Westpoint Harbor Brings Big Boats to San Francisco Bay
By Anna Townshend
I
n 1998, Mark Sanders bought 50 acres in Redwood City, California, property previously owned by the Leslie Salt Company (now Cargill). He intended to build the first new marina in San Francisco Bay in decades. It would take decades more to make that dream a reality, along with determination, innovation and serious investments. Through a daunting regulatory process, Sanders never gave up. Interminable delays are a well-known method to prevent development projects, and the many years it took to obtain the 12 Westpoint Harbor permits is a measure of the determination necessary to realize any shoreline development in San Francisco Bay. This was followed by years of conflict with one agency, fighting its bogus violations and fines, which were aimed at financially crippling the business. In the end, these efforts to prevent a new marina failed. The struggle is only a small part of this facility's story, and just the backdrop for what amazing things Westpoint Harbor has accomplished. Congratulations to Westpoint Harbor, the 2019 large Marina of the Year winner, an example of great leadership, innovative engineering techniques, and a new standard for environmental thoughtfulness.
The Long Battle
The land Sanders purchased did not have a basin for a marina. As part of a bittern pond, it was used to store the chemical soup left over after table salt is harvested from sea water. "Over time, Cargill was convinced and agreed to sell me 50 acres of its land on Westpoint Slough, the largest tributary in the deep-water Port of Redwood City. It's right in the center of the San Francisco Peninsula, the one remaining location in the South Bay where it was possible to build a marina, which would not require routine dredging of the shipping channel," Sanders said. Sanders was born in San Diego, raised in Southern California. After university, he joined the Navy as an electronics officer on destroyers, spending four years at sea. He was also an intelligence officer, spending hours with exotic recorders for intelligence-gathering made by Ampex Corporation in Redwood City. When he left the Navy and entered the private sector, he took an engineering job at Ampex. While not the best offer, it was nonetheless where he wanted to be. After 20 years at different positions, he eventually became president of the Recording Systems Division. Sanders retired from Ampex in 1988 to begin the Westpoint Harbor development. By 1990, he realized it was not going to be a quick or easy project. While pressing forward with the permitting process, he became president and CEO of Pinnacle Systems, a tech startup focused on television special effects and graphics. After receiving the last marina permit in 2003, Sanders retired again to focus his efforts on the marina project full-time. Pinnacle Systems was successful, becoming
6 Marina Dock Age April 2019 Congratulations to Westpoint Harbor in Redwood City, California, the 2018 large Marina Dock Age Marina of the Year winner.
2018
Fo r E x e m p la ry B usi nes s Pr ac tic es t h a t S u p o rt C u s t o m er s, th e En viro nme nt an d th e I n d u s t r y
AWARDS
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