Pro-Development Citizens Group Touts Cargill in Redwood City

A new Redwood City-based group has emerged calling for the development of the Cargill Industrial Saltworks site now the subject of a signature gathering effort to halt such a development by local and regional environmental organizations.

In a recent op-ed in the Daily News, Redwood City resident and public relations hack Lou Covey announced the formation of Sustainable Redwood City, a new organization dedicated to “…promoting the long-term viability of our community, economy, environment and overall quality of life benefiting all residents,” according to its posted mission statement.

Covey’s group has formed apparently as a foil to the Friends of Redwood City organization that has long fought against developments the organization identifies as environmentally flawed. In February, the Friends of Redwood City in concert with Save the Bay and the Committee for Green Foothills announced a signature gathering effort to place a measure on the Redwood City ballot to preserve existing open spaces and parks by requiring that any development of such pristine sites, under the new ordinance established by the ballot measure, would require a vote of the people.

The ballot effort, flying under the banner of Open Space Redwood City, is thought to have been formed in direct response to the proposed development of 1,433 acre site of Bay-side land now owned by the salt manufacturing conglomerate Cargill. The Bay-side property and associated salt ponds are targeted for a massive development that will change the face of Redwood City and the Redwood Shores area and forever pave over rare Bay lands that many believe should be returned to the San Francisco Bay itself.

The ballot effort has touched off what will likely be an intense battle between the elected leadership of Redwood City working with Cargill and its development firm DMB Associates of Arizona against many environmental organizations including Friends of Redwood City; Save the Bay; the Committee for Green Foothills; Sequoia Audubon Society; Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge; Clean Water Action; the Sierra Club; and Acterra: Action for a Sustainable Earth.

Covey, like others throughout San Mateo County, supports so-called smart-growth developments, although the proposed bayside development of the Cargill site is considered by environmentalists to be a poor example of ex-urban development as it is far from public transit would strain existing infrastructure and would fill-in what could be new tidal wet lands, a rare commodity around the Bay. Such tidelands act as a mechanism for cleaning Bay water and serve as host for a variety of wildlife. That is why environmentalists are pushing hard for their restoration rather than a massive commercial and residential development.

Sustainable Redwood City joins other pro-development organizations that have sprung up in San Mateo County such as the Peninsula Coalition, which is supported primarily by developers and utility companies, and San Mateo Together, an organization formed to push for the redevelopment of the Bay Meadows Racetrack.

The Cargill development has also played into the State Assembly race in the 19th District as environmentalists have attacked San Mateo County Supervisor Jerry Hill - one of the three candidates vying to replace Gene Mullin - for being the pro-development candidate, according to an op-ed in the Daily News.