53rd Street Neighbors Committee Savors Its Unlikely Victory

After Ikea Victory

What Next For Impressive Neighbors Group?

News Analysis

It's not often a group of lowly residents can go up against the entire collective will of the Emeryville city staff and a multi-billion dollar corporation and pull out a victory, and yet that's just what happened Tuesday night at City Hall. Ikea and the staff may still be wondering what hit them. The 53rd Street Neighbors Committee rose seemingly out of nowhere to meet the Ikea warehouse retail proposal so fast that it had a good deal of stealthiness before delivering its final one-two punch.

It was a rare combination of corporate hubris meeting effective community organizing mixed with the intangible and hard to predict wrath of an enraged citizenry. Once these ingredients were mixed, Ikea really didn't stand a chance. The City Council just withered.

Tuesday's victory makes two, recently chalked in the resident's column. The other of course was the impressive victory of the parents at the Child Development Center in May. In the child center case, parents went up against the will of the staff and beat back the outsourcing of the school. City Manager Pat O'Keeffe threw everything he had at the parents, to no avail. Impressive and unlikely as that victory was, there was no multi-billion dollar corporation in the fight. The residents fighting Ikea had an extra hurdle.

One of the leaders of the 53rd Street Committee, Emery Bay Village resident Marcia DuBois noted the hubris from Ikea, "They [Ikea] didn't think we ever had a chance". She recalled a July meeting between the residents and Ikea, "They were arrogant and acted like the whole thing was a done deal. After the meeting, many of the resident attendees joined our newly forming group".

Ms DuBois noted the fight had implications for all Emeryville residents, "We struck a chord with people in Emeryville... People here put up with a lot. A lot of noise and other impacts from business. People aren't willing to go backwards however, when it comes to livability. The Ikea plan would have been a backwards move". She added, "We fought for all the residents of Emeryville".

A Coalition Of The Clans?

Tuesday night's victory for the residents begs the question of people power in Emeryville. Has a corner been turned, was this a harbinger and will we see greater civic engagement by the residents?

There are three grass roots residents groups concerned with livability in Emeryville, the 53rd Street Neighbors Committee, Residents for a Livable Emeryville (RULE) and the Child Development Center (ECDC) parents. Up til now, there hasn't been much interaction between the groups. An internal sense of singular direction and desires to not diffuse focus may have kept the groups to themselves up until now but the three disparate groups combined would wield formidable power in shaping public policy and livability in Emeryville.

This sort of consolidated force brought to bear against future Emeryville Goliaths could make Tuesday night's victory seem routine.

The 53rd Street Neighbors Committee has showed the rest of the residents that if they venture out of their subjective cocoons, turn off the TV or other diversionary contrivances and embrace civic engagement just a little, we can make this town how WE want to make it, not how the corporations want to make it.

Tuesday Night: Make Or Break For 53rd Street Group

Ikea Retail Warehouse

Now It's Up To The Council

The Planning Commission ruled in favor in a split 4-3 decision of the Ikea warehouse retail facility in the residential neighborhood, the ad hoc neighbors group The 53rd Street Neighbors Committee has filed an appeal on behalf of all residents and they have assembled their troops. Tuesday night October 19 at 7:15, the City Council will decide.

The Ikea retail facility would share about 50% of an existing building on 53rd Street with another business.

The neighbors group has stated the Ikea facility is a non-compliant use and therefore a zoning violation of our new general plan, a sentiment shared by three Planning Commissioners in their August 24th ruling. Ikea and the city says there is no violation because the warehouse proposal cleared the general plan's 50% requirement hurdle by less than 1% in a 120,000 square foot building not including outside space.

They quote the general plan's exception for a non-complying use if it can be shown to be "secondary" at less than 50% of the total square footage.

Since a lot of neighborhood impacting use by Ikea would be in the outside truck loading areas and the use of the building by Ikea would therefore be much more than 50%, the neighbor group and the three Commissioners are calling the less than 50% claim disingenuous and wrong.

The neighborhood group is also claiming the proposed Ikea facility will dramatically increase traffic and negatively impact the Child Development Center on 53rd Street and the general plan mandated 53rd Street Bicycle Boulevard.

The neighbors are asking the general plan be adhered to in letter and spirit and they are claiming this kind of cynical and divisive manipulation should be out of bounds for the city to engage in.

Whatever the council decides, the effects of their decision Tuesday night will be precedent setting. Our new $2 million general plan is being put to the test. All citizens who wish to see how elastic or brittle the general plan is should attend.

Tuesday night at City Hall at 7:15 PM.

