Home California East Bay Regional Park District Closes 2016 at Nearly 121,000 Acres

East Bay Regional Park District Closes 2016 at Nearly 121,000 Acres

by ECT

In 2016, the East Bay Regional Park District purchased or leased 1,040 acres of open space and parklands for a year-end total of 120,931 acres – and optioned another 364.95 acres.

In doing so, EBRPD continues its commitment to protect significant biological, recreational, and historic resources; clean up park boundaries; and provide public access and trail connections throughout the Park District.

 

Land acquisitions and leases include:

  1. The 26.87-acre donation of property at Hayward Shoreline which will be incorporated into the adjacent Resource Protected Area for the preservation and enhancement of salt marsh harvest mouse habitat and ultimately become part of a larger wetland restoration project.
  2. The purchase of a 20-acre inholding at Point Pinole’s Dotson Family Marsh* in Richmond which will enhance the District’s marsh restoration and public access project while  protecting the property from future development.
    *formerly called Breuner Marsh
  3. The purchase of the 10-acre Patterson Ranch “church parcels” property at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont, one of the few remaining tracts of the historic Patterson Ranch still under ownership by the Patterson family that  will serve to extend the eastern boundary of Coyote Hills and preserve the contiguous open space stretching west from Ardenwood Boulevard and Paseo Padre Parkway.
  4. The purchase of three properties in partnership with the East Contra Costa Habitat Conservancy using both State and Federal grant funds, providing opportunities to protect habitat, seasonal drainages and associated special-status plant and animal species and develop possible trail connections to other open space:
  5.   The purchase of the 646-acre Nunn property north of Brentwood in the Delta Access Regional Recreation Area.
  6. b. The purchase of the 76.5-acre Hanson Ranch property north of Marsh Creek Road in East Contra Costa County from previous owners Save Mount Diablo.
  7. c. The purchase of the nearly 200-acre Coehlo Machado property at Vasco Hills Regional Preserve with additional grant funding provided by NextEra.
  8. The acceptance of a 4.88-acre trail easement at MESP near the Albany Bulb from Golden Gate Fields Land Holdings LLC as part of a settlement agreement related to a condemnation action, helping to close a significant gap in the San Francisco Bay Trail.
  9. The conveyance of 28.5 acres of property at Coyote Hills to the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, which will allow the ACFCD to widen an important flood control channel and construct a 47-acre wetland mitigation project on a portion of the recently acquired historic Patterson Ranch property, possibly also including  public trail access.
  10. The continuation of our lease of nearly 20 acres of property at the former Oakland Army Base south of the Bay Bridge take-off which positions the Park District to acquire said property once the Department of the Army completes its environmental mitigation via an approved Public Benefit Conveyance.
  11. The acquisition of a 1,056 square-foot parcel  (0.0242 acres) off Tidewater Avenue at Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline in Oakland from Arkansas Bandag Corp allowing for improved access and security measures for the both the public and Park District staff.
  12. The acceptance of 0.14 acres of trail and drainage easements from the City of Pinole and the lease of 12.83 acres of property from the State Lands Commission along the San Pablo Bay Shoreline, serving as the first steps to the closure of the Bay Trail gap in this area in support of the installation of a grade-separated bridge.
  13. The acceptance of 50 acres from Suncrest Homes 26, LLC and successor Antioch Land Holdings, LLC at Black Diamond Mines preventing development of an approved 50-unit housing subdivision; the donation to the Regional Parks Foundation is expected to be valued at around $3.5 million.
  14. The exchange and purchase of trail easements along the Burton Ridge area of the Calaveras Ridge Trail serving to secure portions of the remaining right of way necessary to extend the Calaveras Ridge Regional Trail into Las Trampas Wilderness Regional Preserve in San Ramon.
  15. The acceptance of a 1.32-acre lease from Caltrans at Ardenwood (Fremont) in support of the District-wide fiber optics placement project.

The Park District has optioned 364.95 acres scheduled to close escrow in 2017. These include:

  1. The acceptance, pending completion of due diligence, of 43 acres of the Oakland Inner Harbor Tidal Canal from the Army Corp of Engineers helping to close several gaps in the SF Bay Trail in this area.
  2. The exercise of option in partnership with the State Department of Parks and Recreation Habitat Conservation Fund grant program of the historic 191.45-acre Moller Ranch property at the main Somersville Road entrance to Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve in Antioch, preserving riparian habitat and associated historic structures.
  3. The option of three properties in partnership with the East Contra Costa Habitat Conservancy using both State and Federal grant funds, providing opportunities to protect habitat, seasonal drainages and associated special-status plant and animal species and develop possible trail connections to other open space:
  4.   The option of the 10.5-acre Nortonville property located near the western entrance to Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve.
  5. b. The option of the 80-acre Campos/Fitzpatrick property at Byron Vernal Pools.
  6. The option of the 40-acre Roddy Home Ranch within the future Deer Valley Regional Park.

Additional purchases will be announced once they are complete.

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