The park plan for Gashouse Cove is approved, the slips in the south basin are mostly empty, and the money comes from a $190 million settlement with PG&E. The open question in the East Harbor this fall is about the fuel dock across from the Marina Safeway. It is the northern waterfront's only operating marine fuel station. It is scheduled to go offline when cleanup begins, and its replacement is still waiting on approvals that were supposed to be in hand by now.
Next week, Fleet Week brings the air show over Marina Green from October 9 through 11, noon to 4 p.m., with the Parade of Ships passing the waterfront on Friday, October 9, from 11 a.m. to noon. Most of the crowd will be looking up. The more consequential water on that stretch is the small cove to the east, beside Fort Mason.
The pavement outside Fort Mason has a job
In July, a pleasure boat carrying 20 people capsized and sank near Alcatraz. Seven of the 11 emergency vessels in the response refueled at the Gashouse Cove fuel dock, according to its operator, Christine Kaplan, who told the Chronicle that ambulance crews used the dock's gangway to bring 16 rescued people ashore.
The flat paved area next to the parking lot outside Fort Mason sits above the dock's underground fuel tanks. Crews used it as a staging area during that response. The Chronicle reported that the area is always kept clear of vehicles and serves as a maritime incident command center. Capt. Maggie Hallahan, a licensed skipper who sits on the California Boating and Waterways Commission and the Harbor Safety Committee of the San Francisco Bay Region, watched the rescue from the Sea Scout Base and then from the cove.
"When an accident happens, this particular fuel dock is set up perfectly for a maritime emergency, like the one that happened yesterday." Capt. Maggie Hallahan, to the San Francisco Chronicle
The Harbor Safety Committee's June 17 letter to the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, signed by chairman Scott Humphrey, describes Gashouse Cove as the only "touch and go" dock on the northern San Francisco waterfront. It names the police department, the fire department, the Coast Guard and the San Francisco Bar Pilots among the users who rely on it. Kaplan has run the dock for more than 50 years.
From the Bay Trail, this is a fuel pump and a parking lot. The emergency role is the reason the park's timeline now depends on another harbor 1.5 miles east.
What the park plan already settled
The view fight is over. The first proposal would have added about 185 slips in the West Harbor and blocked views from Marina Boulevard. The Board of Supervisors scrapped it in February 2024 after months of protest. On April 16, 2026, the Recreation and Park Commission unanimously approved a new concept design for the Marina Improvement and Remediation Project.
Under the revised plan, new slips go north of the East Harbor breakwater, leaving Marina Boulevard's views untouched. The East Harbor loses 170 slips, leaving 536 city-owned slips across the East and West harbors combined. The shallow basin near shore, where most boats have already been moved out and many of the old wooden piers removed, is set to become an accessible community dock and kayak launch for nonmotorized boats. The plan also calls for:
- A widened shoreline and an improved Bay Trail, with a nature exploration terrace and a small plaza
- More beach volleyball courts, a picnic area and an improved lawn
- A publicly accessible section of breakwater
- An improved restroom, plus a boaters' restroom with a shower
Commission chair Kat Anderson closed the vote by saying she couldn't wait to get her paddleboard in the water there. She also said there would be no interruption in fuel service during construction. That second promise is the one the coming months will test.
The replacement runs through Hyde Street Harbor
The April plan moves the fuel dock to the West Harbor near the St. Francis Yacht Club, but the design for that new dock had not been finalized. In the meantime, Rec and Park spokesperson Tamara Aparton confirmed in July that the Gashouse Cove dock will go offline for the 18 months of PG&E's cleanup, which is scheduled to run from May 2027 to December 2028. She said police and fire rescue operations will continue from the West Harbor, where rescue boats and Jet Skis are already based.
The bridge is a fuel dock at Hyde Street Harbor, on the other side of Fort Mason, which is currently offline. In July, Port Maritime's Dominic Moreno told the Fisherman's Wharf Advisory Committee that cleanup there was "effectively completed." He said the Port had re-engaged the operator, Pilot Thomas, to negotiate a lease and plan the rebuild of the fuel system, aiming to reopen "around June 2027." The Port's milestone table laid out the sequence:
- Lease negotiations with Pilot Thomas by August 30, 2026
- Permitting, CEQA and Port Commission approval by September 15, 2026
- Board of Supervisors approval by December 15, 2026
- Construction start on January 1, 2027
- Gashouse Cove fuel dock and East Harbor close April 30, 2027
- Earliest Hyde Street service May 30, 2027
The Port Commission's published agenda for September 15 did not include the Hyde Street fuel dock. In the Port's own table, Hyde Street opens one month after Gashouse Cove closes, and the second step has already passed without appearing on an agenda.
Gasoline is the other unsettled piece. Aparton told the Chronicle the private Hyde Street operator had promised gasoline by tanker truck at Pier 45 until that dock is running. The Port's July minutes describe temporary gasoline service at Hyde Street as something staff were still exploring, with "no commitments" finalized.
The Harbor Safety Committee argues that the cove does not need to be emptied of fuel at all. Hallahan cited an independent study that puts the area needing cleanup 167 meters from the fuel dock. On that basis, the committee asked BCDC to require that the dock stay open during the PG&E work and after it.
BCDC hasn't scheduled its hearing yet
BCDC issues the permit, and its vote requires a public hearing first. On June 24, BCDC told the committee that the application from Rec and Park and PG&E was incomplete. Spokesperson Rylan Gervase said a hearing might be scheduled in October if the application was complete by then. The project does not appear on BCDC's posted agendas for September 3, September 17, October 1 or October 15. Agendas for the November 5 and November 19 meetings had not been posted.
The city's own schedule has some give in it. Rec and Park's April notice said it expected to advertise the construction contract "this Fall," with construction starting in mid-2027. The presentation to the Commission put the contract award in Spring 2027. The project's phasing puts cleanup, park work and the West Harbor breakwater first, starting in mid-2027. East Harbor marina work follows in mid-2028, and the parking lot and shoreline come last. No detour routes or closure dates for the Bay Trail or the parking lots have been published.
Dates on the Marina waterfront calendar
- October 9 to 11: Fleet Week air show over Marina Green, noon to 4 p.m. On October 10 and 11, the Presidio closes its Lombard and Mason entrances to cars starting at noon, and Mason Street closes to cars from Marina Boulevard. Cyclists, Muni and Presidio GO shuttles can still use those roads.
- October 10 and 11: SFMTA shortens the 28 to a temporary inbound end at Van Ness and North Point and adds 49 service to the same corner.
- October 20: The next Port Commission meeting. Its agenda posts 72 hours ahead, and that is where a Hyde Street fuel dock item would show up.
- November 5 and 19: BCDC meetings with agendas not yet posted, the earliest remaining chances for a project hearing this fall.
- April 30, 2027: The Port's planned closing date for the Gashouse Cove fuel dock and the East Harbor.
Rec and Park's project manager, Monica Scott, takes questions at [email protected], and PG&E handles remediation questions at [email protected].
If you own on Marina Boulevard or nearby and want to know how a multi-year waterfront project could figure into a sale or a purchase, Claudia Siegel follows these Marina hearings and closings block by block, and can tell you how they figure into your home's value. Request a Home Valuation, and we'll include the East Harbor timeline in the conversation.
