When Bay Crossings, upon hearing that the $286 billion Federal Transportation and Highway Bill includes $20 million for the proposed ferry terminal at Port Sonoma at the mouth of the Petaluma River, we reached into our files and found this unpublished interview with Skip Berg, one of the owners of that property, and, naturally, a proponent of high-speed ferry service from Port Sonoma to San Francisco.
Published: August, 2005
When Bay Crossings, upon hearing that the $286 billion Federal Transportation and Highway Bill includes $20 million for the proposed ferry terminal at Port Sonoma at the mouth of the Petaluma River, we reached into our files and found this unpublished interview with Skip Berg, one of the owners of that property, and, naturally, a proponent of high-speed ferry service from Port Sonoma to San Francisco.
This service has been examined by Golden Gate Ferries, and is included in the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit’s Environmental Impact Study. Port Sonoma, continues to be considered as a possible ferry terminal by the Water Transit Authority.
This interview was conducted by Wes Starratt, Senior Writer, Bay Crossings in 2002. The edited transcript follows:
1. Who is Skip Berg and where did he come from?
"I am a guy with eight kids and a wonderful wife. I was born in Chicago and grew up in southern California. Thirty-five years ago, I came to the Bay Area on a vacation and fell in love with it. I have lived in Tiburon, in the same house, for 31 years."
2. Do you call yourself a developer?
"No, I’m mostly an investor. Occasionally, I develop something, but when I do, I usually keep it. I was the sole owner of Sears Point Raceway, but sold it four years ago because of family reasons. I own income property, and that is how I live."
3. How did you become involved with Port Sonoma?
"I drove by it a lot and studied the map; it is clear that [Port Sonoma] is a strategic and unique location in the North Bay. There is nothing else like it. I talked with my wife who agreed, and we bought it from Granite Construction (the builder of the marina). The property is now owned by an LLC (limited liability company) of which I am a member. The names of the other members are private."
4. How do you view Port Sonoma?
"Port Sonoma has one asset and only one asset. It involves someone being able to get on a train in Sonoma County or in a car or bus in Marin County, going [to] Port Sonoma, and taking a ferry to San Francisco, to the airport, to the ball park, or ultimately to Oakland, San Jose, or Vallejo, and being able to commute around the bay without using a car, exacerbating traffic, and polluting the skies ... that’s what makes Port Sonoma special. We have a natural bay, and we should use it. The thing that makes Port Sonoma so strategic is that it is on the bay, has an existing marina, and a rail line that is in use today ... you don’t have to build it ... it exists ... and runs right through the property, so, you have a natural connection for rail, ferry, and bus. That is what makes Port Sonoma special ... pure and simple."
5. What plans do you have for transforming Port Sonoma into a multi-model transportation hub with rail and bus access?
"We have plenty of room for all of that. It’s not difficult. The rail exists, but we need a site for the trains to stop. That would be easy to do. There should also be plenty of parking space. At Port Sonoma, we have room to do it all. Our goal is to see if Port Sonoma can become a ferry-rail connection ... a transit hub where you have rail, ferry, bus, and cars all come together."
6. Have you thought about recreational use for the ferry, like a wine train and shuttle bus service to Sears Point Raceway?
"Absolutely, all that will happen. It’ll have commuter use on mornings and evenings, plus, tourist and other uses in the middle of the day and on weekends. It won’t be just a commuter service. People who live in Sonoma may want to go [to] the ballpark or to the airport."
7. Turning to the environmental community, there has been a lot of criticism of you and the Port Sonoma project.
(breaking in) "I don’t think it’s all of the environmental community. I think that there are some folks who say that is what they want, and there are some people who don’t want anything done. Clearly, it is in the interest of the environment to reduce pollution and reduce traffic. Port Sonoma can accomplish that. That’s an environmental goal that we should all apply."
8. There has been hostility on behalf of the environmental community to some of your projects ... how do you feel about working with the environmental community?
"I am an environmentalist. I’ve been a member of the Sierra Club forever. I think that one can be a business person and an environmentalist, and that the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive."
9. Do you think that the Port Sonoma project will be detrimental to habitats of endangered species?
"No, we have talked with lots of folks in ways that we can help. I think that the contrary will be true."
10. How do you plan on working with the environmental community to mitigate environmental impacts?
"It is important to understand that if you have a ferry going across the water that it should be as environmentally safe as possible. Alternative fuels and all of the latest technologies should be considered and used. However, it’s clear that the ferry and rail … getting people on the train and getting people out of their cars ... is substantially better for everybody’s health and well being than having them drive cars … Getting them out of their cars and into transit would be better for everybody."
11. Can you assure your critics that the development associated with Port Sonoma will be limited to the facilities directly associated with terminal operations, since your group owns property on both sides of Highway 37?
"First of all, the ranch on the north side of Highway 37 we have for wetlands mitigation. We don’t expect that to have development. On the south side, we’re not sure that it will ultimately be a rail-ferry connection. We believe that is a rational use, but there are folks out there trying to decide what to do. But, I understand that, of all the places considered in the North Bay, Port Sonoma is the last man standing. It’s the site that the San Francisco Bay Water Transit Authority prefers. However, it’s going to take a long time for the approvals to come down and for the site to actually become a rail-ferry or even just a highway-ferry connection. When we know that is actually going to happen, there will need to be some development to facilitate a transit mode. But, what that is, we are not sure. We’re not thinking that far ahead. We are taking one step at a time. If it turns out that Port Sonoma is the North Bay rail-ferry connection, then we ought to look around the world and do something that is world class. What that is, we are not sure. But it ought to be done right."
13. Is the proposed Port Sonoma transit hub going to open the floodgate to development?
"It can’t open the floodgate. The property is constrained."
14. How large is the property?
"The property south of Highway 37 is 110 acres, and the ranch across the highway is about 500 acres. Some of the 110 acres is marina; so, that doesn’t leave a great deal of land south of the highway. We don’t want to do anything north of the highway, since we don’t think that’s appropriate."
15. If you have only 110 acres south of the highway and require a certain amount of space for parking and perhaps for the marina, is there sufficient land left for a terminal?
"There will be some, but I don’t know how much. That is so far ahead. Anything that we would do would have to go through the EIR process, the Board of Supervisors, etc. There will be plenty of time for public input."
Some of this public opinion was expressed in 2002:
An environmentalist active in Water Transit Authority (WTA) activities:
"I think that the only way that the environment community would even consider supporting a ferry terminal is if all of the land is permanently protected all along the Highway 37 corridor from Port Sonoma to Sears Point. And even then, wildlife managers are very concerned about impacts to endangered species, and I mean the US Fish and Wildlife Service and California Fish and Game, not just Audubon and Sierra Club."
A member of the Novato City Council, also active in WTA activities:
"The Port Sonoma ferry development is tremendously significant to our citizens. From Novato, it is a short, 10-minute drive to Port Sonoma. Figures done by the WTA show that the majority of the ridership for a Port Sonoma ferry would come from Novato. There is already development at the site in terms of a marina, and that should allow enough room for a parking lot and a dock out into the rider. Supervisors in Sonoma County will have to make sure that there is codification of the land zoning around it to prevent massive development, and I think that can be done. The environmental habitats are nearby, and I think that the ferry terminal can be built around them. Some environmentalists may feel threatened, but when the studies are done, we will know more and how to mitigate any problems that may exist. To drop the project at this point would be irresponsible."
