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Supervisors move jointly to nominate Bay Area Water Trail sites as priority conservation areas
Summary
The committee approved amendments and forwarded a resolution to add San Francisco sites to the Bay Area Water Trail Priority Conservation Area list, a designation that can make sites eligible for ABAG and other funding for capital projects and public access improvements.
The Land Use and Transportation Committee voted to forward a resolution designating the Bay Area Water Trail as a Priority Conservation Area (PCA), with amendments that consolidate two related items.
Chair Supervisor Malia Cohen said the two separate items introduced by supervisors were combined at the recommendation of the planning department so that a single resolution would capture the city’s priorities. "The Bay Area Water Trail is a network of current and proposed sites all along the San Francisco Bay that allow non motorized small boats," Cohen said during the meeting.
Ann Buell of the Coastal Conservancy described the Water Trail program and said the Conservancy intends to nominate the program by May 30 for PCA designation. Buell highlighted three benefits: health and education through increased access to the Bay for nonmotorized boating; regional planning via quarterly public meetings for early design review; and expanded funding opportunities, including eligibility for federal funding and broader scope than the program's state capital outlay funds.
Planning Department staff Matt Ditto explained how the city selected four new PCA areas using scientific data and policy alignment. He noted PCA designation carries no land‑use restrictions but makes sites eligible to apply for competitive ABAG funding (the program cycle was characterized as approximately $5,000,000 in a competitive grant cycle) for capital projects to preserve or improve the identified sites.
Committee members adopted chair amendments incorporating item 2 into item 3 and accepted attorney edits; the committee then moved the amended resolution to the full Board with a positive recommendation and tabled the separate item.
