Development
In January, Mayor Tom Butt will leave office, and a majority of the Design Review Board may follow him. The City Council rejected Butt’s proposed appointments of two new members to the DRB in a 3-3-1 vote at the Nov. 15 meeting. Vice Mayor Eduardo Martinez and council members Claudia Jimenez and Gayle McLaughlin voted against the appointments. Council member Melvin Willis abstained. “I’ll tell you a little secret,” Butt told the council. “We’re not going to have a quorum…
Point Molate, a scenic stretch of San Francisco Bay shoreline, has faced one legal battle after another over its ownership and development potential. A new lawsuit, filed on May 27 in Contra Costa County Superior Court, seeks $20 million from the City of Richmond and threatens to tie up the 425-acre plot indefinitely. Winehaven Legacy LLC, a subsidiary of developer SunCal, has accused the city of breaching its contract and breaking the Brown Act, which governs public meetings in California. …
A court case last month possibly set the stage for a new cannabis dispensary in Richmond, the resurrection of an old fight to keep it out — or both. Two Richmond dispensary owners were ordered to pay $5 million in damages for conspiring against a rival owner. On Sept. 23, a Contra Costa County jury found that William Koziol and Darrin Parle, who operate the Green Remedy Collective, had prevented a prospective dispensary, Richmond Compassionate Care Collective, from establishing a…
Development on Point Molate has been a contentious issue in Richmond for more than a decade. (File photo)
Joshua Genser is pictured on his north shore property in 2011. (File photo)
Richmond Mayor Tom Butt navigates the conflicts that arise from his roles of public official, business owner and real estate investor. (File photo, 2013)
Despite approved housing plan, the fight over Point Molate rages on.
Point Molate Alliance is fighting to save Point Molate from a luxury housing development.
The new bike and pedestrian path on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is a four-year pilot led by various transportation agencies.