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The City of Concord is planning for the future of the 5,100-acre Concord Naval Weapons Station. The former base is currently owned by the Department of Defense, but the land is slated to be transferred to to the City of Concord. After the land transfers, the City of Concord, the local reuse authority, will be able to begin overseeing on-site development.

What's at Stake

The Concord Naval Weapons Station—located on the border of northeast Concord and Pittsburg, directly adjacent to the threatened Pittsburg hills—is one of the largest remaining developable areas in the entire region, on a par with Coyote Valley in the South Bay.

The land is already within the City of Concord's limits and within the Urban Limit Line. Much of the base is still relatively pristine open space, with rolling hills visible from Highways 4 and 242. In addition, Mount Diablo Creek, a creek with tremendous potential for restoration, flows right through the heart of the military base, and has the potential to become home to native trout, among other species. Concord's plans for the base will determine, in part, how these resources are protected.

Part of the base is also a good location for transit-oriented development near the BART station. Developing this part of the base while protecting the rest could create a model smart growth community adjacent to protected open space.

Greenbelt Alliance has developed a joint platform with local partners and other environmental organizations. This platform addresses the location and amount of open space, the type and number of new houses, the transportation system, and many other factors. Read page one and page two of the Community Coalition platform here (jpg files).

To read a history of the base, see maps and visuals or to learn more about the reuse process in general, visit the Concord Community Reuse Project website.

What You Can Do

To make the smart growth vision a reality, Greenbelt Alliance needs support from Bay Area residents.

Although Greenbelt Alliance and allies had an initial victory of getting first stage approval for open space protections and mixed-use walkable communities near the north Concord BART, the fight is not over. Just recently the City released the second draft of its Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The EIR will be finalized and the City will hold public hearings to approve the final Reuse Plan by early 2010. Once the final Reuse Plan is adopted, the location of development and open space will be determined. Then the next steps will be for the Navy to start its environmental review and for City Council to amend the City’s General Plan. These are all points in the process where key community benefits could become derailed.

Greenbelt Alliance will work to ensure that the City and the Navy fully analyze the environmental impacts of the development. We will also make sure the City Council’s General Plan amendment lays the groundwork for permanently protected open space, mixed-use development with affordable homes, trails for people to walk and bike, local well-paying jobs, and good green building standards.

• Write comments on the draft Environmental Impact Report:

  Submit comments to:

  Michael Wright, Director of Community Reuse Planning
  City of Concord
  1950 Parkside Drive, MS/56
  Concord, CA 94159

  Download the Draft Environmental Impact Report here.
  

• Visit the Concord Community Reuse Project website for more information, and sign up to receive email updates about the base.
• Sign up to receive Greenbelt Alliance email updates regarding the Concord Naval Weapons Station by sending an email to this address.
• Email Matt Vander Sluis with any questions or comments, or to be added to our growing contact list. Let us know if you would like to send a letter or email to the Councilmembers, attend a meeting, sign a postcard, staff an informational table, or write a letter to the editor.