Strong Support for Park Project Activist: More Study Needs to Be Done
Judith Scherr, Berkeley Daily Planet, September 18-19, 1999

Teens said the new skateboard park planned for open space at Harrison and Fifth streets would be "phat." And older folks, especially a delegation from the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, talked about the benefits of play fields for the youth.

There was only one dissenting voice, that of an environmental activist who wants more thorough studies of the air quality at the proposed site.

Thursday's public hearing before the Parks Commission was a step toward approval of a "negative declaration," an environmental study of a project that is less thorough than an Environmental Impact Report. A negative declaration is written when it is thought that environmental impacts can be ameliorated.

A consultant will prepare responses to comments by the public -- the comments made at Thursday's meeting or ones submitted in writing by Oct. 1 and present them in a final report.

The Parks Commission will review the document at its Oct. 25 meeting and make a recommendation to the City Council, which will approve or deny the project.

The area is bounded by Harrison Street, the Union Pacific Railroad property, Codornices Creek - at the Albany-Berkeley border and Fifth Street. The city is in negotiations with the University of California to purchase the site.

Much to the delight of the creek protecting community, Codornices Creek will be re-engineered so that it is allowed to meander, rather than going in the straight line it travels now. This will improve the environment for the steelhead trout and lessen the creek's frequent flooding.

A 225-foot by 80-foot skateboard park is planned at the site, which would be open daily until 10 p.m. No spectator events would be allowed.

Teenagers Nick Calvert and Sam Gamble told the commission that every time they skateboard in public places, they got "kicked out." They were among a group of skateboarders lobbying the commission to go forward with the park without further studies.

Wyatt Miller, a member of the youth commission, added that the park had all the amenities needed by the young. "It's away from homes, it has great bus access, and it's close to McDonald's on San Pablo," he said.

A large multipurpose playfield, 350-feet by 230-feet, and a smaller multi-purpose field, 306-feet by 240-feet, would be used for a number of organized field sports, including soccer, lacrosse, rugby, field hockey and youth football.

Nan Jeasten from the First Congregational Church told the commission that the church and the city had identified a need for more playing fields. "It's time to move past studying," she said.

Environmental activist L A Wood however, called for more thorough studies. He said he was concerned by chromium detected in an ambient air study.

The study, conducted by Acurex Environmental Corporation of Mountain View, concludes: "The health risk results suggest that exposure at the lower Harrison Street location is no more significant than is seen in a typical, densely-populated, urban environment. Except for small diameter particulate material, all measured values were within the normal range of values measured in the Bay Area."

The report goes on to say that the particle value, "although higher than normal Bay Area ranges, is below the current National Ambient Air Quality Standards."

The study, however, was conducted only on two different days and Wood argued that a more thorough study should be conducted.

Sasha Chordus, mother of a child who would use the playfields, countered Wood's environmental concerns. "We're all exposed to pollutants wherever we go. The pollution question is silly," she said.