An Ohlone village. A winery. A Navy fuel depot. And a possible casino and subdivision. Point Molate has had — or almost had — many incarnations over many years. Now its latest one, an East Bay regional park, is moving forward, although it could take a while before it’s open to the public.
In July, the city, the East Bay Regional Park District and the Guidiville Rancheria tribe agreed to transfer ownership of 81 acres of the property to the parks district. The move came after years of litigation by environmental groups over plans to build a casino and housing, and has been hailed as a major victory for the Richmond community.
Point Molate park meeting
WHAT: At its Thur., Nov. 21 meeting the California State Coastal Conservancy board is expected to approve a $36 million grant to create the Point Molate regional park.
WHEN: 10 a.m., 1515 Clay St., Room 2, Oakland. See the board website for more information.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: Public comments can be made during the meeting. Here’s more information on how to participate.
However, it will be several years until visitors get full access to the property, and no specific meetings have been scheduled to get community input on what the park will look like. But Bay Area residents are welcome to share what they would like to see at Point Molate at any of the district’s biweekly board meetings, said Sabrina Landreth, general manager for the East Bay Regional Park District.
“We understand that there’s incredible desire for the public to get out there, but it does take time for us to plan the park and build the infrastructure, which is barely existent on that site,” Landreth said. “We plan to work closely with the community to make sure there is input from all stakeholders.”
The deal was made possible by a $36 million state grant from the California Coastal Conservancy to end a legal claim by the Guidiville Rancheria tribe, which had planned to build a casino in the area. An additional $4 million for the project will come from the park district’s Measure WW and Measure AA funds. The remainder of Point Molate is owned by the city of Richmond, including Point Molate Beach and tracts that currently house the Richmond Rod & Gun Club and Dutra Materials, a marine construction company. The park district’s acquisition will not impact these city leases.
Point Molate first settled by tribes for fishing, later by Chinese shrimpers
Located just north of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, Point Molate is a 400-acre peninsula with a long history.
It was first settled by the Huichin Ohlone, who built fishing boats and domed huts using the tule reeds that grow in the marshy shoreline of the bay. In the 1860s, Chinese shrimpers set up their camp at Point Molate and stayed there for 50 years.
In the early 1900s, the California Wine Association purchased 48 acres and built a winery on the site, calling it Winehaven. The brick, castle-like fortress — with crenelated walls and corner turrets — is still there, albeit in disrepair, and historical preservationists a couple of years ago filed a lawsuit to save its buildings. At its height, Winehaven was the biggest winery in the country, receiving grapes and shipping out bottles via the Castro Point Railway whose tracks still crisscross the area. There was also employee housing, a school and a hotel, with some buildings still remaining today.
While the future of Winehaven remains unknown due to the lawsuit between Winehaven Legacy LLC and the city, the park district said it will not impact the district’s ability to purchase the property or develop the park.
Prohibition put an end to the wine industry, although bootleggers did their best to keep the wine flowing. In 1941 the Navy bought the property and it soon became a naval fuel station. Large underground and above-ground tanks were built and pipelines laid. Operations continued until 1995 when the city of Richmond took over the property.
Since then, Point Molate has remained largely inaccessible to the public, most of its rolling hills and sweeping views of Mount Tamalpais and San Francisco visible from behind a chain-link fence. The only portion that has been accessible to visitors is Point Molate Beach, which has picnic tables, a parking area and portable toilets. Despite that, infrastructure is limited and will need to be fully assessed to make sure it’s suitable for public use and in compliance with today’s regulations, Landreth said. It is anticipated that much of the infrastructure will require significant upgrades or full replacement to serve as a modern public park.
Residents excited about having a new park
Many locals are excited to finally be able to access more of the peninsula.
Juan Mendoza, who was out with his wife and two young daughters on a recent day at the nearby Miller/Knox Regional Park, said he was looking forward to hiking trails at Point Molate and seeing how the park connects to other surrounding regional parks.
“We need more open spaces where families can enjoy nature,” he said. “We’d love to see a space for picnic areas, a playground and maybe even a dog run. Whatever it is, I’m just glad that it won’t be new housing.”
Richmond resident Rafi Brenman remembers celebrating birthdays at Point Molate Beach, combing the sand for sea glass. “It would be great to be able to see more of the park,” he said.
Evelyn Santos, director of Richmond Museum of History and Culture, said she would love to collaborate with the parks district to highlight Point Molate’s history, although no one from the district has yet reached out.
“I’d love to see didactic panels that speak to the history, geography and use of the land, which is really important given the symbiotic relationship that the Ohlone people had with the land,” Santos said, adding that it’s really up to the residents of Richmond to share what they want to see in the park.
With the acquisition of Point Molate, the East Bay Regional Park District will now have 74 parks in its system, comprising more than 126,000 acres, making it the largest regional park system in the United States. The district was created in 1934 during the Great Depression after Alameda County voters agreed to tax themselves to create parks. The district has an acquisition team that continuously looks to acquire and preserve properties with biologic, recreational, and historic value, and improve public access to parks and trails.
“We’re very excited to add Point Molate to the portfolio,” Landreth said. “It’s a really unique opportunity for us to create this space that protects and supports the plants and wildlife in the area and provides critical access to the community.”
Take some time is an understatement. I don’t see how the property makes it out of land bank status before at least 10 years and possibly much longer. There’s just too much infrastructure work for the Park District’s budget to handle.
And so the status quo will continue. Only a small group of people, many of whom were involved in undermining housing development on the site, will have access while the public remains locked out.
Thanks to the “people are pollution” movement the people will continue to have no access to this public land.
More gaslighting of the community by a small group of people, many of whom do not live in Richmond and claim to be social justice warriors. They concocted this deal behind closed doors, while simultaneously throwing the Guidiville Indian Tribe under the bus.
Let’s be clear about “undermining housing development.” In testimony before the Richmond City Council, fire officials warned that several factors made the site inappropriate for housing, among them a single two-lane access road with only one exit onto an often gridlocked freeway, and its location next to Chevron’s petroleum storage tanks.
Questions raised about the housing plan included the following: would the market for high end homes in Richmond absorb so many units? What about traffic back-ups, safety, 35% higher property taxes and remoteness/lack of amenities? These and other questions were raised multiple times: you might want to refer to this list, https://ptmolatealliance.org/sixteen-unanswered-questions/
The most vocal and active opponents of the development plan are all Richmond residents.
Good article, but no mention of all those little houses that sit empty. Will they be destroyed? I pass by them frequently on my way to the marina and I always think, “What a waste!” People could be living here!
Just a correction: Miller/Knox not “Knox Miller” as referenced in article.
Thank you. Should have caught that!
Why didn’t EBRPD and Bruce Beiyart weigh in on the Bay Trail slated to run along the shoreline around the Point and down to the yacht harbor? Can the Bay Trail be prioritized? That way, people could access the shore and a shoreline trail even without a park.