Berkeley Pier & plans...

[Ken Jones]

I received the following note —

Hi, Ken,

As a kid I fished from the Berkeley Pier, in the 1960s I learned to sail in the Marina, and I have been windsurfing and sailing in Berkeley for most of the last 35 years.
The City of Berkeley is planning to put in a WETA ferry terminal with a very much shortened mixed-use pier at the point where the closed Berkeley Pier meets the land.
I don't like the plan, mostly because I am afraid it will turn the marina into a ferry terminal, crowding out sailing, windsurfing, picnicking and fishing. It also includes a pretty crummy pier.
With some Cal Sailing Club and windsurfing people, I have been pushing to make this into a project that will fit with the other recreational uses of the marina. Here is a link to a petition aimed at stopping the big-scale terminal--it has links to some documents that discuss the issues.
Whether we win or lose on the ferry issue, I think that the City needs to hear from pier fishing people, so they can make intelligent decisions on good fishing access for the Berkeley waterfront. Perhaps you can help?

Link: https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/tell-berkeley-officials-to-not-sell-out-the-marina

 

[Red Fish]

Ken, I really see where the #'s of expected commuters could very well be a nightmare. If you look at a place like the Vallejo Waterfront, that is a vast area with a great deal of room and I am sure there are far less ferry commuters from there to San Francisco than people that would try to go and come from Berkeley and surrounding cities to SF.

The whole area around Frontage Road would need to be leveled and made into a parking lot (perhaps more than 1 level). They would also need to widen the road on University and open up that old road (that used to be used by the dump (that is now Chavez Park) to allow more convenient access to the B-Dock, public boat launch, Double Tree Hotel, sailing club, and Chavez Park.

There definitely still needs to be a free parking lot for pier fishermen, like on Seawall Drive or the lot right behind Skates parking lot (that was designated as "Fishermen's Parking" at 1 time. I can really see no one parking on Seawall Drive at all (rather just a wider area to drive back and forth for: 1: Reserved Ferry Parking/Employees down on the end where Hs. Lordship's was. The regular ferry parking lot would be back on Frontage with a shuttle to the ferry (or of course people could walk). The kids' park by Hs. Lordship's could be leveled and made into extra parking all the way back to the wind-surf area.

We'll see, but I would like to see a "small scale" ferry service like they have at Harbor Way South, Richmond. But, do we fishermen even have "a dog in this race?!"

 

[pinfish]

sucks