Alameda County Voters Should Know John Bauters' Transit Record
Mr Bauters Overturned City Ordinance Controlling Parking to Accommodate a Developer's Wishes
What He Says is Different From What He Does
News Analysis
Former mayor John Bauters led a drive to approve a development with 496 parking spaces, an excess of 85 spaces over Emeryville’s maximum as stipulated by a City ordinance, refuting his new official narrative of him discouraging single occupant vehicles in his candidacy for Alameda County Supervisor. A July 2022 City Council action that highlights this disconnect came when favored developer Rich Robbins, CEO of Wareham Development, asked Mayor Bauters to overturn the City's Planning Commission who had earlier voted to enforce Emeryville’s rules on the number of parking spaces allowed for the Wareham project known as Emery Station Overland, a bio-science lab campus proposed for Overland Avenue.
The rules on maximum allowable parking spaces are codified by Emeryville’s Transit Hub Overlay Zone, a delineated area around the Amtrak Station of which the Overland project is in, that was certified as a City ordinance in 2013 to encourage commuters to not drive but to take alternative transportation. Limiting single occupancy vehicle use for development within the zone is central to the goal of the ordinance by limiting the number of parking spaces available.
Mr Bauters, who is running for Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 5 has been receiving donations from developers and YIMBY California (a developer lobbying organization) at a frantic clip, and he has also been telling Alameda County voters he is against single occupancy vehicle (SOV) use as a planning precept. Developers as a default, want more parking to be made available for their tenants and that is shown by Wareham’s Overland project. Approving the project as the developer wanted it is at cross purposes to the announcements made by candidate Bauters to Alameda County voters.
Mayor Bauters' Overland project decision allowed 20% more parking spaces than the Transit Zone allowed and would result in a minimum of extra 170 daily vehicle trips to the site. Bauters downplayed all the extra cars massing on the site by announcing the parking garage would likely be transformed in housing at some future date.
Emery Station Overland will be located on Overland Avenue between 62nd and 63rd streets.
Emeryville’s Bike Committee unanimously urged Mr Bauters to follow the rules and deny the developer the extra 85 parking spaces and one member, Jordan Wax, also personally attended the Council meeting and spoke out, but to no avail.
The Chairman of Emeryville’s Planning Commission, Steven Keller called the developer’s 496 parking space number “inflated”. He told the City Council, Wareham “did not convincingly demonstrate that additional parking is needed for the project” and the Council voting to approve would be making a “precedent setting mistake”. Although the Transit Center Overland project is located right next to the Amtrak Station, Wareham, for its part said Amtrak is no good and people don’t use it as a reason why so many private parking spaces are needed.
Vice Mayor Ally Medina supported Mr Bauters' idea to overturn the ordinance. Without providing evidence, Ms Medina announced, “[transportation] Mode shift does not come from denying parking spaces, it comes from infrastructure”, meaning the bike infrastructure alone in Emeryville will be enough to get people out of their cars despite the extra availability of free and easy parking spaces. Mr Bauters concurred, hinting the extra parking spaces will sit empty. A Wareham spokesman also agreed, calling the 85 extra parking spaces beyond what Emeryville’s General Plan allows a “win win” for residents and for Wareham.
Mr Bauters told the attending crowd, “We would love to reduce parking as much as possible”, but Wareham is going to provide a lot of bike infrastructure he indicated. However, Alameda County Board of Supervisors candidate Bauters, like Ally Medina, never explained to Emeryville residents how providing better bike infrastructure at the same time as an excess of free and easy parking would reduce the number of drivers.
Wareham is planning on breaking ground on their 496 space parking garage later this year.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 5 election is on November 5th.
Below is the video of the City Council meeting. The Overland project begins at 52:22. Public comment including those from the Planning Commission and the Bike Committee begin at 1:19:38. Council comment including those from Mayor Bauters begins at 1:27:40.
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ReplyDeleteGood overview of the past liberties taken with truth-telling and conveniences offered to the developers that prevailed in the Emeryville City Council under Mr. Bauters, and overturning Council objections. He groomed his minions to keep these developer promises moving along while he gains higher political status. Wondering if the County scrutiny of his claims be more strict?
ReplyDeleteI watched the entire video and I didn't hear Bauters say the extra parking spaces would be empty. He agreed with the developer that the spaces would be needed. Also, I for one am glad to see the bike committee and the planning commission not always get everything they want. People commute by car. Get used to it and stop whining.
ReplyDeleteYour comment illustrates Mr Bauters’ problem with going along with a developer who wants more parking than the law allows: If it’s true the development will fully park their project with all the extra spaces then the City is shown as failing in its stated goal at Transportation Demand Management (TDM), meaning the developer and the City have failed at providing sufficient alternative modes of transportation. If the City is successful at TDM, then they don’t need extra parking spaces. Either Mr Bauters is good at providing effective alternative transportation or he helps a favored developer….he can’t have it both ways.
DeleteAlternative transportation is an area Mr Bauters is telling Alameda County voters he excels at. But Emeryville residents who pay attention know he can always be counted on to help developers. Wareham’s Overland project is a place doesn’t want to be; no matter how he spins it he loses. For Bauters, it’s really lose lose rather than win win as the developer put it.
Thanks for commenting.
Sometimes it's hard to follow Brian's logic but in this case because Bauters went against our ordinance and both the Planning Commission and the Bike Committee I'd have to say Brian is right to report this. This seems like he just wanted to help Wareham. The only question I have is why wasn't this reported on earlier? It makes it seem unfair to Bauters to wait until he's operating a new election campaign.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point. I probably should have reported this at the time. In some ways it’s just another story of the City Council, in this case Bauters being pro-developer, the same as always. But now it has become more newsworthy because of his desire to move up the political ladder in Alameda County. People outside Emeryville don’t know what goes on here. Even Emeryville residents largely don’t know what goes on here. Sometimes I let stories go by that I shouldn’t. Here at the Tattler we don’t do this for money. There’s no money changing hands (and no need for clicks). Maybe you should ask why Rob Arias didn’t report this story at all, earlier or now.
Delete"We would love to reduce parking as much as possible" he says and then he gives in to the developer's wishes for more parking. That says it all right there. John Bauters is the quintessential politician. He's looking out for how he can gain, not the community. Thank you for this story.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It's obvious he doesn't want to reduce parking. He wants to help out his developer friend.
ReplyDelete