[CPEO-MEF] Hunters Point protest (San Francisco)

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Submitted by Ahimsa Sumchai <asumchai@sfbayview.com>
Press Release 
Community protests Redevelopment Commission plan for $40 million in
bonds to finance shipyard infrastructure


City Wide Protest $40 Million Bonds, New Taxes for Shipyard Construction!
Tuesday April 5, 2005
San Francisco City Hall Steps - Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
3pm - 3:45pm
Please contact: S.F. Bayview Newspaper at (415) 671-0789 or editor@sfbayview.com
4919 Third Street
San Francisco, Calif, 94124
 

A city wide mobilization and press conference has been activated in
response to plans by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Commission
to approve at it's Tuesday, April 5, 2005 hearing the proposal to levy a
tax on residents of The City and County of San Francisco Community
Facilities District No. 7 (Hunters Point Shipyard Phase 1 Improvements)
and to issue $40 million in Mello-Roos bonds to finance the construction
of the infrastructure on the toxin laden, seismically unstable land
parcels along the shipyard shoreline. Mello-Roos Bonds are tax exempt
bonds issued under the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982 which
will finance residential development by Miami-based home builder Lennar
Corporation. 

The Press conference, hosted by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi - a former
environmental analyst and founder of the California State Green Party -
will convene at 3pm on the Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett steps of City Hall.
Speakers will include community representatives as well as citywide
organizations and individuals opposed to the development of the Hunters
Point Shipyard - a federal superfund site- and the displacement and
financial burden being levied upon residents of the Redevelopment
Project Area.  

Phase I Development of the shipyard includes Parcels A and B. Parcel A
was successfully transferred in October of 2004 amidst charges of
conflict of interest and with documented residual soil contaminants
including lead, asbestos and arsenic. In February of 2005 the U.S. Navy
released a California Geological Surveys Map documenting that Parcels A
and B of the shipyard- where over 1,600 residential units will be sited-
rest in an earthquake hazard zone called liquefaction zones.
Liquefaction is the process by which soil around shorelines mixes with
water during seismic events contributing to building collapse and
injury. The collapse of homes in San Francisco's Marina district during
the 1989 Loma Prieta is the best example of liquefaction. Additionally,
Parcels A & B are the site of residual radiation contamination. 

Concerns about the "developer give away" of the shipyard remain at the
forefront of concerns prompting this community action. The City and
County of San Francisco received Parcel A of the shipyard for $1 and the
public interest property was turned over to a publicly traded private
developer that earned $950 million on revenue of $10 billion last year.
In February of 2005 Miami-based Lennar Corporation bid $649.5 million
for 3,718 acres at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in Irvine
California. 

The organizers of the event have expressed outrage that San Francisco
city government intends to give Florida -based Lennar not only the land
but $40 million in bonds and revenues from new taxes to proceed with the
very profitable private development of over 1,600 homes. The Financing
and Revenue Sharing Plan of the shipyard's Disposition and Development
Agreement for Phase I documents the Redevelopment agency agreement to"
approve the developer's hard costs and soft costs expended in developing
Phase I." 

Lennar Developer was poised to break ground in March of 2005 but
development has been held in the face of  legal challenges to the
shipyards Environmental Impact Report which failed to adequately analyze
transportation impacts, radiological, seismic and residual soil and
building contaminants including lead and asbestos. 

The press conference is being staged in advance of the 4pm public
hearing of the Redevelopment Commission on this matter. It is the sole
item on the agenda. The Commission meets in room 416 in City Hall.

Last month San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced a moratorium on
bond indebtedness. The seven items on the agenda of the Redevelopment
Commission include measures to establish and form Community Facilities
District No. 7, authorizing the levy of a special tax and determining
the necessity to incur bond indebtedness. Additional measures call for a
special election in District No.7 and direct recording of notice of a
special tax lien and "levying special taxes within the Redevelopment
Agency of the City and County of San Francisco Community Facilities
District No.7.  

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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