Ikea Appeal Imbroglio

Residents Cry Foul

Ikea Warehouse Controversy: City Invokes An 'Anomaly'

There's a new wrinkle in the saga involving neighbors opposition to furniture behemoth Ikea's plans to convert a warehouse on Emeryville's 53rd street into a large-item customer pick up facility.
Neighbors who are appealing the project's approval say they are very concerned about the city's impartiality after a council resolution seemingly already denying their appeal was sent to them. The city's attempts to explain only caused more confusion after the head of the planning department said a previous resolution generated by a different neighbors group, and used for comparison, was an anomaly.

Representatives from the ad-hoc resident organization appealing the proposed Ikea expansion, the 53rd Street Neighborhood Committee, told the Tattler the resolution's language indicates the city is not acting in good faith with the appeal process.

Residents are bristling at the use of the word "denying" instead of what they say is the customary word "considering" in the official resolution from City Hall; a small change they say that will have a big effect.

Marcia DuBois, a member of the residents committee said the word 'deny' brings into question whether their appeal of the Ikea project will get a fair hearing before the City Council on October 19. Ms Dubois said neighbors worry the city's use of the word deny may indicate that the appeal decision has already been decided or that it at least could unfairly bias the council members against their appeal.

Here is the text of the Resolution the City Council will vote on (italics added):

RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EMERYVILLE DENYING AN APPEAL OF AD HOC 53RD STREET NEIGHBORHOOD COMMITTEE OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION'S AUGUST 26, 2010 DECISION AND APPROVING A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT AND DESIGN REVIEW TO ESTABLISH A 59,993 SQUARE FOOT OFF-SITE WAREHOUSE AT 5000 HOLLIS STREET (LEVEL 3 BUILDING) BY IKEA TO ALLOW CUSTOMERS TO PICK UP LARGE ITEM MERCHANDISE AT THIS SITE (APN: 49-1041-11-4)

Representatives from the appellants, the 53rd Street Neighbors Committee, complained that in a case decided last year, the last time an appeal was brought by residents, the wording was different. That appeal, brought by a group calling themselves the Triangle Neighbors, was worded in the city's Resolution to read (italics added):

RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EMERYVILLE CONSIDERING AN APPEAL OF AD HOC TRIANGLE NEIGHBORS .....(etc)

At a subsequent meeting at City Hall, planning department chief Charlie Bryant told representatives from the 53rd Street group that everything was fine and the normal way the city writes appeal resolutions is with the use of the word "deny" but he admitted that the Triangle resolution's use of the word "considering" was baffling, what he called an "anomaly". Since Mr Bryant is the actual writer of both these resolutions himself, the explanation is being perceived by residents as disingenuous.

Ikea plans on adding a 53rd Street adjunct to their Shellmound store for bulky item customer pick up. Residents have mobilised to stop what they call an intrusion of big box retail into the residential neighborhood, a violation of Emeryville's general plan. The Planning Commission OK'ed the proposal in a 4-3 split vote on August 26.

Ms Dubois said several 53rd Street neighbors were exasperated by the wording of the resolution from the city as a "done deal" and perhaps would give up fighting what they characterize as an Ikea steamroller.

Nonetheless all residents are urged to come to the appeal spectacle, regardless of the discouraging language from the city. City Hall Tuesday October 19th at 7:15 PM

53rd Street Neighborhood Committee Appeals To Council

Press Release

53rd Street Neighborhood Committee Organizes Against Ikea Expansion

The following is an unedited message to Emeryville residents concerning the proposed Ikea warehouse customer pick-up center:

Giant IKEA vs. Emeryville Neighborhood

Despite its reputation as family-friendly, IKEA isn’t being very family friendly to a small community in Emeryville, a little city nestled between Berkeley and Oakland in the Bay Area. IKEA Emeryville wants to move its warehouse and customer pick-up operations for large items from its retail store to a building in area zoned for Office/Technology uses.

The building, at 5000 Hollis on the corner of 53^rd and Hollis Streets, is adjacent to a residential community of 142 family homes, 2 preschools, a secondary school, and a children’s gym and across the street from a new pocket park. In addition, Emeryville’s new General Plan, completed in October 2009 at a cost of $1.5m, designates 53^rd Street as a greenway and bicycle boulevard; the IKEA customer pick up area would face 53^rd Street.

The Plan also restricts regional retail to west of the tracks, and 5000 Hollis is east of the tracks in an area with a mix of compatible uses including residential and parks and the Pixar campus.

