Catch Bus to Piedmont on Franklin Street in Downtown Oakland

Beginning Monday, September 9 line 33 buses heading from downtown Oakland to Piedmont will be detoured off Broadway and onto Franklin Street until the end of December.  The Piedmont-bound bus stops on Broadway between 12th Street and Thomas L. Berkley Way (20th Street) will be temporarily closed.  Substitute stops on Franklin Street will be near 12th, 15th Streets, then 20th Street at Webster Street.  Southbound bus 33 will continue to use its existing stops on Broadway, except the stops between 12th and 14th streets in front of Oakland City Center will be skipped.

This detour begins Monday, September 9 and continues to the end of December.

Planning Commission to Consider Design Guidelines Update
Monday, May 13, 2019 – Discussion and Recommendation

RECOMMENDATION TO ADOPT DRAFT UPDATED DESIGN GUIDELINES

Receipt of a draft update of the City of Piedmont Design Guidelines, an informational report from the City’s consultant regarding the draft update, and a recommendation from staff that the Commission recommend the City Council approve the Guidelines. This agenda item is continued from the Commission’s meeting on April 8, 2019, and includes an opportunity for public comment and Commissioner discussion.

Reducing Traffic Speed on Oakland Avenue, Magnolia, and Fairview Avenues with Bulb-Outs, bright flashing Beacons, Bioswales and relocated Crosswalks.

The city consultant, Coastland, prepared preliminary designs for proposed bulb-outs and other changes at several intersections on Oakland Avenue plus other streets.  The consultants will discuss their concepts at the Piedmont City Council meeting on Monday evening, April 15, 2019, in City Hall, 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be broadcast live on Channel 27 and from the City website under videos/City Council.  See links to staff reports showing locations and photos at the end of this article.

Before proceeding to the final designs and construction documents, the City wants to ensure that the Council and the community have full awareness of the proposed improvements and have an opportunity to have any questions or concerns addressed.

Oakland Ave. at El Cerrito Ave. This is a fully developed, 4 corner bulb out design that will achieve the following: •shorten the pedestrian crossing distances on Oakland Ave. and El Cerrito Ave., •bring the pedestrian access points into greater visibility

• include hard-wired, double sided, bright rapid flashing beacons (brighter than the current beacons) at each corner with user activated buttons •include all new pedestrian ramps for each direction on each corner•refreshed street paint at the intersection Similar to the previously constructed bulb outs on Linda Ave.,

Staff is proposing to next install landscape improvements wherever possible in place of impervious concrete. In addition to the improved aesthetics, these landscaped areas will be planned as bio-swales wherever possible to capture and slow down the storm drainage on Oakland Ave. (See staff report Exhibit B for a photograph of the existing intersection and Exhibit C for the proposed improvements.)

Oakland Ave. at Jerome Ave. While very similar in features to the Oakland Ave. at El Cerrito Ave. bulb outs, the Jerome Ave improvements will have a slightly different configuration due to the intersection geometry.

Grand Ave. at Fairview Ave. In the Piedmont Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan (PBMP), this intersection was identified as No. 8 in the High Priority Projects. The basic issues related to this intersection are that it is a very wide crossing for pedestrians, and motorists traveling northbound on Grand Ave. and wanting to turn slightly right to proceed up Fairview Ave. are difficult for pedestrians to see. See staff report Exhibit C for photographs of the existing intersection. Furthermore, because of the ease of this slight right turn and the uphill nature of Fairview Ave., there is a tendency to accelerate through the intersection. The configuration was driven by creating traffic calming and increase pedestrian safety, but also preserving the existing street parking. Thus, the use of street paint still allows parking in front of 1250 Grand Ave., which fronts on Fairview Ave. See staff report Exhibit D for the proposed configuration of improvements.

