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I II I I I . described his background and experience with master plans for ports and related matters on rail facilities. Mr. Hopper, representing the Port Tenants Group described - flexibility and expandability needs of port facilities and advised that their studies show the Port of Redwood City is short on both those concepts. Mr. Hopper stated that the Port should be looking for 30 to 40 more acres of land than they currently have. Mr. Hopper advised that the port use forecasts have been understated, and dedesignation of the Port priority use by BCDC would be a big mistake. Mr. Hopper stated that traffic was a major issue and his company spends a good deal of its time unraveling the traffic congestion problems around ports created by similar development decisions. Mr. Hopper described the inevitable traffic conflicts flowing ITom the natural growth of Port business over time, and advised that the proposed development would create intolerable conflicts. He stated the current tenants would lose when those conflicts occur. Mr. Hopper explained that BCDC looks at the entire bay area, not in the business of planning nor protecting the Port of Redwood City. It could conclude that there is enough port facilities throughout the bay area to handle all the cargo they can foresee, and they could make a decision that would have the Port of Redwood City go out of business. It is the responsibility of individual, local planning agencies to plan and protect their ports. --- Mr. Hopper urged the Council to consider the long term interests of the Port of Redwood City and its influence on this region of the bay. In response to Council questions, Mr. Hopper spoke about the desirability of shipping raw materials into the Port of Redwood City, by using lower draft vessels if necessary, rather than using trucking services. Mr. Hopper said water was the cheapest way to transport raw materials, and the Oakland and Alameda former military bases are being planned for container facilities. Mr. Hopper described bulk cargo as peak and value type cargoes partly because the U.S. is a marginal supplier due to competition cycles. Mr. Hopper stated there were many "sensitive cargoes, such as chemicals and fertilizers, which are toxic or explosive, and there is a methodology providing for the handling of these types of cargoes. You measure the quantity of the cargo and use a distance arc away ITom collections of child care centers, research parks, to determine how much of that would be wiped out in an explosion or toxic accident. In the Port business that is one of the major considerations for why you don't want high density developments near where that type of cargo is handled. To my knowledge there isn't anything like that being handled in the Port of Redwood City today, and maybe there never will be, I don't know." In response to Council questions regarding restrictions on transporting those materials over roads, Mr. Hopper stated there is so much more volume on ships than trucks, the quantity is so great that the distance has to be much greater. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MINUTE BOOK NO. 54 Special Meeting Minutes Page No. 047 January 29, 1996 Page II