Piedmont Arbor Day 2019

The community is invited for information, music and refreshments.

Thursday, April 11th – 5:00 – 7:00 PM 
Piedmont Community Hall

Will the properties be converted to multi-family housing?

Piedmonters are shocked and saddened to learn that by April 30th they will lose the Valero gas and service station in the center of Piedmont at Highland Way and Highland Avenue operated by Simon Ho.

Ho has rented the property for over 10 years and gained a highly regarded reputation for his service to the community and its many vehicles. Although negotiations had been occurring, Ho cannot meet the rental increase demands of owner Tarvinder Bains from $8,000 per month to $17,000.  Consequently, Ho has made plans to relocate his automobile repair business to MacArthur Avenue in the Dimond District of Oakland.

Bains has proposed no new plans for the property, however a significant new factor is a potential change of use allowed by Piedmont’s recent zoning change directly impacting the property.

Without voter approval, although required by the Piedmont City Charter, the property was rezoned from Commercial to Commercial and Multi-family housing (Mixed Use). The zoning change allows multi-family housing plus commercial use of the properties in the former Commercial zone. The zoning change allows housing projects with a height of essentially 3 stories to be built in the zone.

The zoning change approved by the Piedmont City Council not only impacts the Valero Station property in the center of Piedmont, but the Shell Station property recently noted “For Sale” at the corner of Wildwood and Grand Avenues.

A subcommittee of the Planning Commission has been meeting regularly to discuss and consider recommendations on Design Guidelines that would impact all zones in Piedmont including the aforementioned properties.  The meetings have not been open to the public.

“[Planning] Commissioner [Tom] Ramsey reported the subcommittee reviewed a complete draft Update of the Design Guidelines and provided comments. The majority of the consultants’ work has been consolidating information from various sections of the Guidelines and receiving feedback from local architects and Commissioners. Planning Director Jackson advised that draft Design Guidelines will be released for public review later in March, and the release will contain the dates for submission of public comments. The draft Design Guidelines will be presented to the Planning Commission on April 8 for discussion. At its May meeting, the Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the City Council. Planning Director Jackson thanked Chair Behrens and Commissioner Ramsey for serving on the subcommittee. Chair Behrens remarked that the use of photographs rather than drawings in the draft Design Guidelines gives more reality to accompanying comments.”  Minutes of March 2019 Planning Commission meeting. 

Planning Commission Agenda on Monday, April 8:

Once the Planning Commission reviews the subcommittee, staff and consultants recommendations and approves them, their recommended Design Guidelines will go to the City Council for consideration and potential approval.  These meetings will be open to the public.

Valero and Shell Stations:

When there is a proposed change of use, all proposals must go before the Piedmont Planning Commission and the Piedmont City Council to receive Conditional Use Permit approval.  Public notification to nearby property owners is required when changes are reviewed, but, recently, when important changes were made to uses within the city, the city as a whole was not informed. 

Individuals interested in the development of either properties, Valero or Shell, can inform the Piedmont Planning Department and the Piedmont City Council of their desire to be notified when and if new plans are proposed for the two properties.

Planning Department – kjackson@piedmont.ca.gov

City Council – citycouncil@ci.piedmont.ca.us

For more information, contact Planning Director Kevin Jackson:   kjackson@piedmont.ca.gov

• Middle School courts repaved for Pickleball purposes
• Wildwood Gardens streets changed to one way
• Stairway to Oak Avenue from Wildwood Gardens
• Fencing and improvements to Blair Park along Moraga Avenue 
• Improvements to Witter Field drainage and various enhancements
• Water fountain in Piedmont Park near Witter Field for dogs and people

The purpose of the CIP Review Committee and citizen proposed projects can be read by clicking below:

> CIP 2019

Revised Proposal worksheet can be read by clicking below.

> 2019 Proposal sheet revised

Various City Wide projects are: Aquatic Center, Linda Beach Park, Recreation Center and Veterans Hall improvements, Coaches Field improvements including lights, and Public Security Cameras.

The Committee meetings are open to the public and any resident that wants to attend is welcome. The next meeting is scheduled for April 9^th at 7 pm in the City Council conference room to the left as you enter Piedmont City Hall, 120 Vista Avenue.  Recordings of the meeting are not made and there are no broadcasts or minutes of the meetings. 

