Another Delay for Hunters Point

This 2007 photo of Hunters Point was during major grading operations. The only thing holding up construction is a contested environmental report.

From World War II until 1974, the 500-acre Hunters Point shipyard in southeast San Francisco was a major source of jobs for the community, employing at one time up to 17,000 people.

Redevelopment plans for the site have been ongoing for more than a decade. Back in 1999, Lennar was selected as the primary developer. In 2007, the major grading operations were substantially completed and the infrastructure phase of construction began Sept. 2008. In 2009 came the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) issued for phase 2 of the project. The EIR Certified and Development and Disposition Agreement was expected to be approved for phase 2 in 2010, with home construction at Parcel A expected to also begin this year.

Now, although the San Francisco Planning Commission approved the environmental report in June on a 4-3 vote, opponents have called on the S.F. Board of Supervisors to reject the project's environmental impact report. The prime environmental issue is the continuing toxic cleanup, already signed off on at the local, state and federal levels. A secondary environmental concern is the proposed bridge over wetlands.

Supporters of the development are, to say the least, impatient to move forward to turn the blighted area into a new center of jobs, green technology development, affordable housing and parks.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom considers the redevelopment the city's economic future. Plans call for a new neighborhood of 10,500 homes for 24,500 residents, parks and open space, amenities, retail, offices and research and development facilities.

The California State Parks Foundation, one of the four groups appealing the environmental plan, dropped its opposition just before the board of supervisors July 13 meeting to begin discussing the report. The board will vote regarding the environmental report on Aug. 3.