Board Greenlights $25M Shoreline Vision, Taps Helicopter Fund for Over-Budget HQ

The East Bay Regional Park District board on March 17 accepted an ambitious, climate-adaptive conceptual plan for the Berkeley shoreline, approved millions more for a public safety headquarters already well past its original budget, and heard an organized wave of opposition to a proposed mountain bike trail in Wildcat Canyon. Together, the actions put competing visions of the two-county park system — nature preservation, infrastructure investment, and climate resilience — on a collision course heading into 2026.

• $25M conceptual plan for East Shore State Park's North Basin shoreline advances 4-0, with one abstention over transparency concerns

• $2.8M more approved for the Peralta Oaks public safety headquarters, funded by deferring helicopter replacement; President Sanwong casts lone no vote

• Five residents rally against proposed Wildcat Canyon bike trail as CEQA scoping period closes; draft environmental review expected late summer 2026

• 74-year-old Tilden steam train operator warns that 7.5 years of stalled lease talks could force closure of the privately funded attraction

• Director Deschambault calls for socially responsible investment policy, flagging fossil fuel holdings in the district's portfolio

The board voted to accept a sweeping conceptual plan for the North Basin Strip at McLaughlin Eastshore State Park — a stretch of shoreline between University Avenue and Gilman Street in Berkeley that would be reimagined with seasonal tidal ponds, nature-based erosion control, and a raised promenade designed to withstand five feet of sea level rise through the end of the century.