The 10-year battle over a private island in the San Francisco Bay comes to an end today with an auction on the Solano County Courthouse steps. Point Buckler, a 50-acre marshland on the southern edge of Grizzly Bay, will be sold to the highest bidder. The island’s owner, John Sweeney, a former America’s Cup yachtsman and dot-com entrepreneur, has been embroiled in a decade-long legal battle with county and state agencies over his plans to develop the island into an exclusive kiteboarding club.
Sweeney claims that the agencies are carrying out a fraudulent land grab, and that he has committed no wrongdoing. He believes that the agencies are motivated by a desire to protect endangered species in the tidal water, including the Delta smelt, green sturgeon, and migrating Chinook salmon. However, the agencies argue that Sweeney has committed “one of the worst environmental activities in the entire San Francisco Bay” by illegally filling in tidal wetlands, building helicopter pads, and constructing a dock without permits.
The dispute began in 2011, when Sweeney bought the island for $150,000. He planned to rebuild the duck ponds for hunters in the winter months and set up an exclusive kiteboarding club in the summers. However, the agencies claimed that the island was a tidal marsh and that Sweeney’s activities were destroying the habitat of endangered species.
The agencies issued a $4.6 million fine against Sweeney, which was later reduced to around $2.8 million. Sweeney filed for bankruptcy, but the filing was dismissed. He was arrested for contempt of court after refusing to appear in court, and is currently facing at least seven warrants for his arrest.
The auction marks the end of Sweeney’s dream of turning Point Buckler into a billionaire’s kiteboarding club. The new owner will be required to restore the land and allow agency staff to oversee compliance with their orders. The sale is expected to be a significant revenue stream for the county, which has been involved in the dispute for over a decade.
The battle over Point Buckler has been characterized as a David and Goliath scenario, with Sweeney, a scrappy entrepreneur, taking on the powerful state agencies. However, the agencies argue that their actions are necessary to protect the fragile ecosystem of the Suisun Bay. The outcome of the auction is expected to be closely watched, as it will determine the fate of the island and the future of the bay’s ecosystem.