Just The News

Imagine Portland For Oakland

Try imagining a world that’s more like Portland than Oakland.

While a bus rapid transit project won’t literally impact Montclair, the opportunity captured our attention during the City Council meeting tonight.  The route would run along the entire length of Oakland, across International and Telegraph – and maybe look like these mocks below.

Is there a preference? Not yet.  Our City Council was asked to green-light an environmental impact statement and review, including designated and non-designated lane options.  Listening to residents and Council reps, there’s no consensus right now.

Who makes decisions? The City has control and officially owns the city streets.  If this rapid bus option were in the cards, then A.C. Transit would legally access a portion of the streets from the city.  However Caltrans has authority on International, below 42nd Street.

Why are the sparks flying? Everyone who lives near the potential route seems a little scared.  In East Oakland, there’s no well-developed district along International and added traffic would be detrimental.  In Temescal, there’s a nicely developing district along Telegraph and concerns over parking spaces.

Could Portland happen? It’s the million(s) dollar question.  Council Rep Larry Reid, of East Oakland, mumbled “this will never happen.”   Many Oaklanders stepped up to the mike and shared their public transit hopes and dreams.  Around the hills, we are mostly drivers – but aspirations are a good thing.

More info:   Bus Rapid Transit overview – City Administration report – AC Transit report draft

Montclarion Pushes “Sporting Values” To Kids

Hollywood.  New York.  Montclair.  Who knew that kid-oriented media could take a leap forward here?  Since last year, local Dean Kisieu had been chatting about improving tween offerings.  He wanted star athletes to help educate and entertain kids, through a mix of TV and more interactive media.

Today we ran into Dean while making a coffee run, and learned about the birthing of Hey! You Up There! This program was “picked up” by Comcast SportsNet California (cable channel 41), and starts airing in late summer.  Next up is a San Francisco fair, including a mascot contest, coming this fall.  Plus a feature-packed site will encourage tween involvement with athletes and much more.

Check out the videos here.  We liked the interview between Montreal and hockey star Claude Lemieux, where he told the interviewer how her name should be pronounced in French.  You hear Lemieux explain that, as a teen, he used to pull double-shifts at a gas station and disliked this job.  He really couldn’t think of any other job he even liked to do now, besides hockey.

Olympic swimmer and multi-medalist Natalie Coughlin also jumped into the act, admitting she felt foggy during the Athens Olympics and later frightened by the 18,000 Beijing fans.  She was still embarrassed about crying during her most recent gold medal ceremony.  Oh, and she gave up spelling “guacamole” when put on the spot.

Some sweet connections were also made with Olympic boxer and gold medalist Andre Ward.  During a push-up contest, he eagerly competed with a local boy and they both ended up smothered in pie cream.  Athletes like Ward seem very accessible when communicating with kids – by sharing feelings, providing life lessons and clearly having a little fun.

To brighten your day, we simply had to pass along these previews.  Montclarion Dean Kisieu and his co-founder, Mike Kennedy, also describe their mission on Vator.tv, where you should register and vote for them.

P.S.  If you or your neighbors are doing interesting things, then please share ’em with MontclairOak.

Playing Ball In District 4 Elections

There’s plenty of interest in the upcoming Oakland mayoral race around here,  but equal focus on who’s going to represent District 4 in the Oakland City Council as well.  While no one’s even required to file yet, we’re already playing ball in a shadowing of the pro baseballers.  It’s all about who’s at bat.

In the hills, our questions are very basic:  Who are the players going to be?  Who will replace Rep Jean Quan?  What are the attributes, experiences, attitudes and platforms we want in this position?

At this point, many of the earlier-rumored candidates are still planning to join the game.  Your faithful blogger has started to reach out and ask basic questions.  We would like them to communicate verbatim at first, the way they see fit.

So far, Libby Schaaf and Jill Broadhurst have publicly announced their intentions to run for this all-important seat.  In addition, we expect Melanie Shelby and Clinton Killian to join the gaggle too.  Others will likely emerge, and we hope they will share their views as widely as possible.

Via the Montclair SIC Yahoo board, we recently learned about a volunteer group that’s planning to vet candidates.  The all-new District 4 Neighborhood Endorsement Committee has asked potential candidates to complete an application and get interviewed in early May.  We believe this explanation is a direct quote from Chairman Stan Weisner:

Candidates will be interviewed and assessed against a set of criteria that reflect specific qualities, which include an approach to organizing and supporting activities at the local level that has been working successfully in the district over the past several years.  The goal is to recommend a candidate for the endorsement of the incumbent and District 4 neighbors.  The Committee will recommend a candidate who will continue to support local neighborhoods.

