Pittsburg’s waterfront is one of the city’s gems, but could it be more, perhaps with a long, scenic promenade, waterfront dining or watersports?
These are just some of the possibilities city planners are looking at as they envision a revitalized downtown waterfront along the Sacramento-San Joaquin River and juggle ideas for connecting the area with the nearby Old Town business district.
Residents will get a first glimpse at initial design ideas and a chance to ask questions and help develop a vision for the project during a community workshop from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 16 at the Marina Community Center, 340 Marina Blvd.
Initial work began last year with economic development funding, including from Measure M, after the advisory board found the project to be “consistent with the ideas of job creation and economic development,” Jordan Davis, the city’s community and economic development director, said.
“It began as an economic development effort to try to lift up the businesses, create more business opportunities in the downtown area, and create better places that people would want to frequent,” Davis said. “It also is something that’s very strongly pushed in our economic development strategic plan that we adopted a couple of years ago.”
While grants are available for planning, Davis added that the city wants to first develop a design concept that will make it more competitive for grants that will help pay for its implementation in the future.
So far, Ron Jones of Hunt Hale Jones Architects has been hired at a cost of up to $45,000 as a design consultant for the planning exercise.
At the meeting, city staff and design consultants will discuss different development concepts and alternatives with community members and solicit input and suggestions about Old Town, the marina and adjoining neighborhoods.
Some of the proposed concepts to revitalize the area include leisure and entertainment activities, as well as tourist attractions, such as water sports, gifts shops, pop-up stands, parklets, destination specialty gift shops, hospitality uses, boardwalk, waterfront dining, children’s playgrounds, scenic waterfront promenade, way-finding signs and more, according to staff.
Maurice Brenyah-Addow, a senior planner, said the project is in its infancy stage and will be followed up with additional public meetings at the Planning Commission and City Council where residents will be able to give additional input. Residents can also view the plans at https://bit.ly/3PbuI8G.
Though the city is “setting the bar high,” Davis said the staff really wants to develop a vision so it can incorporate ideas when developers present plans.
“We may not get all of the things that we’re talking about, but let’s talk about what the vision could be because somebody might come in and say, ‘hey, I want to do that, I want to build there,’” he said.
The main goal is to make sure the marina and waterfront are walkable and connect to the downtown area, he added. The main entrance of the marina and waterfront parks is off Marina Boulevard, which runs a block west of the main downtown storefronts.
“We’re trying to come up with a plan, a strategy for making that connection,” he said. “So anybody coming down to eat at the (New) Mecca or La Veranda or anywhere else can head down to the waterfront and enjoy it. We’re really trying to make sure that it’s walkable and connected.”
Residents are encouraged to provide written feedback on the concepts from March 11-18. If you have any questions or comments, contact Brenyah-Addow at 65 Civic Ave., Pittsburg, CA 94565, call 925-252-4261, or email him at mbrenyah-addow@pittsburgca.gov. You can also fax comments to 925-252-4814.