Oakland Ave. at Greenbank Ave. This intersection was not identified on the PBMP, but is, due to its configuration and topography, problematic for the local residents and pedestrians. The basic issues related to this intersection are similar to those described at Grand Ave. at Fairview Ave. These include compromised visibility for both pedestrians and motorists, downhill grades creating increased speeds, and the existing geometry of the intersection fostering unsafe conditions. See staff report Exhibit E for photographs of the existing conditions at this intersection. The driveway to 1203 Oakland Ave. will cross over a portion of this bulb out, but the nature of this installation will maintain access to this driveway. (See staff report Exhibit D for the proposed configuration of improvements.)

Magnolia Ave. at Nova Drive Previously identified in the PBMP as No. 17 in the High Priority Projects, this intersection poses issues for pedestrians, especially when walking on the northern side of the street (left side going uphill). Along Magnolia Ave. at the intersection with Nova Drive, the throat of the intersection is extremely wide. See attached Exhibit F for a photograph of the existing intersection. Since the 2018 Paving Project includes this portion of Magnolia Ave, Staff wants to take the opportunity to implement the recommendations of PBMP and install logical measures to create traffic calming and a safer environment for pedestrians. The proposal is to create an island refuge with street paint, lane delineators, and signage. This would be connected to the existing sidewalks with new crosswalks of considerably shorter length. Besides creating an island refuge for pedestrians, this will visually narrow the westbound lane of Magnolia Ave. which should promote slower speeds.

Read staff reports by clicking below:

04/15/19 – Receipt of Report on Preliminary Design of Traffic Calming Measures at the Intersections of Oakland and El Cerrito Avenues and Oakland and Jerome Avenues 

04/15/19 – Receipt of a Report on Proposed Traffic Calming Measures at the Intersections of Fairview & Grand Avenues, Greenbank & Oakland Avenues, as well as Magnolia Avenue & Nova Drive

 – 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.)

Piedmont residents can safely and conveniently dispose of unneeded medicines and household sharps (hypodermic needles, pen needles, intravenous needles, certain lancets, and devices that are used to penetrate the skin for testing or the delivery of medications) in the Piedmont Police Lobby, 403 Highland Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611.

State law (H&SC §118286) makes it illegal to dispose of home-generated sharps waste in the trash or recycling containers.

Approved sharps containers must be: made of a heavy-duty plastic; able to close with a tight-fitting, puncture-resistant lid, without sharps being able to come out; upright and stable during use; leak-resistant; and properly labeled as “sharps waste” or with the biohazard symbol and the word “BIOHAZARD” to warn of hazardous materials inside the container.

For additional information, contact the Piedmont Police Department at 510/420-3000.

Piedmont’s “new waste disposal contract” with Republic Services relies heavily on the company’s ability to properly recycle garden cuttings, kitchen waste, paper, plastics, glass, etc.  Questions have arisen as to whether Piedmont’s waste is actually being recycled or is merely headed to a landfill site?

Republic Services apparently was sending recycling to China. Recently China has decided to stop accepting it and our “recycling” will end up in landfill. At premium prices!

https://www.npr.org/2017/12/09/568797388/recycling-chaos-in-u-s-as-china-bans-foreign-waste

“Western states, which have relied the most on Chinese recycling plants, have been hit especially hard. In some areas — like Eugene, Oregon, and parts of Idaho, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii — local officials and garbage haulers will no longer accept certain items for recycling, in some cases refusing most plastics, glass and certain types of paper. Instead, they say, customers should throw these items in the trash.”

