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To the Editor: 

Disputes over dogs and ballfields will continue, but I believe an overwhelming majority will agree on rejecting one element of the draft preliminary plan for the Eastshore State Park (July 30 article). Aside from one small windsurf-launch area, every inch of west-facing, coastal bluff – meadow edges where folks might stroll or wheel to look at open Bay – is envisioned as “urban promenade.” That is, the entire west shore of the Brickyard Peninsula, North Basin Strip, Point Isabel and Battery Point (except the Point Isabel windsurf launch) would be wide pavement with a railing between people and water, topping hardened, engineered seawall. 

There should certainly be one such promenade, if only for people uncertain of their balance. But more than a mile? Aside from locking in a costly cycle of reinforcing wave-battered bluffs and loose fill to protect expensive railings and pavement, these Manhattan-style “promenades” would separate people from nature, and they don’t suit the setting. Cesar Chavez Park and the Bay Trail show the model to follow: a broad, smooth, fully accessible trail suitable for strolling, cycling, and roller blading, set back a few feet from the bluff top but still with shore and water views. 

I hope readers will make their thoughts known, at www.eastshorestatepark.org or at the August 15 meeting.  

Susan Schwartz 

Berkeley