Berkeley to return parking lot on top of sacred site to Ohlone tribe after settlement with developer

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A San Francisco Bay Area parking lot that sits on top of a sacred tribal shell mound dating back 5,700 years has been returned to the Ohlone people by the Berkeley City Council after a settlement with developers who own the land. Berkeley’s City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt an ordinance giving the title of the land to the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, which works to return land to Indigenous people. The 2.2-acre parking lot is the only undeveloped portion of the West Berkeley shell mound, a three-block area Berkeley designated as a landmark in 2000.