Transit Center Gets Nix From Planning Commission

2nd 'No' Vote From Planning Commission

to Transit Center

"Not Enough Public Benefit" 

Thursday night, Emeryville's Planning Commission gave a thumbs down to Wareham Development's contentious 'Transit Center' proposed to be built north of the Amtrak station on Horton Street.   The No votes among the Commissioners (Kuemmerle & Gunkel) said the project doesn't offer enough public benefit especially considering a $4.2 million grant  of public money Wareham is to receive for the project.  Two Commissioners voted Yes (Cardoza & Keeler) and two abstained (Moss & Tann).  A tie vote results in a rejection of the application.  The City Council will be the final arbiters in the project and they could override the Planning Commission as they did in 2010 on an earlier vote on the controversial project.  That earlier Council vote split 3-2 (West & Asher dissenting).

The Transit Center project is comprised of an office tower on a parking podium, a small public plaza and four bus bays in the parking garage.  The bus bays are meant to accommodate the Amtrak station.

Some residents cried foul when City Council earlier in the year voted to grant Wareham $4.2 million in public money to build the project, funds leftover from the remains of the former Redevelopment Agency.   Wareham had promised to clean up the toxins left over from the polluting days when Westinghouse Electric Company manufacturing operated at the site, a fact Council Member Nora Davis said was a deal maker.  Ms Davis it should be noted has been very vocal on using developer and public money to clean up toxins from Emeryville's industrial past. In the intervening years since the agreement was hammered out with Wareham however, the development firm reneged on their promise and they will now only partially clean up the site, leaving toxins entombed in the soil beneath the new building.

Thursday's Planning Commission vote against the Transit Center marks the second time the planning body has rejected the project.  In 2010, they said the project with it's four bus bays in the garage and small plaza was too light on the public amenities to approve because of the traffic the project would generate and the fact that the building was too tall for the neighborhood.  That Planning Commission vote was made before Wareham retracted it's agreement to clean up the toxins it should be noted.  The Transit Center project as proposed today is worse from a public benefit analysis (no complete clean up and a new grant of $4.2 million public money).

Wareham, a favored developer at City Hall, has received more than $4 million in subsidies already from the City Council to help them build their other development projects around town.  In November 2012 a generous Council OK'ed a deal with Wareham to allow the developer to bank increment taxes the project generates for 12 years even as the Transit Center uses city services.
The $4.2 million in left over Redevelopment funds the Council earmarked for Wareham and the Transit Center is money the City could have applied to other proposed public projects in town including the moribund South Bayfront Bike/Pedestrian Bridge now starving for money and dying for lack of it.

The Council is expected to vote soon, one last time, to give the final OK for the Transit Center.

Planning Commission OKs Center for 'Community' Life, Bike/Pedestrian Path Removed

Commission Says 'NO' to ECCL Path

Tonight the Emeryville Planning Commission reversed an earlier vote and OK'ed the contentious Center of 'Community' Life without an adjoining required bicycle/pedestrian path that they had called a 'deal breaker' only last month.  The split vote 3-2 (Vanessa Kuemmerle and Steven Steinberg dissenting) came after the School District made a presentation meant to address the Commission's earlier concerns about the path, the future 53rd Street Greenway and the 'community commons' at the site.  Commissioner John Scheuerman praised the new plan tonight, without the ECCL path in it, calling the slight modifications to the Greenway and the community commons made by the School District "much improved",  even though in July he joined the majority and castigated the District and voted down the plan because it did not provide the path.

Most of the controversy among the Commissioners tonight settled around the District's continuing refusal to build the ECCL path.  Commissioner Scheuerman seemed to hold out hope that someday the path could be built somehow but Chair Kuemmerle disagreed, "If it's not done now it will not get built" she said.  Commissioner Steinberg agreed with Ms Kuemmerle stating flatly, "We should do [the bike/ped path] now.  It's an amenity everyone wants."

District architect Mark Seiberlich told the Commissioners that an existing concrete wall in the way of the ECCL path will have to be seismically strenghtened for safety and money spent on that now would be wasted if the path is ever built at some future date.  No one from the District told the Commissioners how much money would need to be spent strengthening the existing wall.

