Committee finds Marina remediation and rebuild fiscally feasible; project to proceed to full board

The Budget and Finance Committee on March 19 voted unanimously to send to the full Board of Supervisors a resolution finding the Marina Improvement and Remediation Project fiscally feasible under San Francisco Administrative Code Chapter 29.

Recreation and Park Department project manager Monica Scott told the committee the project is a joint effort between the city and PG&E and stems from a final settlement agreement approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2021. She said the project’s three primary goals are environmental remediation, a financially sustainable marina and increased public access. “There will also be a reactive barrier installed along the shoreline,” Scott said, and the work will include dredging and capping in the East Harbor, breakwater construction in the West Harbor, reinstallation of slips, reconfigured docks, an accessible community dock for nonmotorized craft and upland improvements to the Marina Triangle.

Scott said the project will include offshore and onshore monitoring during and after construction and establishment of institutional controls to protect the site following construction. She gave a total estimated project cost of $188,000,000 and said PG&E will pay up to $190,000,000 under the settlement. The department will repay up to $29,400,000 of PG&E’s contribution over 30 years, with repayments to begin three years after project completion; Scott said all city payments would come exclusively from marina revenues.

Nick Menard of the Budget and Legislative Analyst’s office recommended approval in his office’s report, telling supervisors the “clear funding source” from the PG&E settlement plus projected marina revenues make the city’s repayment and ongoing maintenance costs feasible. Menard noted that operations and maintenance costs are expected to decrease after the project because of updated facilities.

Committee members pressed Recreation and Parks on how the department will keep the community informed going forward. Scott said the project maintains a website and a mailing list of “close to a thousand people” who receive regular updates at major milestones; she said she planned to issue updates monthly when there is progress and at least quarterly as a minimum. She added that environmental review under CEQA and subsequent multi-agency permitting must be completed before construction can begin, and estimated the environmental review would take about 22 to 24 months.

Supervisor Connie Chan, who moved the item to the full board with a positive recommendation, thanked the Recreation and Parks Department for community outreach and noted her office and District 2 stakeholders had been consulted. The committee recorded a roll-call vote with Supervisors Matt Dorsey, Joe Ingardio and Chair Chan voting aye.

Next steps Scott outlined include completion of environmental review, continued design work, public engagement through the CEQA process, return to the Recreation and Park Commission for CEQA findings and eventual contract award. Construction cannot start until required environmental and permitting steps are complete.

Public comment at the hearing included one marina resident who expressed general support for marina improvements while raising unrelated concerns about smart meters and suggesting more urban gardening space; that speaker was recorded as a resident and did not affect the committee’s recommendation.

The committee’s fiscal-feasibility finding sends the measure to the Board of Supervisors for consideration on the March 25 docket.