Give Your Two Cents: How To Create World Class Regional Park On Former Military Base In East Bay

News from EBRPD:

The East Bay Regional Park District will hold a public meeting to share ideas about the future world-class regional park to be located within the former Concord Naval Weapons Station.

This meeting will build upon the public meetings that informed the Concord Reuse Project Area Plan (2012), which encompasses the future regional park, and will be the first in a series of meetings dedicated to the Concord Hills Regional Park.

Thursday, July 23, 2015 @ 6:30 PM
Concord Senior Center, 2727 Parkside Circle
Concord, CA 94519

Reservations are not required.
For additional information, visit www.ebparks.org/cnws

SOME BACKGROUND:

The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) partnered with the City of Concord and the National Park Service to provide a new regional park on the former Concord Naval Weapons Station.

The Concord Hills Regional Park is the working name for a world class regional park that will provide a full range of trail opportunities, wildlife preservation, and environmental and historic interpretation including a partnership with the National Park Service to develop a joint visitor center highlighting the history of the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial.

The 5,028 acre Inland Area of the Concord Naval Weapons Station was approved for closure by the Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) in November 2005. The City of Concord, acting as the Local Reuse Authority, initiated a multi-year community planning process culminating in the adoption of a Reuse Plan in 2010. This plan was further refined and integrated into Concord’s General Plan through the adoption of the Concord Reuse Project Area Plan in January 2012.

The adopted Area Plan provides for development of over 12,200 new housing units, over 6.1 million square feet of commercial floor space, and a variety of community facilities and city parks. The proposed development would primarily be clustered on the western portion of the former base. The adopted Area Plan also includes a new regional park of 2,537 acres located on the eastern portion of the site to be conveyed to the District through a public benefit conveyance. Additional information on the City of Concord’s Reuse Plan and Area Plan can be found at ConcordReuseProject.org

The East Bay Regional Park District submitted an application for a public benefit conveyance through the National Park Service Federal Lands to Parks program in September 2013. On May 8, 2014, the National Park Service informed the District that the Public Benefit Conveyance application for 2,540 acres of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station was approved and that they will grant a public benefit allowance of 100 percent of the fair market value of the property to be conveyed.

The current schedule estimates that the initial transfer of the 2,453 acres found suitable for transfer within the proposed regional park area could be conveyed in the first or second quarter of 2016.