Parks - the ultimate barrier to sprawl

Perhaps the most important tool in stopping sprawl development is public ownership of park lands.

Not only are parks and other public open spaces the best guarantee against development, but they open up access and enjoyment of the land to the wider public - now and for future generations. There may be controversy beforehand about a given land purchase, but one never hears regrets afterwards. People are thankful and even awestruck that the land was somehow preserved. Perhaps it is the company that I keep, but I never hear anyone praise the transformation of wildlife habitat into parking lots and buildings.

In the East Bay we are blessed to have the East Bay Regional Park District, which actively works to protect open space and preserve lands for parks and wildlife. In 1934, in the depths of the Great Depression, the people of Berkeley, Oakland, Albany, Kensington, and El Cerrito anted up the funds to create this land-protection agency, which now owns and protects 94,000 acres in a string of shoreline and inland parks.

Money is indeed a key ingredient in the success of the Park District, or any similar agency. For over 15 years the Park District has been able to make major purchases because of Measure AA, passed in 1988. That bond measure taxed each of us a small amount, and gave the District a large pot of money to buy land for parks and habitat. That pot is now emptying. We must soon pass a new measure to refill the District's land-purchasing dollars. The Sierra Club has urged the Park District to begin the organizational work to build up support for such a measure. The key election date will be 2008, and a 2/3 majority will be required.

Another way to acquire valuable parklands is through the transfer of existing public land such as retired military bases into parks or other protected areas. Important local examples include the creation of the Alameda National Wildlife Refuge (although the refuge is now facing serious challenges) and the extensive parklands in the plan for redevelopment of Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands. As Concord initiates its planning for reuse of the Concord Naval Weapons Station, we have a grand opportunity to save a huge chunk of undeveloped land and to transform it into the East Bay version of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. We should always think twice before turning such lands over to private developers.

Not all open-space land is appropriate for public acquisition, and so it is important to designate lands as open space in city and county general plans. This designation, however, does not provide the same guarantee as outright purchase.

By acting today to protect open space and habitat areas, we can make sure that future generations can look back in gratitude at our farsightedness.

Norman La Force, chair, East Bay Public Lands Committee