Commissioner John Scheuerman
The ECCL Bike/Ped path
can happen somehow,
 someday, just not now.
"Maybe we can get a grant"

he said.

At the onset of the meeting, Charlie Bryant, Emeryville's Planning Director announced that the City had received an award from the State of California for the City's new forward thinking Pedestrian Bicycle Plan, the second award received for the plan so far.  Several attendees and at least one Commissioner noted the irony that as the City of Emeryville starts to reap awards for the new Pedestrian Bike Plan, the City is busy removing bike/ped paths.  If the ECCL path is indeed not built, it will be the second such path removed by the City in recent months.

Commissioner Sean Moss seemed to disagree with his colleague John Scheuerman who stated a wish to someday see a path there.  Mr Moss suggested there is simply not enough space for a bike/ped path on the site now or in the future because it would constrain an existing pool deck he said as he cast the deciding vote, killing the ECCL path.

At an earlier City Council meeting, Council member Jac Asher said the ECCL path should be built now.  Otherwise, she said the ECCL path will not be built for decades because the School District and the City have borrowed the maximum amount of money legally possible and that the school construction bonds Series A through C must be paid back before more can be borrowed to build the path. She noted if not now, it likely will never be built.

The issue of the Center of 'Community' Life now goes before the City Council one last time September 3rd.  The votes tonight could be overturned by the City Council at that time.

Planning Commissioner Offers Solution to Pedestrian Path Problem

Plan Straightens Ped Path, Takes Away 

Safety Problems

Will Detractors be Appeased?

Emeryville Planning Commissioner Sean Moss has waded into the imbroglio over the City Council's idea to remove a pedestrian path slated for the Triangle neighborhood with a creative fix for the much publicized safety concerns that have threatened the path with removal.  The pedestrian thoroughfare, the Escuela Bilingue Internacional path (EBI) was required to be built as a condition of approval for the private Spanish immersion school on San Pablo Avenue but it received complaints from two would be neighbors and as a consequence, City Hall proposed amending the City's General Plan to permanently remove the path.  Mr Moss previously appealed to his colleagues on the Planning Commission and the City Council to disallow removal of the path saying the path  comports with the General Plan's guiding principles.  One of the original complainants joined with Mr Moss and has spoken out against removing the path.

Commissioner Moss' new idea involves moving the EBI parking lot to take advantage of the property line jog and remove the jog from the pedestrian path, the main reason neighbors cited for safety concerns.  The idea would seem to render impotent the crime issues some City Council members glommed onto at their last meeting.

The Council will make their final decision on Tuesday night and this idea from Sean Moss should help inform the Council members as they consider amending our new General Plan.

Here is the letter from Commissioner Moss to the City Council dated Friday March 29th:


Hello Councilmembers:

As you consider alternate options for a mid-block pedestrian pathway between 45th and 47th Streets, I write to you to ensure that all options are considered.  

There has been much discussion since the EBI project was first submitted regarding the safety of the proposed pathway.  At the time EBI was approved, some residents advocated for a straight pathway to enhance safety.  Due to the existing configuration of the property, EBI claimed that they were not able to accommodate a straight pathway and the City Council, in their approval of the project, agreed that this option was not feasible.  I find it somewhat paradoxical that the Council is now considering eliminating the pathway based on safety concerns that were, in part, created during the Council's approval of the project.      

I submit to you one alternative design which I sketched out in about 10 minutes.  It is by no means the only alternative available, but it is meant to demonstrate that plenty of alternatives exist.  The design I have sketched out could easily be refined to include additional landscaping and to further enhance the pedestrian experience within it.  We accept these types of pathways through commercial parking lots frequently as a way to provide pedestrian circulation through a auto-dominated environment.  Several commercial parking lots in and around Emeryville have similar pathways.
The parking lot shown in this sketch would be a replacement for the existing northern parking lot.  The existing northern parking lot and the remainder of the large, contiguous area next to the existing building would be available to EBI for future development.

