SAN FRANCISCO—The state Senate approved a bill on September 6 by a vote of 22-6 that may help sway the Golden State Warriors’ decision to move from Oakland to San Francisco.
Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) authored AB1273 to help the team open an 18,000-seat arena between Piers 30 and 32. According to current plans for the arena, there would still be public access to the site, which would host other events besides basketball and include open space around the facility.
The primary purpose of the bill is to develop a mix-use development project that would include the Golden State Warriors’ basketball arena on a pier that is located on tide and submerged lands, also known as public trust lands.
“The challenge with this project is that the common law Public Trust Doctrine, as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, places limitations on the state’s authority to use trust lands for non-trust purposes,” according to the Assembly floor analysis.
The analysis goes on to state that a basketball arena does not involve any kind of water-related commerce, navigation or fishing, but there have been exceptions of non-trust uses on public trust land and the courts have found the Public Trust Doctrine to be flexible in addressing changing public needs.
“(The plan) authorizes a primary non-(public) trust, non-water dependent use—the indoor arena, non-trust office and retail space and parking below public open space,” said Lawrence Goldband, executive director of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
Ting said the piers are in need of repair and the Warriors’ proposal would bring a nearly $1 billion-project into the city and benefit the entire city.
Some lawmakers opposed to the bill say it supports moving jobs from an economically distressed area into a region with low unemployment rate.
Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) said the legislation would give an advantage to San Francisco without any thought to the impact the loss of a sports team could have on Oakland and surrounding areas.
Supporters of the bill say the Legislature approved a mix of both maritime and non-maritime-related businesses a few years ago that agreed to have retail and commercial uses on the same piers to help provide funding on a cruise ship terminal that was never built.
The bill would allow the State Lands Commission (SLC) to decide whether or not the project is consistent with public trust laws in regards to developing along the shoreline. The legislation, however, would not change the required reviews under the California Environmental Equality Act.
The bill now returns to the Assembly and if passed will be sent to the governor.
By Melissa Simon