Maybe your criteria are similar or different, everything from potholes to solving crime to ensuring city solvency.  These candidates will come along and are worth listening to carefully.  At least this baseball season, we strongly urge you to tune in and watch all the innings.

Oakland Whistleblowers Are Blowing

In the City of Oakland, the whistleblowers are blowing.  But are they being heard?

According to City Auditor Courtney Ruby, at least 80 percent of reports went somewhere while the remainder required no further action or were submitted with insufficient information.  Here’s the Audit Department’s recent overview, which included this chart below.

One indisputable fact?  There were many more whistleblowers lately, who started using a new city hotline installed in January 2009.  The counts grew significantly:  16 in fiscal 2007; 23 in fiscal 2008; and 122 in fiscal 2009.  The most recent count reflected a half-year of hotline operation, so it’s clearly been a handy tool for city employees.

With protections in place, this increased whistleblowing is probably a good thing.  Public sector employees do encounter bad actors and actions, and should have formal places to turn.  Especially in our litigious society, these kinds of programs are appropriate.

Are fraud, waste and abuse truly identified and then addressed through Oakland’s whistleblower program?  The auditor says her department can’t provide details regarding investigated matters, due to confidentiality considerations.  So the jury’s out.

What Changes Matter In Hills Zoning

Although this seems like a snooze subject, the City of Oakland’s planners have been studying zoning refinements for years and hope to implement some improvements by 2011.  We’re at a stage where some adjustments to their proposals are still possible.

Our planners thoughtfully and patiently shared proposed changes for residential and commercial districts in the hills, at this Tuesday’s public meeting.  As a community service, let us attempt to shake down which parts mattered most for renovators and builders.

Adding Hills Regulations

The Oakland Hills would receive “Residential – Hillside” codes based on lot size.  The smallest zone, RH-4 (nee R-30), was redefined from lots under 5,000 square feet to lots under 6,500 (<20 percent slope) or 8,000 (>20 percent slope) square feet.  Although many lots and homes would become non-conforming, they get grandfathered status here – so no worries.

One new regulation would control Floor Area Ratios or FARs – the home’s total square feet vs. total lot size.  To prevent McMansion problems, the city proposed ratios and the smallest one might need work.  For lots under 5,000 square feet, the proposed caps were 2,000 square feet or .55 (55 percent) FARs – though Montclarions recommended .50 based on what other Bay Area cities do.

Another zoning addition would relate to Lot Coverage for homes with 20 percent-plus slopes.  For RH-4 lots, this regulation translated to 40 percent.  And for lots under 5,000 square feet, homes would be permitted up to 2,000 square feet as well.  While Montclarions applauded this footprint zoning, the 2,000 square foot exception was raised as a red flag.

Fixing Hills Regulations

Some proposed changes made good sense, including the newly-proposed Lot Height regulations.  In upslope lots, there’s a max height of 24 feet above the edge of the property line.  So if your home were built, say, 12 feet uphill, that prevented you from building a two-story home.  This change would measure from grade, which means the base of the home rather than property line below.

Downsloping homes needed some attention as well, because of many variances approved on homes constructed during this past decade.  The zoning changes would officially add two feet to wall and roof heights as the hills steepen, for homes built on 20-39, 40-59 and 60+ percent slopes.  This fix made sense to Montclarions hearing the details, last Tuesday.

Altering Village Zoning

Montclair Village has been considered an established commercial district, with a selective range of pedestrian-oriented retail.  Most of our central core was zoned “C-27,” while other shopping districts like Dimond, Rockridge and Lakeshore were “C-31” instead.  There were no cries for Village zoning changes.

Still, city planners wanted to create a new “CN-1” zone in the proposed update.  We asked the planners why and they didn’t have a direct response, but explained the minor differences.  Our take is that planners just wanted to eliminate our outlier zone and create consistency among pedestrian districts.

This new zoning would allow conditional use permits for additional business types like custom manufacturing or research services, possibly triggering unintended consequences down the line.  The Montclair Village Association (MVA) continues to provide oversight in our faire village, so no concerns were raised by Montclarions last Tuesday.

Speaking Up And More

Okay, we applaud you if you read this far.  Now how can you learn more or be heard?  First, there’s an “Area 1 meeting” on Monday, April 26th at North Oakland Senior Center (map) starting at 6:30 pm.  This gathering addresses a full-third of the city, including the hills.

You don’t have to wait until there’s a meeting next month.  City planners have also encouraged the public to email them right now, with any specific questions or opinions you might want to share – at zoningupdate@oaklandnet.com.

If you’re interested in diving into zoning materials, then brew a little coffee and visit the planning web site – and we suggest reading this update, residential zoning changes and hillside changes.  Last but not least, feel free to call the city planners at their update line, 510-238-7299.