 Having previously worked as a consultant, I am keenly aware of the needs of property owners.  I have a good eye for master plans, and I worked very hard to develop an alternative which provides plenty of future expansion opportunity for EBI.  I am simply trying to demonstrate that an alternative exists with a straight pathway which makes sense for EBI.  EBI will most likely resist this alternative.  When I suggested it to John Horsch many months ago, he replied that "there was significant concern that it would impact future development opportunities."  I'll remind the Council that the "future development opportunities" which Mr. Horsch refers to have not been approved by the Planning Commission or City Council or analyzed under CEQA and thus should not garner any consideration from the City at this time.  
EBI may have begun preparation of an internal long-term master plan, but again, this master plan has not been approved or vetted by the City in any way.  The City Council's role is not to speculate about future development at EBI, but to make decisions that best serve the citizens of Emeryville based on current information and current entitlements. 

The Council is in an extremely good negotiating position at this point in time.  Any changes to EBI's current approval require approval of the City Council.  The City Council will not find itself in a better negotiating position regarding this pathway.  It would be irresponsible public policy to now eliminate all the public benefits of the project which the Council negotiated.  

Lastly, if the Council decides not to require EBI to build a pathway, I implore you to at least leave in place the Irrevocable Offer of Dedication (IOD) which has been recorded for the pathway.  IODs are commonly used instruments which allow a City or other entity to dedicate property at any point in the future.  Leaving the IOD in place would allow EBI use of their property, while still allowing the City to improve the pathway at any point in the future.  

There almost no downside to leaving the IOD in place.  EBI could use the portion of the property within the IOD for a variety of uses and in 30 or 50 or 75 years or any point in the future, the City could determine that it made sense to improve the pathway an would be free to do so.  We all know this is the only way a pathway will ever be developed on this block.  Moving the pathway in the General Plan makes the provision of the pathway almost certainly unfeasible.  
We have the opportunity now to provide the City with a resource which can serve the citizens of Emeryville when the conditions are right.  It would be incredibly short-sighted to eliminate this opportunity forever. At a minimum, please leave the IOD in place.  

I regret that I cannot attend the Council meeting on Tuesday since I have to attend the El Cerrito City Council meeting as staff of that city.  I ask that you please consider my comments and I would be happy to discuss them further with any of you.  

Thank you so much for your time,

Sean Moss

This rendering by Sean Moss shows the trajectory of the proposed EBI pedestrian path.
San Pablo Avenue is on the left and the path connects 47th Street (on the top)
and 45th Street (bottom).The new parking lot is at the bottom and the path traverses thorough the lot, shown by "zebra stripes". Parking slips are seen on the sides of the proposed lot.  The northern trajectory of the path can be seen with proposed tree plantings.

City Council Kicks the Can Down the Bike/Pedestrian Paths

Bike/Ped Paths Will Bring "Gang Rapes" 
to Emeryville Says Councilwoman Davis

Opinion
Two amendments to the General Plan came before the Emeryville City Council Tuesday night, both aiming to remove bicycle and pedestrian paths from the plan.  The Council failed to act after deliberation, opting instead to postpone the decisions but not before providing council watchers with another evening of entertaining histrionic hyperbole.  
The General Plan, adopted in October 2009 after thorough vetting by residents, called for these paths, in keeping with its guiding principles of Emeryville as "A connected place", "Enhanced and connected open space network and green streets," "A walkable, fine-grained city, emphasizing pedestrians," and "A diversity of transportation modes and choices."

The General Plan’s guiding principles didn’t seem to mean much to the City Council Tuesday night as they looked for ways to remove these paths.  The first path would have connected 45^th Street and 47^th Street just east of San Pablo Avenue, and was a requirement of approvals sought by the private school Escuela Bilingue Internacional (EBI) when the school moved into the Triangle neighborhood.  The second path was intended to provide bicycle and pedestrian access between 53^rd and 47^th Streets along the western property line of the proposed Emeryville Center for Community Life (ECCL). 

In both cases, the Council voted to continue the discussion to the next Council meeting, asking staff to bring them amendments to the General Plan that, rather than deleting the paths entirely, would simply move the paths to undetermined locations elsewhere within these blocks.

