Environmental groups raise concerns that the “Mowry Village” project would expose future residents to sea level rise, impact Bay wetlands, and harm wildlife
Press release from the San Francisco Baykeeper
In response to the Newark City Council’s contentious approval in December of the proposed “Mowry Village” development project on Newark’s San Francisco Bay shoreline, the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge and San Francisco Baykeeper filed a lawsuit challenging the City of Newark’s plan to construct 226 housing units, the vast majority of which will be market-rate single-family units, on the site of an auto scrap yard.
Located in an area of the South Bay shoreline that already experiences significant flooding and surrounded on three sides by creeks and wetlands, the environmental organizations’ lawsuit alleges that the City of Newark failed to conduct an adequate environmental review.
Newark’s assessment does not properly account for or mitigate the impacts of the Mowry Village project on wetlands and endangered wildlife species that are located immediately adjacent to, or in the vicinity of, the development site. These species include the federally endangered Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse and the Western Burrowing Owl, nominated for protection under the California Endangered Species Act.
The lawsuit also claims Newark failed to properly evaluate the risks of toxic pollutants and contaminated groundwater at the site. Specifically, sea level rise risks pushing up and spreading contaminated groundwater from the site, posing a serious future danger to both people and wildlife. Additionally, recurring flooding at the site—something that sea level rise and groundwater rise will exacerbate—makes the area entirely ill-suited for housing.
“For years, we have detailed the many harmful environmental impacts of the Mowry Village project on the Bay’s wetlands and at-risk wildlife species, along with the risk of building on a flood-prone site in the path of rising seas. Yet Newark has chosen to ignore the science, approving a flawed project that fails to properly assess, avoid, or mitigate these very real impacts,” said Carin High, Co-Chair of the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge.
“This is a contaminated, environmentally sensitive site that already floods regularly during high tides, including just recently during the King Tides,” said San Francisco Baykeeper Executive Director Sejal Choksi-Chugh. “We absolutely recognize the urgent need for affordable housing across the Bay Area, but this project fails to meaningfully address that need. Plus, placing new housing in a location that already floods is reckless, puts future residents at risk, and reflects a deeply flawed, short-sighted decision.”
On December 11, 2025, the Newark City Council voted 3 in favor, with 1 opposing, and 1 abstaining, to certify the Final Environmental Impact Report and approving the Mowry Village development project, proposed by developer Integral Communities. In opposing the project, Vice-Mayor Eve Marie Little said, “It’s not a matter of if it’s going to flood, it’s a matter of when it’s going to flood. Clearly, this is not safe or a sustainable situation in any way.”
The Newark City Council majority approved this project over the vocal opposition of over 750 Newark residents who signed a “Say No to Mowry Village” petition, along with over 2,000 residents from nearby communities and a dozen environmental and climate organizations. State wildlife and water agencies have consistently expressed their concerns regarding the Mowry Village project’s impacts on water quality and wildlife.
More than 40 Bay scientists have urged regional leaders to protect the 500-acre Newark baylands from development and add them to the adjacent Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, highlighting the unique and valuable role of these mostly undeveloped baylands to support the long-term resilience of the Bay’s wetlands to climate change.
The lawsuit was filed on January 9, 2026, in Alameda County Superior Court. Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge and Baykeeper are represented by Jason Flanders of the Aqua Terra Aeris law firm, and Baykeeper is also represented by in-house counsel led by Eric Buescher, Managing Attorney.
