Oakland urban-environment news briefs

Oak-to-Ninth Project

Over 25,000 Oakland voters have signed referendum petitions to block a development agreement for the Oak-to-Ninth Project along Oakland's shoreline.

When the City Council voted on July 18 to approve the project, community groups immediately organized as the Oak to Ninth Referendum Committee and went into high gear to mount a referendum challenging the agreement. The Sierra Club joined with groups which include the Oakland League of Women Voters, Oakland Green Party, CALM (Coalition of Advocates for Lake Merritt), Fifth Avenue Institute, East Bay Bicycle Coalition, Jack London District Association, Oakland Heritage Alliance, and PANIL (Piedmont Avenue Neighborhood Improvement League).

When the city has certified that the petitioners have gathered 18,700 valid signatures (10% of Oakland voters) within the 30-day time limit, the project will be stopped in its tracks. The city will have the choice of repealing the agreement or placing it on the ballot. It will be too late for this November's election, and the next regular election is June 2008.

Petitioners are asking for improvements to the project in such areas as open space, public health, preservation of the original half of the Ninth Avenue Terminal, safe pedestrian and bicycle passages, transportation, and schools.

Temescal neighborhood

The Temescal neighborhood of Oakland offers a lot of opportunity for relatively dense transit-oriented infill development along Telegraph Avenue, its `Main Street'.

The Sierra Club has testified in favor of two projects in this area. Developer Roy Alper/Ron Kriss is trying to fill in the blanks along Telegraph Avenue with relatively dense housing above retail. The city has approved a 67-unit project at Telegraph and 51st Street. A 51-unit condominium and retail project at 4700 Telegraph is proceeding through the process. Both will add to the street life on this major transit corridor that will soon have Rapid Bus service. The Club's one reservation is that although the housing will be priced at a workforce level, the projects fall below our goal of 20% affordable.

The two blocks of Telegraph south of 51st have many truly charming storefronts, but between 40th and 55th Streets, Telegraph is mostly filled with pedestrian-unfriendly uses such as drive-in stores, blank facades, and vacant lots. To encourage healthier development here, some residents from Temescal and Rockridge have formed a group calling itself Urbanists for a Liveable Temescal/Rockridge Area (ULTRA). For more information contact Joyce Roy at (510)655-7508 or email joyceroy -at- earthlink.net

Joyce Roy