One need only look at a map of Emeryville to see that the Council has dodged the issue in completely unrealistic ways. Neither of these blocks provides any realistic alternative locations for these paths.

In the case of the EBI path, the rest of 45^th and 47^th streets are filled with residences.  The City would have to purchase adjoining properties on both streets to ever have an opportunity to put a path elsewhere on the block.  Such an opportunity will obviously never arise and the City is unlikely to have the millions of dollars such an alternative would require.  But, in the fanciful hope of some multi-million dollar option arising some time in the distant future, the Council rejected the opportunity to get such a path at EBI’s expense today.

In the case of the path that could have enhanced access to and around the ECCL, the Council actually suggested that the General Plan be altered to show the path somewhere else on the School site.  The General Plan is supposed to guide our City for a twenty-year period and Council member West objected that she didn’t think it was likely that the ECCL would be redeveloped within the next 20 years.  Council member West was right about this. Imagining that a path might one day exist elsewhere on the site is pure fantasy.  Even City Manager, Patrick O’Keeffe, seeming exasperated by the Council’s unwillingness to simply delete the path, explained that it was not realistic to ask the District to come back in two weeks with an alternative location for the path: it must be on the western edge of the site, or not be a part of the design.

To their credit, Council members Jac Asher and Jennifer West tried to reject the proposed amendment to the General Plan deleting the ECCL bike/ped path, but they lost that vote 3-2.  In a subsequent vote, they joined Council member Ruth Atkin in postponing the issue to the next Council meeting, so that we can all consider this fantasy alternative location for the path.

The idea of these bike/pedestrian paths produced some entertaining hyperbole from those seeking to shut down consideration by the Council.  School District Superintendent Debra Lindo, alarmed at the prospects of the path near the future school site at the Center of Community Life told the Council members "bike/ped paths aren't helpful" to schools and the ECCL path would represent a "supervision problem" for the School District.  
Council member Nora Davis was less circumspect stating bike/ped paths represent "a place where crime can flourish" and she chastised her colleagues on the recklessness of the paths, "We have a responsibility to the citizens of this town" to stop these paths she said.  Emeryville residents could expect to see "Richmond style gang rapes" she said, if these paths are approved. 

Unfazed by Councilwoman Davis' antics, Planning Commissioner Sean Moss spoke in favor of retaining both paths, going so far as to say that the Council "could not in good faith" make the findings necessary to amend the General Plan in these ways, calling them "findings from nothing".  Commissioner Moss is right.  He simply wrongly assumed that this Council cares about acting in accordance with our City’s stated principles.

         =

Planning Commissioners Reject Colleague's Plea to Save Pedestrian Path

EBI Path Dead, 

ECCL Path Gets a Second Chance
Commissioner "disheartened"

In a unanimous voice, the Emeryville Planning Commission spurned their colleague, Sean Moss as they collectively voted to move ahead with a proposal to amend Emeryville's General Plan to remove the EBI Pedestrian Path tonight.  The path would connect 45th and 47th Street in Emeryville's Triangle neighborhood.

No good.
We have enough of this already, thank you.

The absent Commissioner Moss made an impassioned plea in a letter to the rest of the Planning Commission to not change the General Plan and to retain the path ahead of the vote tonight but the letter fell on deaf ears.  All four attending Commissioners voted to get rid of the EBI path but at least three wanted citizens to know they did so with a heavy heart.  Commission Chairwoman Vanessa Kuemmerle said she was "disheartened to take apart the General Plan" with her vote.  Commissioner Steven Steinberg recused himself because of his home's proximity to the proposed ped path.
Surprisingly, one of the two original neighbor complainants to the path spoke in favor of keeping the path but he said he wanted adjustments made to it to address safety concerns.  The neighbor indicated that the other original complainant also was not in favor of removing the path, creating the bizarre spectacle of the Planning Commissioners one by one voting to eliminate a General Plan mandated pedestrian path against the wishes of the original complainants.

