The Newspaper of the San Francisco Bay Chapter
July - August 2005
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Putting a there there on Oakland shore
Oak-to-Ninth choice: views and open space - or massive buildings
Oakland is a waterfront city - yet the public has little access to the shoreline. The Oak-to-Ninth reuse plan is our opportunity - for "one of the most significant additions to urban parkland within the entire Bay Area" - or to block off the shoreline with a huge apartment, condominium, and commercial project.
Along the waterfront from Oak Street to Ninth Avenue, southeast of Jack London Square, developer Signature Properties proposes 3,100 residential units plus 200,000 square feet of commercial space, in buildings up to 24 stories.
In contrast, the Estuary Policy Plan (EPP) - the product of hundreds of hours of meetings of the General Plan Congress, the EPP Advisory Committee, the Planning Commission, the Port Commission, and the City Council - would make this area "the major recreational destination in the city [with] a series of large open spaces, intended to provide for a wide variety of recreational experiences[, transforming] the waterfront in this area . . . from an industrial backwater into a recreational centerpiece of the city . . . a regional and local asset of major proportions." This vision was adopted by the City Council and incorporated into the General Plan in 1999.
Will the developer's plan create "the major recreational destination in the city"? I think not. The open space offered would serve primarily as the front yard of expensive condos. Excluding existing city park land, 42% of the open space called for in the EPP disappears in the developer's plan. The EPP's planned open space was itself a compromise; some Advisory Committee members argued for significantly more open space, especially around Ninth Avenue. The developer's plan would be a further compromise of a compromise.
The developer would design streets with bends, so that most views from the Embarcadero would show buildings, not water. From Fifth Avenue, the major entry to the area from the rest of Oakland, one would see buildings and maybe trees, but not the water. The EPP would have opened up Estuary Park, now a "stealth" park, to public view from the Embarcadero, by demolishing the Jetro Cash & Carry Building and replacing it with five acres of open space. The developer plans to build a 6 - 8-story condominium tower there instead. Visibility, of course, is vital for parks, to encourage use; hiding parks behind buildings discourages use and can encourage crime. Compare with the heavy use of the parklands around Lake Merritt, easily visible just by driving by on major streets. The Estuary should be opened up the same way.
The EPP called for an 11-acre Crescent Park landward of the Ninth Avenue Terminal. The developer's plan would demolish the terminal and replace the park with a four-acre pier on the terminal site. The public would lose a major proposed park and a historic building. Similarly, in the area west of the Fifth Avenue artist colony, shown as open space in the EPP, the developer plans apartments or condos. Such development would compromise the usefulness of the open space, especially for festivals, since music would bring complaints from residents.
Park maintenance would be financed with an assessment district paid for by the owners. This would lead to agitation for limiting public access, particularly any access causing noise or traffic. The argument would be, "This is our open space; we're paying for it."
I am not suggesting that there be no project or housing on the Estuary. But any project must be designed to invite, not exclude, the public from Oakland's waterfront. It should benefit all Oakland residents, not just the lucky few who can afford expensive condos there.
Oakland lost its waterfront to its rapacious first mayor in the 1850s, and it took 60 years of litigation to get it back. Will we now lose it again? This is a historic opportunity to reclaim a legacy for our children and grandchildren.
What You Can Do
Contact the Oakland City Council at:
Nancy Nadel (District 3)
nnadel@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7003
Henry Chang (at-large)
cityochang@aol.com
(510)238-7008
Desley Brooks (District 6)
dbrooks@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7006
Pat Kernighan (District 2)
pkernighan@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7302
Larry Reid (District 7)
lreid@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7007
Jean Quan (District 4)
jquan@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7004
Jane Brunner (District 1)
jbrunner@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7001
Ignacio De La Fuente (District 5)
idelafuente@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7005;
Mayor Jerry Brown at:
officeofthemayor@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-3141;
and city administrator Deborah Edgerly at:
cityadministrator@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-3301
fax: (510)238-2223.
You can write to all of the above at:
One City Hall Plaza, Third Floor
Oakland, CA 94612.
Insist that the Oak-to-Ninth project should include at least as much open space as called for by the EPP and should be designed to maximize views of the water.
The views expressed above are those of the author and the Sierra Club, and do not represent EBRPD policy.
© 2005 San Francisco Sierra Club Yodeler