An OAKLAND ALERT --WILL THE COUNCIL APPROVE ANOTHER BIG, CHEAP AND UGLY BUILDING NEAR THE LAKE?

On September 3, the City of Oaklandís Planning Commission approved an ill-conceived design for 160-14th Street. This decision is now being appealed to the City Council.

The proposed, eight-story, scheme for 14th & Madison is too tall, too massive, and too ugly. This uninspired, boxy proposal-- a monotonous series of rectangles to be constructed with cheap-looking materials -- is completely out of character and out of proportion with the neighboring structures.

To make matters worse, the design calls for no setbacks on three sides of the building. This means there would be no space between the new building and the existing structures at 1410 Jackson Street, a complex of historic, renovated buildings which now houses EOA, an engineering consulting firm. Dr. Eisenberg, President and Principal Engineer of EOA, with over 20 years of civil engineering experience, stated in his June 16 letter to the Planning Department that "the proposed building may not be feasible to build because one wall is so close to our property line that construction may damage or otherwise impact our building, ... We have seen no construction details or information regarding how they will mitigate impacts to our building." Dr. Eisenberg's very serious concerns were never even mentioned by the Planning Commissioners before they voted to approve this ill-considered design, and the developer has never bothered to talk seriously with him.

The Planning Department's own Zoning Ordinance standards call for at least a 15-foot setback between the rear of the new building and the existing buildings to the west (1410 Jackson and 190-14th St.), and a minimum 5-foot setback in front facing Madison Street. This would allow for landscaping between the new and existing buildings, and improve safety for pedestrians and existing structures. Any new building should also provide a respectful setting for showing off the Madison Street Temple next door (home of the Islamic Cultural Center) and the other historic buildings on the block, and not be a danger to them.

In order to garner support for this mediocre offering, the developerís team has made many promises to the people, artists, and social services groups of Oakland. It will be very easy to scale back these high-minded pledges later, but if this design is built, we will not be able to scale back the building itself after the fact. In order to fund all of the arts and social programs promised, many things have to work out just right, including acquiring a lot of public money. Will the developer be applying for State and Federal funding? The developerís team has been elusive on this important question. We would like them to be much more forthcoming. There is also concern that the developerís team may have promised more than is possible, similar to an airline double-booking seats. What does each group think it's getting, and will they all fit? Let's see cards on the table, and a more transparent process.

We would welcome good, new buildings on the empty lots of central Oakland. The concern is that the City of Oakland is rushing through approval of projects, such as this one, far too quickly without adequate attention to the safety of existing, neighboring structures, and without sound design and urban planning principles appropriate to historic districts. Those of us who are opposed to the current proposal have raised a number of legitimate and thoughtful objections to it that have not yet been addressed.

Developers from Berkeley are in no position to lecture the people of Oakland on how to forge diverse communities. Our neighborhood is refreshingly multi-ethnic and economically mixed, with a number of buildings, new and old, providing housing and services for the elderly, the disabled, and others on limited incomes. To date, cooperation by the developer's team with the community has been woefully inadequate. The developer should negotiate in good faith with Dr. Eisenberg of EOA, 1410 Jackson, the leadership of the Islamic Cultural Center, 1433 Madison, and with the concerned neighbors of the Lakeside district.

If you live in Oakland, you can encourage this process by writing to your City Councilmember at 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland CA 94612 in favor of the appeal, in favor of negotiations, and in opposition to the current, hastily approved design. The appeal will come before the City Council on Tuesday, November 18; please write before then, and please send a copy of your letter to Mayor Jerry Brown.

Further information is available from www.oaklandlana.org