ECCL Path Saved
In another action, the Commission later voted to keep the General Plan as it is and not amend it to remove the so called ECCL Path.  That proposed path connecting 47th and 53rd Street behind the future Emeryville Center of Community Life, is also required by the General Plan but School District officials and some residents at adjoining Emery Bay Village have said they want it eliminated.  The Commission voted 4-1 to keep the ECCL Path and retain the General Plan (Buzz Cardoza dissenting).
The city staff advised the Commission to elimintate the ECCL (and the EBI) Path and amend the General Plan to reflect that.

Both votes; against the EBI Path and in favor of the ECCL Path, will now go to the City Council for final say.

Planning Commissioner Calls On Colleagues to Save Pedestrian Path

Planning Commissioner Sean Moss is challenging his colleagues to disregard a city council move to amend Emeryville's General Plan in order to eliminate a proposed pedestrian path in the Triangle neighborhood.  The challenge comes in the form of a letter where Mr Moss calls on the rest of the Planning Commission to protect the General Plan's Guiding Principles, among which are the requirements to make Emeryville "a connected place" and a "walkable, fine grained city, emphasizing pedestrians."

The city council voted unanimously to eliminate the pedestrian route informally called the EBI Path on December 22, 2012 in an infamous decision reported by the Tattler.  The council received two complaints from adjoining neighbors to the proposed path, pitting them against the rest of Emeryville.  Emeryville's Bike/Pedestrian Committee, an advisory body, voted to save the path in a split vote on February 4th.

The city council will have one last vote to amend the General Plan and eliminate this path after the Planning Commission vote tonight.*  The vote will take place at City Hall at 6:30 PM.

Here is the letter from Sean Moss:

.                         .                         .                         .

Fellow Commissioners:

I regret that I cannot be present at the February 28, 2013 Planning Commission meeting.  However, I have several comments which I would like to relay to you.  This email will focus on my comments on Item V-A (Escuela Bilingue Internacional Pedestrian Path.)  I will hopefully follow this email with comments on other items.  I wanted to make sure that I had an opportunity to voice my comments on this item since I view it as the most important issue facing the Triangle Neighborhood. 

I want to iterate one point at the outset of my comments.  I will return to this point.  However, it is important enough to restate.  The City Council has the ability to require gates on this pathway.  The conditions of approval preclude the Council from requiring gates at the time of construction.  However, once the path is open, the Council can immediately make the case that a security concern exists and therefore require gates. 

As I sat down to review this item, I began with a review of the General Plan in order to asses the consistency of this amendment with the General Plan’s Guiding Principles.  I could not find even one Guiding Principle that this amendment is consistent with.  I encourage the Commission to review these Principles in considering this request.  The Guiding Principles call for “a connected place,” an “enhanced and connected open space network and green streets,” “a walkable, fine grained city, emphasizing pedestrians,” “a diversity of transportation modes and choices,” “a vibrant urban community,” and “a balance of regional and local amenities,” among other things.  The proposed pedestrian pathway will improve all of these areas.  Eliminating the pathway will negatively affect all of these Principles and the overall vision of the General Plan.  The inconsistencies with the Guiding Principles are so blatant, that I would hope that if this General Plan Amendment had been proposed by EBI, that the City staff would have never brought it forward with a recommendation for approval.  In examining the Guiding Principles, I cannot find a way that the Planning Commission can make findings for approval in good faith.  The findings contained in the draft resolution are obviously weak.  Since I could not in good faith make findings for approval I have drafted an alternate draft resolution that makes clear findings of denial based on the Guding Principles of the General Plan.  I have attached the resolution to this email.  Should a majority of the Commission present at the meeting come to similar findings, I hope that you will use this alternative resolution as a model for adoption. 

In addition to contradicting the Guiding Principles of the General Plan, I have the following concerns regarding the proposed amendment.  First, the General Plan was the result of a lengthy public process.  The Steering Committee worked countless hours developing the plan.  Many members of the community provided input.  The result is that we have a General Plan which represents the desired of many diverse stakeholders.  The General Plan enjoys wide support in our community. This support stems from the vision presented in the Plan’s Guiding Principles.  These principles establish the type of environment that our community wants Emeryville to be.  The proposed amendment does not satisfy, and in fact harms, that vision. 

