Redwood Creek Clean Up Day
Volunteers from Redwood City and the Sheriff's Activity League collected bag after bag of debris along Redwood Creek — the shoreline cleanup promised in HERO's settlement with the City.
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Marine Justice
Our marine environment has no voice of its own. HERO is dedicated to advocating for its protection.
Redwood City
A New Dawn at Docktown
HERO is dedicated to creating a positive environmental impact. After taking legal action, HERO successfully urged the City of Redwood City to end illegal residential use and remove decaying docks that had polluted San Francisco Bay with Styrofoam for over twenty years at Docktown Marina.
Docktown Marina sits on state-granted public trust lands along Redwood Creek. For more than two decades, aging docks held afloat by deteriorating Styrofoam blocks, together with untreated discharge from dozens of liveaboard vessels, sent pollution straight into the Bay. A 2016 settlement had committed the City to end residential use and clean up the site; by 2023 that work was still unfinished, and HERO went to court to see it through.
It worked. In June 2025, HERO and the City of Redwood City settled the case with no money changing hands. The settlement confirms that residential use at Docktown has ended, the decaying docks are being removed, and the City intends to prepare the site for future public use — including a public visioning process for what is now envisioned as part of a future Bayfront Park.
Today, where the docks stood, there is open water, a restored shoreline, and a community that came together to clean it.
2016
The City commits
Redwood City settles an earlier lawsuit for $4.5 million, agreeing to end residential use at Docktown and clean up the marina.
2023
HERO takes action
With the cleanup still incomplete and Styrofoam breaking into the Bay, HERO files suit in San Mateo County Superior Court on July 21, 2023.
2025
Settlement & cleanup
In June the parties settle; on November 15 HERO and the City hold a joint shoreline clean-up day at Redwood Creek.
Next
Public access
A public visioning process for recreational and open-space uses of the Docktown lands, consistent with their status as public trust lands.
Docktown today — August 2025
June 16, 2025
The settlement
The City of Redwood City and HERO announced they had reached a settlement of the litigation HERO filed over Docktown Marina. The agreement confirms the City successfully took action to end residential uses at Docktown and intends to prepare for future public uses there, including a public visioning process. HERO and the City also agreed to sponsor a joint cleanup along the Redwood City shoreline with the Bair Island Neighborhood Association.
“We are pleased to see progress on facilitating public use of the marina at Docktown and preservation of the marine ecosystem. We look forward to working with the City to help protect the environment and ensure that these public trust lands benefit the Redwood City community for generations to come.”
— Kathleen Harris, HERO President and Executive Director
“The Docktown lands are an important public trust and community resource and we see them as a key part of a future Bayfront Park.”
— Elmer Martinez Saballos, Mayor of Redwood City
No money changed hands as part of the settlement, and HERO dismissed its lawsuit with prejudice. Learn more at RedwoodCity.org/Docktown ↗
November 15, 2025
Clean Up Day
Part of the settlement was to hold a shoreline clean-up day, together with the Bair Island Neighborhood Association, for Redwood City residents to volunteer to clean up trash along Redwood Creek and other shorelines within city limits. HERO invited the community and the Sheriff's Activity League volunteers to take part; City staff provided the supplies. From 8 am to 12 pm an energetic group of volunteers scoured the Redwood Creek area, collecting bag after bag of debris.
HERO remains optimistic about the future of Redwood Creek and the surrounding areas.
For the record
Docktown in the news
The reporting and documents behind the case, and photographs of the marina before the cleanup.
Redwood City and HERO settle litigation, agree to joint shoreline cleanup and public access to Docktown Marina
The settlement confirms the City ended residential use at Docktown and will plan future public uses of the site, including a public visioning process.
Read more →
Redwood City faces fresh lawsuit over floating homes at Docktown Marina
HERO's suit alleged the marina was an environmental hazard and that the City had not honored its 2016 settlement to clean it up.
Read the original ↗
Redwood City faces suit over Docktown Marina
Coverage of the lawsuit HERO filed in San Mateo County Superior Court over conditions at Docktown.
Read the original ↗
City Council OKs Docktown deal: Redwood City to pay $4.5 million to settle lawsuit
The 2016 settlement that set aside $3 million to clean up the marina and relocate liveaboards — the agreement HERO later went to court to enforce.
Read the original ↗HERO vs. the City of Redwood City
The complaint HERO filed with the San Mateo County Superior Court on July 21, 2023, asserting that the City had misused Docktown funds and allowed continued pollution of the Bay.
Before: July 2023
Seen something that harms the water?
HERO advocates for waters that cannot speak for themselves. If you know of pollution or a public-trust issue on San Francisco Bay or in Bocas del Toro, tell us about it. Gifts to HERO fund the legal work, testing and public comment that make cases like Docktown possible — support the work.