The Piedmont Civic Association made an inquiry to Piedmont’s provider, Republic Services in Richmond, asking about the destination of Piedmont’s recyclable waste.  There has been no response.  Our email, which was copied to the City Council, is below:

~~~~~~~

PCA

PIEDMONT CIVIC ASSOCIATION

June 1. 2018

——Media Inquiry—–

Republic Services

3260 Blume Drive, Suite 100

Richmond, CA 94806

piedmont@repsrv.com

Manager: Richmond, California, Republic Services

RE: Actual disposition of Piedmont, CA recyclable waste

Recently, the Piedmont Civic Association was informed, as validated by the New York Times on May 29, 2018, that much of Republic’s collected recyclable waste is going to landfills rather than going to reuse.

We are asking what is the disposition of Piedmont recyclables including glass, paper, plastic, etc.

The residents of Piedmont have exceeded their goals set for recycling waste materials and keeping reusable materials out of the landfills.

Please promptly reply to our inquiry so we may include your response in the forthcoming article on our well established website:

www.piedmontcivic.org

Thank you,

PCA Editors

editors@piedmontcivic.org

 

Piedmont’s City Council will consider a resolution opposing Senate Bill 827 –

Senate Bill 827 could oblige Piedmont to offer a density bonus and/or a Floor Area Ratio of no less than 2.5 for lots with a maximum height limit of 45 feet, if a developer proposes to construct a specified percentage of units for very low, low-, or moderate-income households on a transit rich site.

The Piedmont staff report on Measure SB 827 states, in part:

“Known as the Transit Zoning Bill, SB 827 would replace local zoning regulations with looser state standards for the development of multi-family housing on parcels near a major transit stop or corridor. The bill would undermine Piedmont’s General Plan and Housing Element (certified by the Department of Housing and Community Development in 2014) by allowing the Legislature to transfer the power to determine local land development patterns throughout cities into the hands of land speculators and developers.”

On March 14th, 2018, the Piedmont School Board met to discuss issues related to the protests that occurred the same day in schools across the Piedmont community. The protests and student gatherings were a response to the violent events that transpired on February 14th, 2018 in Parkland Florida. Schools across the nation planned demonstrations protesting gun laws and honoring the 17 victims of the shooting.

On the proposal for the School Safety and Gun Violence Resolution 12-2017-2018, members of the Board spoke on the need to establish and perform further background checks as well as banning certain classes of firearms, to ensure the safety of students and the Piedmont community as a whole. In addition, the Board spoke on creating additional funding for the implementation of counselors and taking measures against bullying. An agreement was unanimously reached and Resolution 12-2017-2018 was approved and prepared to be sent to representatives.

Board Member Cory Smegal addressed the issue of absences for the day as many Middle and High School students skipped class to protest. Unlike middle schoolers, high schoolers at Piedmont High School were marked down with an unexcused absence.

Superintendent Randall Booker spoke to this, stating that the High School event was “student led” and made up of student leaders. In contrast, the Middle School protest was organized by the staff. For reasons of security and liability, Booker stated that although he and the Board gave their full support to students exercising their rights to free speech, they could not excuse high schoolers as students had organized the event independently from the school.

Teachers and school staff had made it clear that they were going to mark protesting students with an unexcused absence but would offer accommodation for make ups. Students should not be too worried about these absences as they are common practices when there are walkouts and protests.

Last year, I participated in Piedmont/Oakland walkout protesting the election. We were gone for an entire class period but teachers were very open to making accommodations or opportunities to make up missing work. Students’ walkouts and protests are important ways we can make ourselves heard and are necessary despite the consequences.

On the matter of free speech, members of the Board discussed the importance of students expressing their voices. This was “not a movement of disobedience [but rather] a movement of solidarity.”  The Board recognized that the High School Lie-in was not designed to be a political protest but rather an event mourning the tragic events of the Parkland shooting. High school student leaders had also organized more politically minded events during lunch the week of the 14th.

The School Board also spoke on the issue of lighting at Witter Field. PUSD Director of Alternative and Adult Education proposed the implementation of 42 light fixtures replacing the 72 light fixtures on Witter Field. This new system would provide better lighting quality, would be more energy efficient and would reduce the amount of light pollution. The Board unanimously approved the implementation of the project during the summer and the Piedmont community can expect improved lighting as soon as Fall 2018.