The proposed pedestrian pathway provides an important, and currently non-existent, connection through the Triangle Neighborhood.  In fact, the pathway is the only thing preventing someone from walking from Ana Yates Elementary School to Berkeley without walking on a major street.  With Anna Yates in its current location, the proposed pathway will provide a safer route to school for children who live on 47^th and 48^th streets.  Currently, this route to school would take children onto San Pablo Avenue, an unsafe route for small children.  The pathway will also provide better access to Temescal Creek Park, which is currently being renovated.  I walk through the Triangle Neighborhood almost everyday and currently I rarely walk on 47^th Street because there is no connection within the neighborhood.  I enjoy Temescal Creek Park, but find it unpleasant to walk there on San Pablo Avenue and thus when I reach the end of Salem Street on 45^th, I turn around rather than walking on San Pablo Avenue, which is an unpleasant walking experience due to noise, pollution, litter, etc. 

Returning to the issue of the safety of the pathway, it is important to remember that crime is a temporal issue.  Crime rates ebb and flow over time.  However, connectivity and walkability are fixed and perpetual issues.  We will always need to physically move from one destination to another.  Human beings will always prefer the most direct route to their destination.  In this case that route is through a block.  It is not sound public policy to forever preclude the building of this pathway due to concerns over safety in the present time.  Concerns over safety may someday look quaint, and at that time we will hopefully not have forever eliminated an amenity for the community due to safety concerns today.  In addition, safety concerns can be mitigated through good design.  As I said at the outset, the City Council can require gates on this pathway.  The Council was wise in their crafting of the relevant condition of approval.  In order to appease the applicant, who wished to not build gates, the Council allowed for gates to be required in the future if safety became a concern.  This was a prudent action.  It would be a shame to now eliminate this pathway because the Council and/or the Commission feels that the pathway is unsafe before any evidence can be presented to show this.  This pathway is the only physical public benefit of the EBI project.  It will benefit the community and implement the General Plan.  This amendment will weaken the General Plan and prevent implementation of the Guiding Principles.  I doubt if any alterative public benefit could be identified which would so perfectly implement the Guiding Principles of the General Plan.  It for this reason that I cannot make the findings of approval for this General Plan Amendment. 

Sincerely,

Sean Moss

*NOTE TO READERS- the asterisk denotes a correction to a previous sentence that falsely claimed that the Planning Commission vote would be the final say in amending the General Plan.  The council will have the final say. -ED

Emeryville's New Planning Commissioner

New Professionalism On The Planning Commission?

Opinion/ News Analysis

Emeryville's Planning Commission is well known in the Bay Area as being a friend to developers.  The record is one of business getting more than a fair shake, often at the expense of residents.  This has not been an accident; the city council majority has shown it prefers commissioners to be overtly pro-developer and would-be commissioners who thus find themselves in the good graces of the council majority are the ones that have gotten the appointment.

The February 7th city council selection of Emeryville resident Sean Moss to the Planning Commission seems to be a deviation from the norm.  Mr Moss, a city planning expert, has said that it is imperative for commissioners that there be objective and transparent processes that rely on findings of fact.  A stickler for detail, Mr Moss will likely be a commissioner that insists that the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted. 

Some council members have made public their appreciation for Mr Moss' likely high level of professionalism on the Planning Commission.  But if residents believe their interests will be placed above developer's interests by Planning Commissioner Moss, they may be in for a disappointment.

An E-Mail Record

The Internet, it has been said, never forgets.  And Planning Commissioner Sean Moss has left a written record on his ideas about the role of city planning in a series of public e-mails written in 2009.  In these e-mails, Mr Moss offered musings on the proper role of the Planning Commission with regards to two contentious development proposals at the time: a convenience 'mini-mart' store proposed for the Triangle neighborhood and Wareham Development's Transit Center on Horton Street.  These are musings that the council majority may wish that Mr Moss had not made public in light of their selection of him as Emeryville's newest Planning Commissioner but they're matters of public record.  When viewed discreetly against Mr Moss' normally trenchant planning knowledge, the analysis in these e-mails adds a new dimension to Emeryville's newest Planning Commissioner.   