In their application for a Conditional Use Permit, IKEA stated that they need additional warehouse space so they can stay fully stocked and their—regional—customers won’t have to make two trips to the store. This may work for IKEA, but the 53^rd Street neighbors have made it clear that it won’t work for them.

A small group of residents formed the 53^rd Street Neighborhood Committee to fight IKEA. They initiated a letter writing campaign to the Planning Commission and City Council, collected 137 signatures on a petition, filled to overflowing the Planning Commission hearing on August 26, and 20 of 21 speakers spoke passionately against the IKEA proposal. The only speaker in favor of the project was the lawyer for the owner of 5000 Hollis.

At the August meeting, the Planning Commission approved the project by a vote of 4 to 3. Disappointingly, Frank Flores,Planning Commission chair, who had earlier suggested that IKEA’s application would be denied, cast the deciding vote to approve. Commissioners Gail Donaldson, Vanessa Kuemmerle, and Steve Steinberg, responding in part to the concerns expressed by dozens of Emeryville residents, employees, and small business owners who opposed the project, voted to deny the application.

Undaunted, on September 2, 2010, the 53^rd Street Neighborhood Committee filed an appeal of the Planning Commission’s decision. The Planning Department has scheduled the appeal to be heard by the City Council at their October 19, 2010 meeting.

The appeal cites provisions in the General Plan that permits warehousing and distribution facilities as ancillary uses only, and questions the finding that IKEA would be a “secondary” use, required per Zoning Regulations to grant a Conditional Use Permit in the Office/Technology zone. It cites the effects this facility would have relating to traffic, noise, safety, and air quality, and points out IKEA’s history of poor planning—they grossly miscalculated their predictions for their Emeryville store which required them to build a four story parking garage shortly after opening and have based their calculations for customer volume at the proposed offsite warehouse on a manual count by an IKEA employee of receipts for 14 days in June.

The appeal notes that the Planning Department did not consider the impact on the neighborhood when it prepared its staff report and makes a strong argument about the negative impact this facility would have on the quality of life and property values of the adjacent residential community. It points out the differences between office/technology uses, which are compatible uses (Novartis, Bayer, and Pixar have campuses in the area), and how large scale regional retail with continuous truck and customer activity from 7:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. would be detrimental to the general well being of the surrounding neighborhood. Furthermore, it cautions that allowing IKEA to locate outside the area zoned for “retail uses that serve as a regional draw,” regardless of the General Plan or Zoning Regulations, would put all Emeryville neighborhoods and businesses at risk.

In an urban environment like the Bay Area, residential communities are fragile. Emeryville must decide if it is truly committed to supporting its residents and creating the “livable, walkable, sustainable urban community” envisioned in its General Plan. City Council members are urged to approve the appeal filed by the 53^rd Street Neighborhood Committee and send a clear message to Planning Department staff and Planning Commission members that the following required finding in the approval procedure for a Master Use Permits or Conditional Use Permits should be given priority:

(d) That the proposed use or uses at its proposed location will provide a service or facility which will contribute to the general well being of the surrounding neighborhood or community.

What can you do?

Attend the City Council meeting on October 19, 2010 approximately 7:30 p.m. The number of people at the meeting will impact the outcome.

The agenda will be set on October 5 and can be found on the City of Emeryville’s Web site. Go to Departments®Planning & Building®Planning Division®Planning Commission, http://www.ci.emeryville.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=104.

Write to City Council Members:

Mayor Ruth Atkin - ratkin@ci.emeryville.ca.us

Kurt Brinkman - kbrinkman@ci.emeryville.ca.us

Ken Bukowski - kbukowski@ci.emeryville.ca.us

Nora Davis - ndavis@ci.emeryville.ca.us

Jennifer West - jwest@emeryville.org

Help Get the Word Out

You can talk to your neighbors, friends, and colleagues and help collect more signatures on petitions and distribute flyers. To contact us, post a comment on our Facebook page or email the 53^rd Street Neighborhood Committee at noikeawarehouse@gmail.com

Planning Commission OKs Controversial Ikea Expansion

Specter Of Veiled Threat From Ikea

Ignoring residents jammed cheek-by-jowl in opposition, the city's Planning Commission narrowly OK'ed a busy Ikea warehouse on the edge of a residential area near 53rd and Hollis Street. The planned facility would function as a place for Ikea's patrons to pick up the furniture retailer's largest and bulkiest items.
The commission approved the proposal in a 4-3 vote Thursday night (Kuemmerle, Donaldson and Steinberg dissenting), leaving many residents surprised. Residents chief concern was the added din of traffic noise and safety concerns from the project, which could bring hundreds of extra vehicles to Hollis Street and 53rd Street, especially on weekends when customers flock to Ikea.
The proceedings were marred by what appeared to be a veiled threat against the city concerning a public easement for a planned foot bridge over the railroad tracks unless city officials played ball. A pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the tracks connecting Novartis on Horton Street with the Bay Street mall has long been planned.

