Plaza infill plan sets example for Contra Costa

El Cerrito has the chance to approve an exemplary infill housing project and privately funded creek restoration. At a time when Contra Costa County's Urban Limit Line is under attack from advocates of expanded sprawl development, it is important to showcase healthier development possibilities.

Developer Carl Fortney's plan would include 185 one- and two-bedroom condominiums in two buildings of three and four residential stories above parking at the southeast corner of El Cerrito Plaza behind Copeland's Sporting Goods. The developer would also daylight 180 feet of Cerrito Creek and restore it with riparian vegetation. A pedestrian and bike path will connect the Cerrito Creek Greenway to the Ohlone Greenway on the east.

The plan is the outgrowth of an earlier proposal for a garage with 84 units of housing. El Cerrito had chosen the site for a garage funded by Measure C, the county's voter-approved parcel tax to enhance transportation options. The West Contra Costa County Transportation Advisory Committee, however, recommended that the money be spent elsewhere, the City's Design Review Board rejected the design, and neighbors had objections. The city gave up on the garage.

Fortney plans to present the new plans to the Design Review Board after the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report is published (date uncertain). The draft report can be read at the El Cerrito City Hall, the El Cerrito Library, or at www.el-cerrito.org/planning/seir.html

The proposal is the kind of urban infill essential for reducing sprawl: it would locate housing by a BART station, close to the major rapid-bus line on San Pablo Avenue, and steps from a major shopping plaza. Between walking and taking transit, residents will be able to meet most transportation needs without cars.

There is opposition to this project from neighbors across the BART tracks on Behrens Street. They say that the buildings would be out of scale with surrounding neighborhoods, but in fact, just to the south in Albany, we already have much larger multi-story apartment complexes. Opponents also complain that the project would eliminate the beat-up asphalt open area next to the Ohlone Greenway, claiming that this is open space that should be preserved. This area is an eyesore, and the Club supports its use to enable the overall project.

Some Albany residents have a history of opposing the original garage project and before that the redevelopment of El Cerrito Plaza. During the interval after the Plaza's Emporium-Capwell's closed and before redevelopment, they enjoyed a few years of greatly reduced traffic, and they now complain about the traffic from the rejuvenated Plaza. In fact, Fortney's proposal is a way of maximizing housing with a minimum of added traffic.

What You Can Do

Write to:

Mayor Sandi Potter and City Council
10890 San Pablo Ave.
El Cerrito, CA 94530.

Urge the Council to support this project.

For more information contact Norman La Force, chair of the Club's West Contra Costa County Group, at (510) 526-4362.

David McCoard and Norman La Force