The Triangle Mini-Mart Controversy 

In 2009 the Planning Commission approved an application to locate a 'mini-mart' convenience store in the Triangle neighborhood.  The decision was reversed by the city council in a highly charged appeal by Triangle neighbors who packed the council chambers to the rafters.

The store was advertised to sell vegetables and convenience items but the residents instead saw a clandestine ghetto liquor store of the type proliferating in West Oakland.  Residents didn't believe the City Hall staff report that claimed liquor sales would not be permitted at the proposed Emeryville store.  And well they shouldn't have for the staff report was simply wrong.  

Your friendly neighborhood corner store:
wilted lettuce, malt liquor, car fresheners

The Triangle appellants had done some sleuthing and found the owner of the proposed mini-mart was the same person that owned several liquor store mini-marts in Oakland; a man guilty of countless infractions perpetrated by his mini-marts that the police had to frequently be summoned to.  West Oakland neighbors were being victimized by patrons of his stores.  The owner had been hauled up before the Oakland city council and at least one of his mini-marts had been shut down.

Who's Misinformed?  

In response to the roiling controversy, Mr Moss noted that past applicant behavior is no basis to inform government planning bodies including the Planning Commission.  Further, he looked to the staff report that clearly stated "no alcohol would be sold."  Mr Moss also noted in a June 24th e-mail that, "This is exactly the kind of mixed-use development we need around here" adding, "I'm surprised it even needs a use permit".  Regarding alcohol sales at the mini-mart, Mr Moss was adamant, "The conditions that were approved contained a prohibition on alcohol sales" he maintained. 

So according to now Commissioner Moss, the rabble that descended on City Hall in 2009 was misinformed but in fact, it was Mr Moss himself that was misinformed.

Honey, can you pick up a forty 

from Emeryville's new mini-mart 

on your way home?

No Alcohol?  Really?

Any Planning Commissioner should not look to a staff report to make final a decision since a staff report does not carry legal weight.  It is the Conditions of Approval that dictates the parameters of a development and Mr Moss was mistaken about alcohol sales in that document.  The Conditions of Approval for the Triangle neighborhood mini-mart said nothing about alcohol sales and the applicant could have started selling MD 20-20 and "forties" by simply applying for a liquor licence after opening the store.  

Emeryville senior planner Miroo Desai said that the store was not prohibited from selling liquor, contrary to the staff report.  Ms Desai was unequivocal in this, "The conditions of Approval for the Triangle mini-mart do not state that alcohol sales are prohibited" she definitively told the Tattler recently.

At the Tattler, we're left wondering; why is it that the Triangle residents, certainly not planning experts themselves, uncovered the fact that the staff report on liquor sales was bunk but Mr Moss couldn't?  Was it a question of a lack of diligence or something else?

In his own defence, Mr Moss now states that in addition to the staff report, the minutes of the Planning Commission meeting show that the commissioners believed alcohol sales would not be permitted,  "I believe what the official adapted Planning Commission minutes state and there is a discrepancy between the two [the minutes and the Conditions of Approval] and with only these two accurate primary sources I can't say which is correct."

Intransigence On The Transit Center

Mr Moss weighed in on Wareham Development's Transit Center proposal in the 2009 e-mails.  He concluded that the Planning Commission may not consider Wareham's bad record on building low quality development at a condo development on Horton Street called The Terraces, built two years before.  There, leaking windows lead to a toxic black mold problem and brought a massive lawsuit from the home owners association.   Mr  Moss said the people of Emeryville's hands were tied however, we have to consider every project on its merits solely, said he.  Planning Commissioners may not let any applicant's past bad behavior inform any new proposal before them. The law is clear on this he maintained.  

Black Mold in new construction:
  Can City Hall protect us?
Or are our hands tied?