Commissioners mostly disagreed on the compatibility with the city's new General Plan. The three dissenters presented findings that the project was in fact not compatible. The 22 citizen speakers, mostly Emery Bay Village residents agreed that the proposed warehouse use is not 'office/technology' as the General Plan requires. Only one speaker supported the project.

Ikea Threatens The City

The evenings most noteworthy moment came when Ikea representatives stated that the company was prepared to allow the city full use of its back parking lot as a staging area for construction vehicles should the city ever proceed with its approved but as yet unbuilt bicycle/pedestrian bridge. The implication being that no such permission would be forthcoming in the event of a NO vote by the commission.

After the vote, a high level city official unwilling to state their name told the Tattler that there would be "no way" Ikea would freely allow the city to encroach on their property without a YES vote on the 53rd Street warehouse expansion. The official stated that the commission had saved the city "a lot of lawyer time fighting Ikea with this yes vote".

City Hall was filled to capacity and the council chamber overflow was forced to watch from the basement by closed circuit TV.

Representatives from the ad-hoc '53rd Street Neighborhood Committee' stated they intend on appealing the Planning Commission's decision to the City Council.

New Neighborhood Group Fights Ikea Expansion

Ikea To Expand Into Emery Bay Village Neighborhood

Group Decries "Wrong Site/Wrong Use"

Emeryville City Hall backed development proposals have a way of incubating neighborhood preservation groups. Such is the case of a new, so far nameless group some are calling the '53rd Street Neighborhood Committee', an ad hoc resident group formed to stop a proposed Ikea bulky item customer pick-up center slated for 53rd & Hollis Streets next to the sylvan resident enclave of Emery Bay Village.

The committee, some 125 resident petition signers strong, says the proposal is a "regional retail facility", incompatible with Emeryville's new General Plan and will negatively impact an adjacent existing 'family friendly' neighborhood by 200 customer vehicle trips per day, not including the copious delivery truck traffic generated by the proposal.

Emery Bay Village resident Marcia DuBois, a member of the committee's 12 person 'core group', says Ikea representatives gave a presentation of the proposed expansion to 52 neighbors in late July but was met with "blanket opposition". She noted, "Not one citizen speaker was in support of the proposal". Ms DuBois said much opposition centers on the negative impacts that will be borne by neighbors. She cautioned, "The projected 200 customers pick ups per day, with vehicle activity from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm - seven days a week, would severely degrade our quality of life with noise, fumes, potential hazards and traffic jams".

Ms Dubois saved much of her ire for the incompatibility with Emeryville's new General Plan, "We need the citizens of Emeryville to stand up for the General Plan so many worked so hard to create: big-box regional retail should be west of the RR tracks and south of 40th St., not next to homes. This location is zoned for office/technology, a use more compatible with family housing".

Ikea seemed to scale back the plan after calls from committee members highlighted incompatibility with the General Plan. The existing warehouse where Ikea proposes the pick-up center, is about 120,000 square feet and Ikea at first planned to use more than half, 62,000 square feet, a number that would automatically require a General Plan amendment under 'secondary use' planning provisions. Later, committee members noted the planned usage had dropped to 59,000 square feet, barely under the limit line and rubber stamp approvable with only a 'conditional use' permit . The 3000 square foot reduction move by Ikea has been called a pittance and a way to avoid a potentially difficult General Plan battle. Some neighbors insist the Ikea project remains a General Plan violation, at least in spirit. Others called the slight-of-hand a cynical ploy by Ikea.

Marcia DuBois joined her core group colleagues on the 53rd Street Neighborhood Committee in opposition to the IKEA proposal, "We oppose the location of an IKEA bulky-item customer pick up facility immediately adjacent to a family-oriented residential community of 142 homes, 2 pre-schools, a children's gym and a high school". She appealed to all Emeryville residents to help save the neighborhood, "Please come to the Planning Commission meeting on Thursday, August 26 to protect our homes" she said.

The committee is primarily comprised of Emery Bay Village residents, 53rd Street residents and Emeryville Child Development Center parents.

The Planning Commission will debate and vote on this issue after public testimony is taken. All are encouraged to attend at 6:30 PM on Thursday August 26th at City Hall.