The people of the City of Berkeley find that it is in the public interest to preserve and protect the open space, views, wetlands, tidal mudflats, seasonal ponds, wetlands-type environment, creeks, meadows, beaches and the low density character of the unique and irreplaceable waterfront area of the City, being all that land in the City of Berkeley generally adjacent to San Francisco Bay and lying west of Interstate Highway 80 and east of Marina Boulevard.

The people of Berkeley further find, based on numerous scientific studies and data, including those developed during the Waterfront Planning Process of 1984-86, and in the draft Environmental Impact Report of June 1986, that the portion of the waterfront area south of the northern edge of Virginia Street (as extended westward), and including School House Creek, constitutes environmentally sensitive, irreplaceable, and unique wetlands, marshes, seasonal ponds, meadows, wildlife habitat, and other features of the natural ecology; and that it is in the public interest to preserve, protect, reclaim, and restore all said portion of the waterfront in a natural, open, and undeveloped form.

These actions are necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare and to avoid unnecessary conversion of open space land to high density urban uses, thereby protecting against the resultant adverse impacts, such as: disturbance of wetlands and wetlands-type environment; destruction of wildlife habitat, including that of endangered and protected species; diminishing the ecological health of San Francisco Bay; hazards relating to geology, landfill, flooding, and earthquakes; destruction of scenic beauty; air, noise, and water pollution; increases in traffic on freeway, City streets, and intersections to unacceptable levels; rise in housing costs and subsequent displacement of low-income people from contiguous neighborhoods in West Berkeley; and other demonstrated consequences of overly dense urban development. (Ord. 5788-NS § 1, 1986)