Commission to hear proposal to turn Zocchi property into a sports complex

Tonight’s meeting of the Park, Recreation, Marina and Cultural Commission (PRMCC) will focus mainly on the ongoing Measure H projects, as well as a few issues surrounding Hidden Lakes Park. At the top of the agenda, however, is a scheduled presentation regarding a possible sports complex at the Zocchi property.

Since 2008, after the City bought the 6.7-acre parcel of land located across the train tracks from the Intermodal Amtrak station, several suggestions have been aired at City Council meetings for the property’s temporary and long-term use.

The City paid for the property with $11 million secured from the Contra Costa Transportation Authority and other sources with the mandate to create 425 parking spaces, and many have pointed out that 6.7 acres can accommodate much more than parking spaces, and could incorporate a mixed-use development down the road. In the meantime, why not use the two large concrete warehouses for other purposes?

The County currently pays the City $1,600 in rent for storage space in one of the buildings, and Martinez School Board member and PRMCC member John Fuller has long been lobbying to convert the other into a sports complex.

Last year, the seven-member Park and Recreation Commission discussed - at one of its last meetings before the City Council merged it into the larger PRMCC - possible short-term uses for the vacant concrete building since City officials expect it will be at least a year or two before construction begins on a permanent project – such as hotel/conference center – on the property, and the City Council agreed to consider temporary use suggestions.

“During a casual conversation – no promises were made – between Bob Cellini, Karen Majors and the subcommittee members it was mentioned there might be a possibility for up to five years of use,” said former Park and Recreation Commission Chair Richard Patchin.

At a 2008 Council meeting, Commissioner John Fuller said he and his colleagues had formed a subcommittee focusing on recreational economic development issues, called REDS, and asked if the Council would allow the largest concrete building to be used temporarily for “a pilot program for uses such as batting cages, driving range, or a rock-climbing wall,” said Fuller.

Now a new group has come forth with suggestions to create a sports complex on the Zocchi property, and representatives from a private company named Universal Sports Academy will address the PRMCC tonight.

“It’s not a group John was working with, [the group] independently came to City staff to discuss the idea,” said PRMCC chair Dylan Radke yesterday. “This is their first presentation in front of our commission.”