In response to pressure to make the historic military base economically self-sufficient, the park service created a plan to transform the base adjacent to Sausalito and the Golden Gate Bridge into a conference center and leisure destination that could accommodate as many as 2,700 people.
Last year, the city of Sausalito filed suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against the park service and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area on the grounds that the Fort Baker Plan would bring thousands of tourists through the small Marin County community.
The city alleged in the lawsuit that the park service's plan did not adequately assess the environmental impacts to Sausalito and violated statutes such as the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, National Park Service Organic Act and Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act, among others.
On July 3, Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte granted the park service's motion for summary judgment, ending Sausalito's bid to block the development. The ruling also cleared the way for the Bay Area Discovery Museum, a children's learning museum located at Fort Baker but separate from the park service, to go ahead with its own $18 million expansion project, which was put on hold last summer pending the resolution of litigation.
The Sausalito City Council will meet with counsel this week to discuss its next move in the battle over Fort Baker. Although it may not be a viable route, the city may attempt to appeal Laporte's decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals.
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