For more information, contact Nancy Kent at NKent@piedmont.ca.gov

Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Public Meeting

Final Public Input Meeting for Draft Plan

 Wednesday, April 10th at 6 pm

Police Department EOC at 403 Highland Ave

The City of Piedmont Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP)  draft LHMP, which is now available for public review and comment.  The Public Review Draft of the LHMP is available online in pdf format.

Complete 402 page plan here

311 page Chapters only here

  92 page Appendices only here

It is also available on paper at City Hall.

Fires, earthquakes, landslides, and severe weather are just a few of the hazards to the Piedmont community. While natural hazards such as these cannot be prevented, a Hazard Mitigation Plan forms the foundation for a community’s long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses by breaking the repeated cycle of disaster damage and reconstruction. Additionally, only communities with a FEMA-approved Hazard Mitigation Plan are eligible to apply for both pre- and post-disaster mitigation grant funding.

A final public meeting to review and provide comments on the Public Review draft LHMP is scheduled for Wednesday, April 10th at 6 pm  in the Police Department EOC, located at 403 Highland Ave.

• Email comments to Jeanine.foster@fostermorrison.com or CYeager@piedmont.ca.gov
• Drop off written comments or send by mail to:  City of Piedmont Planning Department, Attn. Chris Yeager, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611
• Bring comments to the public meeting

For more information, please see: http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/local-hazar…

 – Consideration of Temporary Designation of Parking Spaces on Bonita and Highland Avenues as Permit A (School District Employee) Parking Spaces

Approval of the temporary use of designated public parking spaces by PUSD staff holding valid Permit A parking permits during the H-1 Bond related high school construction at one or more of the following locations:

1. 9 new parallel parking spaces along the Highland Avenue curve at the intersection of Highland and Sheridan Avenues.
2.  A new designation of the 11 existing unregulated diagonal parking spaces (and one (1) new diagonal parking space) on the west side of Bonita Avenue between Magnolia Avenue and Vista Avenue to include the following:

a)  Five (5) Permit A parking spaces for temporary use by PUSD staff.      b)  Three (3) City of Piedmont Employee parking spaces.  c)  Four (4) 2-hour parking spaces for general use by the public.

(Read the report > here.)

– Receipt of a Report on the 2017 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Implementation Status of the Climate Action Plan

This report provides information on the 2017 Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions inventory, including estimates for both community and municipal emissions. Piedmont staff completed the 2017 Municipal GHG Emissions Inventory in January of 2019.

(Read the 26-page report > here.)

The biggest sectors contributing to total municipal emissions (as opposed to private residential emissions) were transportation (48% of the total) and buildings and facilities (33% of the total).

The 2017 GHG emissions inventory reveals that Piedmont, in total, experienced a 2.9% increase in emissions from 2016. This increase applies to all sectors within the community and municipal functions, except for the community transportation sector, municipal vehicle fleet, City employee commute, and municipal street lights and traffic signals. The community decrease in transportation generated emissions may be a result of people consciously using alternative fuel vehicles, using more public transportation, and/or walking or biking more often.

– Consideration of a Project Specific Supplemental Agreement with Coastland Civil Engineers for Mapping of the City’s Storm Sewer System

Approval of the Project Supplemental Agreement with Coastland Engineers to provide professional engineering services for Phase One of the City-Wide Storm Sewer Mapping Project in an amount not- to-exceed $85,920.

(Read the staff report here.)

The Council meeting will be in City Hall starting at 7:30 p.m., open to the public, and viewable live on Cable Channel 27 and on the City website under City Council videos.

(Read the full agenda here.)

Sunday, March 24^th hourly 10 am – 2 pm

Piedmont Home Energy Tour address provided when you sign up (below) for a tour at 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm, or 1 pm.

Have you ever wanted to know where the drafts and dusty air in your home come from?

Join Piedmont Connect, the City of Piedmont, and Bay Area Energy Upgrade for a guided tour through a Piedmont home. Attendees will learn first- hand from a building science expert how a Home Energy Score is calculated.

At this FREE event you can:

• Find out where common air leaks and drafts are in the home
• Speak to a contractor about the best ways to address comfort issues at home
• See how issues can be diagnosed scientifically
• Get all of your questions answered about how to make your home more comfortable and efficient.
• Learn about Home Energy Score and speak to a local homeowner about why they decided to have it done for their home
• Find out about rebates of up to $5,000.

Please sign up > here.

In addition to learning how to become more energy efficient, there will also be refreshments and energy efficiency giveaways!