Claiming the city already has too much parkland, the Richmond City Council approved a resolution opposing the East Bay Regional Park District's attempt to acquire a piece of undeveloped shoreline property in North Richmond.

The resolution, approved by a 5-3 vote, also said the potential property tax gains from developing the land are too great to allow the site to become a park.

The resolution was the most recent salvo between the city and the park district, which were already on bad terms. Last December the park district sued the city over irregularities in the sale of Point Molate to a developer who proposed to build a large casino and hotel on the site.

Now the issue is 238 acres, known as the former Breuner property, just south of Point Pinole. The resolution responded to a park district proposal to acquire the land from the owner, Don Carr, by eminent domain. Carr rejected a park district purchase offer of $4.9 million, said Bob Doyle, the park district's assistant general manager. Negotiations are ongoing, Doyle said.

However, Carr has also submitted an application to the city's planning department to build over 1,000 units of condominiums and townhouses on about 70 acres of property. The planning department has been working with Carr on the project even though the land, which is inhabited by at least two federally protected species, is not currently zoned for residential development.

It was important for the council to oppose the park district in order to establish its authority over Richmond lands, said community redevelopment and economic director Steve Duran.

"It is with great hubris that the East Bay Regional Park District has gone ahead and decided it should be a park," said Duran, who wrote the resolution. "We need to make a firm comment on who is in charge of zoning in the city of Richmond."

Duran wrote in the resolution that Richmond could add $4 million a year to its coffers if the land were developed. In addition, he said, Richmond residents already have access to thousands of acres of parks and added, "These parklands and other open space areas are abundant for a city of the size of Richmond and many parks, including Point Pinole Regional Park, are very underutilized."

Mayor Irma Anderson said she was shocked the park district did not consult city officials about its plans to acquire the property.

"This is an issue of process more than anything else," she said. "East Bay Regional Park District should have contacted us about this and we simply have not heard from them."

Park officials said they were equally surprised by the council's resolution. The park district has put a high priority on obtaining the land in order to restore and preserve the wetlands for several years, said Bob Doyle, the park district's assistant general manager.

"We have had public authorization to negotiate for this property for many years," he said. "We don't desire to have an adversarial or confrontational relationship with the city, but there are times when a property is too important to allow it to be considered for development and this is one of those times."

Environmental groups, park advocates and individual residents attended the meeting to speak in favor of a park on the site. Of the 24 people who addressed the council, only one spoke against the park district's plan.

Whitney Dotson's family has lived in Parchester Village, which abuts the former Breuner property, since 1947 when it was developed for black families who had been living in temporary war housing. He said his father, the Rev. Richard Dotson, had worked for years to get the property established as a park.

"Besides destroying a natural habitat, building such a large project down there would have a tremendous negative impact on Parchester Village residents," he said. "Some of these buildings would be 50 feet high, which would destroy our Bay views. It would be terrible."