Phil Matier: SF Supervisors To Consider Appeal Of Treasure Island Plan

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday planned to consider an appeal by opponents of a $1.5 billion project to transform Treasure Island.

The proposal would add up to 8,000 residential units, up to 140,000 square feet of commercial space and as much as 100,000 square feet of new office space to the island, as well as new and upgraded roads and infrastructure, including a new ferry terminal.

The city has been working to redevelop the 404-acre island in the middle of the Bay since the U.S. Navy closed its base there in 1997.

The San Francisco Planning Commission narrowly approved the project's environmental impact report by a 4-3 vote in April, and last month, a Board of Supervisors committee voted in favor of the plan.

But before the project could go in front of the full board, on May 11 a group of environmental advocates and other opponents of the plan filed an appeal that seeks to overturn the Planning Commission's approval of the plan.

The opponents include Golden Gate Audubon, Sierra Club, Arc Ecology and Aaron Peskin, former president of the Board of Supervisors.

Among the complaints in the appeal, opponents argue that the environmental review did not adequately address various impacts of the project, including increased congestion on the Bay Bridge, and the island's vulnerability to flooding from a tsunami or liquefaction during an earthquake.

Some opponents also argued that the changes being suggested wouldn't make Treasure Island "unique enough."

"We're always going to hear that in San Francisco," reasoned KCBS and Chronicle Insider Phil Matier. "How green is green, how unique is unique? But just sittin' in the middle of the Bay there is a pretty unique experience."

KCBS and Chronicle Insider Phil Matier:

"Controversial as ever but I think it's gonna pass," he continued.

Although the board meeting was slated to start at 2 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, the opponents' appeal would not be considered until 5 p.m.

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