The Newspaper of the San Francisco Bay Chapter
May - June 2006
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Oakland's great shoreline park - or not!
The Oakland City Council is moving closer to a fateful decision: will Oakland give up forever its chance for a major new shoreline park near Jack London Square?
Developer Signature Properties is asking approval to build 3,100 housing units, Oakland's biggest housing project in decades, on publicly owned land along the Oakland Estuary.
Much of this is land long designated for parks. The Estuary Policy Plan (EPP), adopted in 1999 after a lengthy public process, calls for this section of the waterfront to become "a series of large open spaces... a recreational centerpiece of the city... one of the most significant additions of urban parkland within the entire Bay Area."
In the developer's plan, however, over 40% of this new open space disappears! The EPP's planned open space was already a compromise. The developer proposes to cut that compromise almost in half.
- The EPP called for extending the existing Estuary Park to the Embarcadero so that it would no longer be hidden by a large warehouse. The developer would demolish the warehouse, but replace it with condos, keeping the park hidden.
- The EPP planned a Meadow Park (renamed by the developer to Channel Park) just east of the Lake Merritt channel, to form a space that Oakland could use for festivals. The developer proposes taking over a third of this space for housing. Conflicts with housing have killed off previous Oakland festivals such as the Labor Day Festival previously held at Estuary Park and the Festival at the Lake.
- The EPP called for an 11-acre park landward of the Ninth Avenue Terminal. The developer would eliminate the park, and tear down the historic terminal.
Measure DD, passed in 2002 by an 80% margin, includes at least $18 million in bond funds for developing the planned parks in the Oak to Ninth area. The funds are available, but will we get the parklands?
On March 18 the city's developer-friendly Planning Commission approved Signature's project. Michael Lighty was the only commissioner not voting for approval; he abstained, pointing to numerous deficiencies in the project, including the lack of open space. On March 28 the City Council held a public workshop on the project. It will make its final decision in early May.
WhatYouCanDo
Contact your councilmember and the mayoral candidates. Your personal letters are more effective. Urge that the Oak-to-Ninth Project include as much open space as called for in the Estuary Plan, and that no buildings should be allowed to block Estuary Park or Channel Park from the streets.
Henry Chang (at-large)
cityochang@aol.com
(510)238-7008
fax: (510)238-6910
Jane Brunner (District 1)
jbrunner@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7001
fax: (510)238-6910
Pat Kernighan (District 2)
pkernighan@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7002
fax: (510)238-6910
Nancy Nadel (District 3 and mayoral candidate)
nnadel@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7003
fax: (510)238-6929
Jean Quan (District 4)
jquan@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7004
fax: (510)986-2765
Ignacio De La Fuente (District 5 and mayoral candidate)
idelafuente@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7005
fax: (510)238-6929
Desley Brooks (District 6)
dbrooks@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7006
fax: (510)238-6910
Larry Reid (District 7)
lreid@oaklandnet.com
(510)238-7007
fax: (510)238-6910
Ronald Dellums (mayoral candidate)
rondellumsformayor@sbcglobal.net
(510)444-6016
fax: (510)444-6067
1212 Broadway, Ninth Floor
Oakland, CA 94612.
You can write to all councilmembers at:
One City Hall Plaza, Third Floor
Oakland, CA 94612.
Attend the City Council meeting in May when a final decision will be made.
The views expressed above are those of the author and the Sierra Club, and do not represent EBRPD policy.
© 2006 San Francisco Sierra Club Yodeler