The School District is facing a problem where students during lunch are using the Main Park as a lunch spot but rarely clean up, leaving trash and food. I spoke to Ms Levenson, Piedmont High’s librarian who told me even the police have gotten involved, passing out littering fines to students who don’t pick up after themselves. The School Board spoke of various repercussions this could have and the possibility of closing the campus at lunch time.

by Thomas Poppas, Piedmont High School Senior

Editors Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author.

IF SB 827 is approved, Piedmont could be obligated to offer a density bonus and/or a Floor Area Ratio of no less than 2.5 for lots with a maximum height limit of 45 feet, if a developer proposes to construct a specified percentage of units for very low, low-, or moderate-income households on a transit rich site.

Could Piedmont lose further control over land use  if  State Senate 827 becomes law approving four story apartment buildings on single family zoned properties located within 1/4 mile of “high quality” bus routes?

Will Piedmont’s City Council take a position on SB 827 as proposed by Piedmont’s State Senator Nancy Skinner?

To date, there has been no action taken by the Piedmont City Council to support or oppose SB 827.

Piedmont is a member of the League of California Cities and has a City Council representative on the League of California Cities – East Bay.  The League frequently takes positions on legislation impacting California cities and controls over local land use.

The new bill SB 827 introduced in the California state legislature on March 1, 2018 (as amended) by San Francisco Assembly member Phil Ting, San Francisco Senator Scott Wiener, and East Bay Senator Nancy Skinner (Piedmont’s State Senator ) would cede developers a transit-housing bonus for taller denser developments near major transit hubs.

Transit Centers, Transit Villages, and Transit Corridors are a popular planning device to reduce automobile traffic and pollution and congregate residents near established transit corridors.

Piedmont was largely developed by Borax Smith with transport into Piedmont from the San Francisco Bay.  Years ago many of Piedmont’s transit routes were taken over by the Key System, a corporation, followed by voter approval of the current Alameda Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit), a public special district providing bus transit for Piedmont and much of the East Bay.

AC Transit bus routes are well established in Piedmont.

Piedmont, long known for quick commutes to San Francisco and Oakland, could be targeted for densification within a 1/4 mile of our major “high quality” bus routes on Oakland Avenue, Highland Avenue, Grand Avenue, and Highland Way. 

Control and development of housing has been partially removed from cities and counties by the California State legislature in a push to accommodate California’s ever growing population and a need for affordable housing.   Densification of cities by adding apartments to single family homes and negating parking requirements are examples.  SB 827 would further the drive for additional housing involving local zoning controls concerning densification within 1/4 – 1/2 mile of “high quality” transit.

California law defines a “major transit stop” as:

A site containing an existing rail transit station, a ferry terminal served by either a bus or rail transit service, or the intersection of two or more major bus routes with a frequency of service interval of 15 minutes or less during the morning and afternoon peak commute periods.

Opinions on SB 827 have varied tremendously.  Some Piedmont residents think the bill would be unlikely to affect Piedmont. Residents in San Francisco, including the Planning Commission, and Pacific Palisades have pointed out problems in the bill, while those interested in building convenient affordable housing, have praised the bill.  The opportunity for the State to regulate land use near transit rather than leaving land use controls to cities has been identified as a method of providing more affordable housing. 

Click on the links to learn some pros and cons on the bill.

SB 827 would spare new housing developments from certain restrictions if they qualify as “transit-rich housing.” The initial version of the bill defines such housing as “parcels […] within a a half mile radius of a major transit stop or a quarter mile radius of a high-quality transit corridor.”

“In particular, SB 827 would change two important things about transit-adjacent land use:

• Cities and towns would have to allow taller buildings that fit more units on a given piece of land if developers and landowners want to build them.

• Cities and towns would not be allowed to require the construction of off-street parking spaces to accompany the construction of new dwellings.”  https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/19/17135678/sb-827-cars-california-transit-trains-buses

• Bill Would Mean Taller Housing Near Transit [Curbed SF]
• Planning Commission, 3.15.18 [SF Gov TV]
• Presentation On SB 827 [San Francisco Planning Department]
• Resolution Opposing SB 827 [City of SF]

https://sf.curbed.com/2018/3/16/17130904/san-francisco-planning-commission-wiener-housing-transit

READ SB 827 HERE. 

Mapping of potential areas impacted by SB 827 > HERE.