TIDA Postpones Clipper Cove Marina Vote

Should Clipper Cove be a home for mega yachts? How much of the Cove should be made available for public use, such as lessons, racing and cruising?

At Wednesday’s meeting of the Board of Directors of the Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA), President V. Fei Tsen opened with the big news of the day: there would be no vote on approving the 66-year lease on the proposed expansion at Clipper Cove Marina. The vote would occur at a to-be-determined future date, with community input, Tsen said.

In the audience, the room was crowded with several dozen members of the public waiting to weigh in on the development. The current marina plan before TIDA proposes 313 40-, 50-, 60-, 70- and 80-plus-ft slips, with an average length of 53 feet. Estimates of the marina’s footprint on the water vary: it could be 15% or it could be 32%.

First came presentations by Treasure Island Enterprises (TIE), the marina’s developer, which has operated the existing marina under an interim sublease since 2000, as well as Treasure Island Sailing Center (TISC). TIE stressed the compromises they have made based on community input, and the agreement they reached with TISC in 2016. TISC presented not only details of their past and present sailing, STEM and leadership programs with Bay Area children, but also a glimpse at their vision for how a 66-year lease would let them grow with expanded land facilities.

But a pointed question by Tsen to TISC Executive Director Travis Lund got to the heart of the matter concerning development: Would TISC be able to safely run their programs on the water if the new marina development was built? With TISC Foundation board chair Carisa Harris-Adamson unable to attend the meeting, it was up to Lund to carefully articulate the answer: yes and no.

Lund reiterated Harris-Adamson’s previous published statement that the compromise was reached in good faith, to prevent the larger marina plan that would have annihilated safe sailable space at Clipper Cove, killing TISC’s programs. Under the current marina plan, TISC’s programs could continue — but they would be severely impacted, as would both youth and adult racing and adult cruising at the protected Cove.

Comments by the public included both support and opposition to the development. Members of local construction unions showed up to say they favored starting the project as soon as possible. A smattering of Treasure Island residents and representatives from island organizations said they were also in favor of moving forward. Anti forces included the Sierra Club, with Becky Evans voicing concern about the eelgrass and changes in sedimentation in the cove.

But much of the feedback came from sailors. Some were concerned about losing access to one of the only protected sailing areas in the Bay. Several were from Friends of the Sailing Center, who said community sailing would be gravely impacted and TISC wouldn’t be able to operate their programs safely.

The proposed length of the slips dominated much of the discussion. Having no slips under 40 feet shuts out existing tenants and doesn’t cater to the smaller sailboats that are the heart of the Bay Area sailing community, one current tenant said. There was vehement opposition to turning Clipper Cove into mega yacht storage. There was concern that larger slips would stay empty because there is no fuel dock at Clipper Cove and few bikini bathing opportunities in San Francisco Bay.

Absent were the mega-yacht customers saying docks of that size are needed. How would professional yacht captains feel about maneuvering their vessels around young kids in Optis?

Stay tuned.

For notices of future meetings, go here. Information on opposition to the project is available here.