Today, the Port Commission approved a 200-bed Navigation Center to be located on The Embarcadero, at Seawall Lot 330, as proposed by the City of San Francisco under the leadership of Mayor London Breed. The Port and City have not addressed community concerns about the impact the Navigation Center will have. Safe Embarcadero vows to keep fighting and is considering legal action.
Safe Embarcadero, a District 6 neighborhood group directly affected by this decision released the following statement:
The Port Commission approved the Navigation Center today ignoring not only community concerns, but laws designed to protect the public interest. It is acting outside the scope of its powers and in violation of the law. Any proposed lease of Port land must be for fair market value, consistent with the Port’s Public Trust obligations, and reviewed by the State Lands Commission. In its haste to approve the Project, the City has failed to comply with these obligations. The City has also failed to conduct the full environmental review required by CEQA. This is of great concern given the hazardous soil at the site, and the inadequate mitigation measures that are currently proposed. This Project cannot be lawfully approved.
Safe Embarcadero’s position is that if the City moves forward with the construction of the Navigation Center, it will be in violation of multiple statutes, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the statutes that govern the use of Port land (including the Burton Act, SB 815, AB 418, and 2797), and the Brown Act.
A Memorandum for Objector Safe Embarcadero For All has been filled.
Who are the people who oppose the Navigation Center?
The area around the proposed Center is a dense, diverse and growing neighborhood of apartments and condominiums filled with working parents and their children who cannot afford single-family homes in San Francisco. More than 14,000 residents live within half a mile of the proposed site. The neighborhood includes hundreds of low-income housing units, housing for the formerly homeless at Rene Cazenave, and many elderly and vulnerable residents at Steamboat Point operated by BRIDGE housing. Next door to the proposed site is the Delancey Street Foundation where residents commit to sobriety while recovering from substance addiction and abuse, and will be faced with open drug use and drug dealers servicing the Navigation Center, if it is built.
The area is also filled with thousands of office workers on weekdays and Giants fans walking to games.
The community is overwhelmingly opposed to siting a Navigation Center in any residential neighborhood, let alone one of the most densely populated. The sheer density will magnify any spillover effects from the Embarcadero Navigation Center.
Legal Action
Safe Embarcadero for All has retained the legal firm Zacks, Freedman & Patterson, PC
from http://www.zfplaw.com/.
Review the Memorandum for Objector Safe Embarcadero For All
About Safe Embarcadero
Safe Embarcadero is an informal, non-partisan group of San Francisco residents. The group has no affiliation with any political party, non-profit or government agency. We bring awareness to important issues that impact our community.
For additional information, contact info@SFResidents.com.
Petition – Help Rightsize and Relocate the proposed 200-bed Embarcadero Navigation Center – here
Fundraising here
Twitter https://twitter.com/EmbarcaderoSafe
Website https://sfresidents.com/