Little Common Ground in Competing Visions for Concord Naval Base

CONCORD, Calif. (KCBS)  -- Redeveloping the nearly 13,000 acres of the Concord Naval Weapons Station has proved to be a steep, uphill climb as city officials and opposing neighborhood groups struggle for common ground.

The plan favored by the city council would build more than 12,000 homes in dense clustered villages around the North Concord BART station that include schools, parks and office space.

  KCBS' Dave Padilla reports

Two separate neighborhood coalitions have objected to the traffic impacts and the amount of land set aside for open space.

City Councilwoman Laura Hoffmeister said the divisions run deep enough that it could be a decade before ground is broken anywhere on the 13,000-acre property.

Hoffmeister said the city’s short term goal is just to add the redevelopment plan to Concord’s general plan, since no construction can start until the U.S. Navy carries out its own environmental review.

The city council will take up the redevelopment plan at two meetings on Feb. 5 and Feb. 23. At least one group, the Concord Naval Weapons Station Neighborhood Alliance, has threatened to sue or put a measure on the ballot if it doesn’t like the outcome.

The rejection by Alameda Voters last Tuesday of a plan to redevelop the Alameda Naval Air Station and the controversy over the revenue sharing deal between Treasure Island and San Francisco underscore how difficult developing former military land can be.

Image courtesy of CBS-5.
(jro)