By an 8-3 vote at 1:35 AM, July 14, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a plan to add 10,500 homes (32% affordable) on a 720-acre brownfield site known as Hunters Point, a former shipyard, including 320 acres of parkland and open space.
The Hunters Point U.S. naval shipyard, a federally designated Superfund site contaminated by toxic waste, has been the subject of redevelopment plans for 20 years. The Environmental Impact Report for the project proposed by Lennar Urban was certified, allowing the project to go forward despite objections by environmentalists and community activists.
Amendments were added to "boost board oversight of the Yosemite Slough bridge design and of the cleanup of a particularly polluted project site, require funding of a local health center and of a job-training program for local residents" that will be voted on July 27, and a final vote will be required.
From Bay Citizen: SF Board Says 'Yes' to Lennar
After 10-hour hearing, environmental and health concerns don't carry the vote: "Environmental and community groups asked the board to reject the report because of two main concerns: a rush to develop the land before properly cleaning it up, and a bridge that would disturb the delicate tidal ecology in the area."
From San Francisco Chronicle Editorial: Time for San Francisco to remake Hunters Point: "If we do this, it's truly a historic moment," Mayor Gavin Newsom said in an interview Friday. "There's a generation of work culminating in one vote. For me, as I look back at the mayor's job, this is one of the most significant things I've been associated with."
Read the full story: Hunters Point shipyard plan wins key approval
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