Home > Your Region > South Bay > Campaigns > Redwood City Salt Ponds

Redwood City Salt Ponds

Redwood City has been revitalizing its downtown, attracting attention for its innovative high-tech parking meters and redesigned Little Fox Theatre that hosts the Redwood City Blues Jam. Add to that wide sidewalks, homes people can afford minutes away from a Caltrain Baby Bullet stop, and an enviable selection of restaurants, shops, a library and movie theater, and Redwood City is setting the tone for quality urban infill. They even host The Forum, a continuing conversation on community design.

Downtown Redwood City is the ideal place for smart infill. The nearby bay wetlands are not.

Restore the Wetlands

Just east of Highway 101 along Seaport Boulevard lies the Redwood City salt ponds. The 1,433 acre site owned by Cargill is near the Port of Redwood City. In 2003, Cargill sold and donated 16,500 acres of former salt ponds to state and federal agencies, leading to the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, the largest tidal wetland restoration project on the West Coast.

Cargill did not sell the Seaport Boulevard site and instead has partnered with DMB, an Arizona-based development company. Over the last year, DMB has been asking residents what they would like to see in a new community that would include a mix of homes, shops, parks and restored wetlands. While many of the elements sound intriguing and in line with smart growth principles, former bay wetlands are no place for intense urban development.

Greenbelt Alliance is opposed to any development on the Redwood City salt ponds. Other groups opposed to development include Save the Bay, the Sierra Club-Loma Prieta Chapter, Committee for Green Foothills, the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge and Friends of Redwood City.

The San Francisco Bay has shrunk by one-third since the California gold rush. The bay estuary contains 90% of California’s remaining coastal wetlands and supports a variety of natural habitats as well as a diverse wildlife population. More than 50 species of plants and wildlife in this region are on the threatened and endangered species list primarily due to habitat loss. Instead of paving more of the bay, we should be restoring this rich and valuable resource.

Also, acre for acre, tidal wetlands absorb more carbon than forests. Promoting compact housing near public transportation, shops and jobs is one way to reduce our need to drive, lessening greenhouse gas emissions. Another way is to not pave over lands that absorb carbon emissions. The developers say that the Redwood City salt ponds site is “infill” and will provide more housing close to jobs. But filling in the bay is the wrong kind of infill. Quality urban infill takes place along transit and downtown corridors such as downtown Redwood City.

Open Space Vote Measure

Volunteers have been collecting signatures to place the Redwood City Open Space Vote Measure on the November ballot. This charter amendment would give local voters the opportunity to decide if parks or bay lands should be converted to urban uses. It takes a two-thirds vote to fund parks, so it should be equally as challenging to pave over them. Parks and a healthy bay are critical to maintaining the high quality of life residents enjoy in Redwood City. This measure would not prevent parks and recreational facilities from being built or expanded on open space, but it will strengthen protections for the salt ponds, which are currently zoned tidal plain and should remain a part of the bay ecosystem.

The Open Space Vote Measure is being sponsored by Friends of Redwood City and Save the Bay. It has been endorsed by several local and regional groups including Greenbelt Alliance, Committee for Green Foothills, Sierra Club, and Clean Water Action.

What You Can Do

• If you are a Redwood City resident, participate in the City’s update of its General Plan and make sure that the salt ponds site is not zoned for urban development. It is currently zoned tidal plain.

• Contact the City Council and encourage them to not pursue development of the salt ponds site.
  
  
• If you are a registered voter in Redwood City, sign the petition for the Open Space Measure and volunteer with the campaign. Find out more at the campaign website.