office. It's in
the 1986 Voter Guide, which they will make available
for copying. I haven't had the opportunity to scan
it, but a few key points will be quoted here.
The Sierra Club's letter states that "Measure Q
provided for a maximum of 565,000 square feet of
development on all of Santa Fe's waterfront holdings
in Berkeley" and that "the State and Park District
purchased around 80% of Santa Fe's waterfront
property subject to Measure Q. That means that they
bought 80% of the development rights…"
While it's true that 565,000 square feet is the
maximum amount allowed on all of Santa Fe's wterfront
holdings, what measure Q actually says is that the
565,000 square feet is to be entirely within the
North Basin Strip and Horse Barn area, north of
Virginia Street.
Here's an excerpt from the text of Measure Q:
c) North Basin Strip and Horse Barns.
(1) That portion of the Berkeley Waterfront north
of the Meadow, east of the Bay, and South of
Gilman Street, commonly known as the North Basin
Strip, and that portion of the Berkeley
Waterfront north of Gilman Street, east of the
Bay, and south of the Albany city line, commonly
known as the Horse Barns area, shall be
designated for development.
(2) The total amount of development allowed in
this area may not exceed 565,000 square feet. No
building may be constructed which exceeds two
stories, or which exceeds 25 feet in height above
the current (1986) ground level, except that up
to 50,000 square feet of this amount of
development may be placed in a third story, in a
building or buildings not to exceed 35 feet in
height above the current (1986) ground level, if
the appropriate city design review board
determines that a plan which includes such
increase in height is desirable both for
aesthetic reasons and to carry out the policies
set forth above. Permitted uses in this area are
limited to the categories of uses for this area
set forth in the draft Waterfrton Specific Plan
of May 9, 1986 (which categories include
lodgings, conference center, restaurants, retail
shops, recreational uses, and open space uses)
plus buildings appurtenant to any opens space use
of the Meadow or Brickyard.
The measure goes on to allow some of this development
to be south of Virginia street only if it is
"economically and legally infeasible to place all the
development described in Section 3(c )(2), above, in
a location north of Virginia street…"
According to the City Attorney's analysis at the
time, this provision was intended to allow
development to proceed even if the long-term lease to
the race track (which ended in 1997) made development
north of Virginia infeasible. Since the new race
track owner now owns the Measure Q lands too, this
provision appears to have no applicability.
So, the measure clearly limits the entire 565,000
square feet of development to the North Basin Strip
and Horse Barn area, north of Virginia.
I don't have the exact acreage numbers, but most maps
showing the park acquisition indicate that no more
than half of the developable area was purchased by
the State. This would mean that even if the sale was
intended to buy down development rights in proportion
to land area, as the Sierra Club maintains, the
allowable development would still be at least half of
565,000, or 282,500 square feet.
Unfortunately this weakens the City's position
somewhat in negotiating the terms and the nature of
the development. It also implies higher market value
of the property, which could affect the feasibility
of acquisition.