Sacramento – Legislation by Assemblymember Philip Y. Ting (D-San Francisco) that will help transform 13 acres of polluted and nearly unusable San Francisco waterfront at Piers 30-32 into a world class public attraction – if local and state regulatory approval is granted to the project – was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown today.
The bill, AB 1273, authorizes the State Lands Commission to approve a proposal that would privately finance restoration and revitalization of the property by the Golden State Warriors, and includes construction of a new arena for the franchise. The measure further specifies that any such project must provide significant public access and public amenities.
“I am thrilled the Governor signed this legislation that updates state law to allow for the revitalization of Piers 30-32 if the necessary local environmental and regulatory approvals are received,” said Ting. “This project will generate thousands of good middle class jobs, improve public access and views of the Bay, and clean up this long neglected portion of the Embarcadero, saving tens of millions in public dollars to clean up the site.”
A broad coalition of San Francisco business, labor and environmental leaders agree.
“This moves San Francisco one step closer to building a world class public space, without compromising California's high standards of environmental review and public due process,” said San Francisco resident Nicholas Josefowitz, also a member of the San Francisco Environment Commission. “The arena promises to set new standards in sustainability, put thousands of San Franciscans to work and give all of us a great new place to have fun on the Bay."
Mike Casey, President of UNITE HERE Local 2 and the San Francisco Central Labor Council echoed the benefit to local employment the project will have.
“Good living wage jobs for the waterfront, that’s what this means to working families,” said Casey. “Quality middle class jobs with retirement security are in short supply on the waterfront. This project will help turn that around.”
Assemblymember Ting’s legislation is sponsored by the City and County of San Francisco and is supported by Mayor Ed Lee, multiple public safety and labor organizations, the hotel and tourist industry, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and San Francisco Citizens Initiative for Technology and Innovation (SF Citi).
“The approval of AB 1273 is fantastic for San Francisco’s #1 industry – travel and tourism,” said Joe D’Alessandro, President and CEO of San Francisco Travel Association. “This will allow the City and County of San Francisco to take advantage of a rare opportunity to create thousands of jobs and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new economic growth by bringing a world-class sports and entertainment arena to the City.”
Ting said his legislation simply clarifies the state’s intentions for Piers 30-32, providing greater clarity for the State Lands Commission, which has final approval of the proposal. Currently state law specifies that a cruise ship terminal may be built on the Piers 30-32 site; the Ting bill updates this statute to allow for the multi-use venue, if local approvals are given to the project. The project ultimately must go through a full California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review.
Supporters of Ting’s legislation say the current project proposal is the best option to date for privately financing restoration of the area for public and maritime uses consistent with a waterfront public trust.
The project’s public amenities would include entirely restored and unobstructed public access to the waterfront portion of the property (amounting to more than 50% of the area), maritime uses such as berthing for deep-draft vessels, a City fireboat station, water transit access, historic pier rehabilitation and additional pedestrian and bicycle pathways.
In addition to a potential new 17,000-19,000 capacity arena for the Warriors, other trust-consistent uses would include retail and dining, and limited parking.
Assemblymember Ting is the Chair of Assembly Democratic Caucus and the Assembly Select Committee on Asia/California Trade and Investment Promotion, and he serves on the Budget, Business, Professions and Consumer Protection, Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials and the Revenue and Taxation committees.
CONTACT: Colleen Beamish, colleen.beamish@asm.ca.gov, (916) 319-2019