Environmentalists, political leaders push to derail San Francisco Bay Saltworks development
REDWOOD CITY – A proposal to construct the largest housing development on the shores of San Francisco Bay in more than 40 years has run headlong into a phalanx of environmentalists and politicians who want to derail the project even before initial environmental studies begin.
The so-called Saltworks 50-50 Plan would build as many as 12,000 housing units on about 1,400 acres of what is now a retired salt production facility just east of Highway 101, not far from the San Mateo Bridge in Redwood City.
The proposal, being pitched by agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. and Arizona-based DMB Associates, has come under political fire in recent weeks by more than 100 environmental and political leaders who signed a petition asking Redwood City officials to cease any further consideration of the proposal.