West Contra Costa County Group plans for 2006

For 2006 the West County Group will focus on the General Plan update for Richmond and working to save the Richmond Shoreline. We will also be guarding our victory in Hercules, protecting Franklin Canyon.

Richmond is going through the legally required update to its General Plan. The city's redevelopment director and a majority on the City Council want to amend its General Plan to allow precious shoreline open space to be developed à la Miami Beach with massive residential high rises. We will need to stop this.

We will continue our work with the North Richmond Shoreline Alliance and the African-American community of Parchester Village to save Breuner Marsh as open space park and wildlife habitat.

We will be doing our best to stop the massive hotel-casino proposal at Point Molate.

We will be working with Sherry Padgett and Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development to make sure that the old Stauffer Chemical site, now referred to as the Zeneca property, and the UC Field Station are properly cleaned up. Both have major toxics issues and we need to be vigilant to make sure that Richmond does not try to prevent full clean-up.

In Hercules we will be watching to guard against any further development proposal for Franklin Canyon.

To help in these efforts, come to one of our Group meetings (see accompanying article) or contact Norman La Force at n.laforce-at-comcast.net or (510) 526-4362.

Norman La Force, chair, West Contra Costa Group

West Contra Costa Group: Richmond shoreline issues

Wednesday, January 25, 7:30 pm, Booker T. Anderson Community Center, 960 South 47th Street, Richmond.

The West Contra Costa County Group invites you to a public meeting to discuss development issues and prospects for the Richmond shoreline - in particular the Zeneca site and Breuner Marsh. Come hear what activists are concerned about and are doing, and how you can get involved. Sherry Padgett, a leading activist on the Zeneca site, and Arthur Feinstein, until recently the conservation director of Golden Gate Audubon, will speak.

Arctic-adventure slide show

Wednesday, February 8, 7:30 pm, Northminster Presbyterian Church, Makamie Hall, 545 Ashbury Street, El Cerrito.

Pam Flowers will show slides of her solo dogsled trip across the northern edge of the continent from Alaska to Hudson Bay. In February 1993 she and her eight-dog team left Barrow, Alaska. In January 1994 they arrived at Repulse Bay, Canada, 2,500 miles to the east. Along the way, she lived for 5-1/2 months with Inuits while waiting for safe travel conditions on the sea ice.

Pam has presented her program to over 560 schools and numerous public and private audiences around the country.

The Group plans three or four general meetings each year. We need to know what kinds of programs you are interested in. What kinds of presentations and presenters do you prefer? Can you suggest some specific topics or presenters? Let us know at (510) 528-2913 or at http://sanfranciscobay.sierraclub.org/westcc

Happenings in West Contra Costa

The Supplemental Environmental Impact Report for the El Cerrito Plaza residential project is on the city's website. It includes the letters and comments made during the review process on the Draft, as well as revisions due to changed plans and additional information. On Nov. 2 El Cerrito's Planning Commission approved the project under its incentives program, which allows some variations from normal regulations for projects with sufficient public benefit.