Cargill: Don't Fill San Francisco Bay

Minnesota-based agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. is threatening to build a massive development on more than 1,400 acres of restorable Bayfront salt ponds in Redwood City. In May 2009, Cargill's development partner, Arizona-based luxury home builder DMB Associates, submitted its proposal to fill the salt pond site with up to 12,000 units of housing to Redwood City officials.

Former Bay wetlands are “not the right place for massive development,” declares the San Jose Mercury News. The San Francisco Chronicle agrees, calling this "an unacceptable site for housing." Urban sprawl, massive Bay fill and diking have already reduced the Bay’s size by one-third and destroyed more than 90 percent of the Bay's wetlands. These 1,433 acres of Bay shoreline should be restored to natural habitat to benefit people and wildlife.

Please join Save The Bay, Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, Audubon, Endangered Species Coalition, SF Baykeeper, Friends of Redwood City, and over 1100 other groups and individuals by signing our petition:

We oppose Cargill and DMB's massive Bay salt pond development in Redwood City. The project would put new development in the path of rising sea levels and destroy Bay shoreline open space that should be restored. This is not an infill site and is not the place for housing and commercial development; Redwood City should continue its smart growth redevelopment downtown. We urge Redwood City, state and federal agencies to reject the project and promote full restoration and protection of habitat and open space on this site.
Sign the Petition

The Bay is an inappropriate place for development

  • This is Bay fill not infill. Real infill development doesn't need new streets, let alone the 223 acres of streets in Cargill/DMB’s plan. The same goes for transit, sewage and the other necessary infrastructure. None of that infrastructure currently exists on these salt ponds.

  • Housing is not permitted on this sea-level, bayfront property. The site is zoned “Tidal Plain,” which allows salt production, parks and other open space uses, not housing.

  • Redwood City does not have water to support this development. Cargill/DMB proposes a controversial, complex, unprecedented and legally questionable transfer of southern California agricultural water to support the development. In the words of California State Assemblymember Jared Huffman, Chair of the Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife, "It is neither responsible nor realistic for DMB Associates to premise a huge urban development in the Bay Area on an elaborate scheme to import Kern County water."

  • Housing should not be built on a floodplain. Sea levels are projected to rise five feet or more in the next 90 years. Cargill/DMB expresses skepticism about sea level rise, and proposes to build a less protective levee, which preserves views for residents. They say the levee can be raised decades later (after the developer is long gone), if the seas really do start to rise. (Infrastructure Report; Appendix A.)

 

In Depth

Take Action: Stop Cargill from filling the Bay!

View our Flickr photo set on the Redwood City Salt Ponds

Watch the Virtual Saltworks Google Earth movies by a Redwood City resident

Key News Articles

Opposition statements

 

By completing this form, you agree to receive free Bay updates and alerts from Save The Bay.