District condemns Breuner Property to build park

By John Geluardi
Thursday, March 9, 2006

A scenic property along Richmond's shoreline, one of the largest stretches of undeveloped wetlands in the Bay Area, will be made into a park by eminent domain.

The East Bay Regional Park District board of directors voted unanimously Tuesday to condemn 218 acres of the Breuner Property, which will pave the way for the land to be annexed to Point Pinole Regional Shoreline Park, which lies just to the north.

In the last five years, five development projects have been proposed on the site. Open-space advocates said they were glad the wetlands and upland meadow will finally be protected.

"This has been 56 years in the making," said Parchester Village Neighborhood Council President Whitney Dotson, whose family has been advocating for a park since Parchester was first developed after World War II. "It's hard to believe it's finally true."

Last year, the current property owners, Don and Lonne Carr, submitted plans to build more than 1,000 condominiums on about 70 acres of the site. The submission set in motion the park district's efforts to acquire the land.

The park district board of directors was ready to condemn the property in September but delayed the decision to try to reach a compromise with the Carrs.

The park district at first offered the Carrs $4.9 million for all 238 acres. The Carrs refused the offer. On Tuesday, the board voted to pay $892,000 for 218 acres of the property.

The Carrs will retain 20 developable acres at the southwest portion of the property, although any development would be much smaller than what they originally proposed.

The Carrs were unavailable for comment Wednesday.

The Richmond City Council approved a resolution in September opposing the park district acquisition. The resolution further aggravated a difficult relationship with the park district, which had sued the city over its plans to sell Point Molate to a casino developer.

Park District Assistant General Manager Bob Doyle said the property is too rare to be developed.

"This is one of the last, contiguous pieces of shoreline and wetlands in the Bay Area," he said. "It was a priority for many community groups, environmental organizations and government agencies to protect it."

The property is a mosaic of mud flats, tidal channels and seasonal wetlands. It is also a natural habitat for the salt marsh harvest mouse and shore birds such as the clapper rail, California black rail and northern harrier.

The property will extend Point Pinole Regional Shoreline's southern border to Rheem Creek.

Dotson said the residents of Parchester Village have worked for many years to protect the property.

"The park district really represented us well on this one," he said. "It's been a long, long struggle."

Contact John Geluardi at 510-262-2787 or at jgeluardi@cctimes.com.

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