Yet in the real world, government officials both elected and appointed, routinely make judgement calls about the impacts development would have on the community.  It's a critical tool to stop marginally acceptable but nevertheless bad projects from moving forward.  Mr Moss effectively says Planning Commissioners (and council members) are automatons; narrowly deciding about projects from a State mandated checklist.  This simplistic and naive view makes disagreement between government officials impossible and negates the obvious conflict between the two decision making bodies.  The Triangle mini-mart itself, approved by the Planning Commission and rejected by the council, is proof that the merits of a project are not decided by a check list only.

And the check list that Mr Moss said is sacrosanct in the 2009 e-mails is not even complete: the section on visual aesthetics alone contains large holes and is not correlated to any aesthetic cannon.  Nor does the check list concern itself with any intangibles such as the psychology of space a proposed development delivers.  This condition has shown itself to be extremely valuable to creating friendly urban spaces even though it's hard to precisely quantify.  It would take the judgement of a sensitive human being, not operating off a check list to make the proper call in that case.

In a turn around from 2009, now Planning Commissioner Moss states it's not so black and white; he told the Tattler, "There are things the Planning Commission can legally consider and things they can't but that doesn't mean they can only consider facts.  There's room and an important place in the process for discretion and that's why all decisions aren't unanimous.  Planning commissioners aren't technocrats.  As a planning commissioner your own opinion is only a part of the consideration of decision making.  Opinions of the community also have weight and all points of view need to be taken into account when making a decision." 

   

New Culture At City Hall: Professionalism

The selection of Mr Moss, a city planner by trade, to be Emeryville's newest Planning Commissioner is part of a continuing and conscious effort to raise the level of professionalism at City Hall.  Gone it would seem, are the days when abject pro-developer ideologues were routinely appointed to the Planning Commission.  Over the last couple of years there's been a higher bar raised netting a higher level of professionalism on the Planning Commission and on other politically appointed bodies in Emeryville.  The simple ideologues may be out but the need for being politically connected seems to be still in place

and unfortunately a higher level of professionalism doesn't necessarily mean the routing out of dogmatic pro-developer culture there; at the Planning Commission and elsewhere at City Hall, it's bound to go more covert.  We're wondering if the idea of presenting a public face of seeming professionals, City Hall is merely attempting to increase it's street credibility.

We'll watch the decisions made by Planning Commissioner Moss and his colleagues over coming the years; will the new higher level of professionalism net a more resident friendly city as one would expect it to?  We like to think Mr Moss' 2009 ramblings are nothing so much as intellectual musings without clear policy nexus.

However recent statements from Mr Moss are worrysome.  Asked about the need for more family friendly housing he recently told members of Residents United for a Livable Emeryville (RULE) that there's more family friendly housing then there are families in Emeryville, noting there are single people living in two-bedroom units in his building.

In addition he equivocated when asked if he would place residents interests above developers, "yes and no" he told the Tattler.

Mr Moss has shown himself to be articulate, with a firm grasp on city planning precepts and we hope he'll be less rigid and more supportive of resident's interests in his role of Planning Commissioners than the 2009 e-mails (and some recent comments)  would suggest.  We hope Planning Commissioner Moss will be a force for real improvement for the residents of Emeryville, not as the new breed of Emeryville "professionals".

   

Council Selects New Planning Commissioner

Tuesday night the city council appointed Emeryville resident Sean Moss to the Planning Commission in a 4-1 vote.  Mr Moss replaces retiring Commissioner Art Hoff.  The vote was contentious as the council received many letters of support from citizens endorsing both Mr Moss and Emeryville resident Sam Kang.

In a highly irregular move, council member Ruth Atkin killed an impeding vote on Mr Kang by substituting an alternate motion to appoint Mr Moss.  The council then voted on Mr Moss:

Ruth Atkin, Nora Davis and Kurt Brinkman and Jennifer West: AYE
Jac Asher: NO.

Mayor West had moved a vote on Mr Kang which was seconded by Ms Asher but Ms West changed her mind and voted with the majority after her initial motion for Mr Kang was deep sixed.

Council watchers expressed dismay at the refusal to allow a vote on Mr Kang.  One RULE member who chose to remain anonymous intoned, "It looks like Ruth Atkins' [hoped for] 'swing vote' status isn't going to swing.  We're going to have to have one more election to finally break up business as usual in Emeryville."