The debate in Albany continues
Click here for the summary of this past Thursday’s public meeting regarding the future of the Albany waterfront.
Click here for the summary of this past Thursday’s public meeting regarding the future of the Albany waterfront.
…is being held at 7pm at the West Berkeley Senior Center at 1900 Sixth St. If you have questions for Pac Steel, the BAAQMD, or the West Berkeley Alliance, tonight is the night to have them answered. Click here for more info. *This community meeting is being sponsored by the West Berkeley Alliance.
As of today, the new site is officially up and running.
The main differences between the old and the new site:
1) We now have catagories, for easy retrival of specific topics
2) Google map / post cross referencing.
3) Forum
–here come the autodealerships!!! Storage facilities along the Frontage road are now in the Planning Commission’s crosshairs. Click here and scroll down halfway for the Daily Planet’s summary of the discussion.
There will be an ice cream social this Thursday put on by various groups who oppose the project. It will take place at 7pm in the Albany High School multi-purpose room. Click here for the Daily Planet article.
The proposal for the BUSD Bus Depot at 1325 Sixth St. will be presented this Thursday, Jan. 19th at 7:30pm at the North Berkeley Senior Center at 1901 Hearst. The design, by Baker Vilar Architects, contains 4,100 sf of office/classroom space, 6,550 of shop space, 44,000 sf of parking for 32 school buses, and 11,300 sf for on site parking. If it meets the DRC’s approval, it will go on to its first ZAB meeting.
For more specific info, contact planner Chris Wolf.
Or click here to view the evening’s agenda.
Click here for the Daily Planet Article.
Click here for Richard Brenneman’s article.
With two dealerships and their associated sales tax already well on their way to leaving Berkeley the City is pondering changing the current zoning/West Berkeley Plan to help stop the migration of existing Berkeley dealerships to Oakland and Emeryville. The most notable site involved in the current zoning discussion is the former location of Flint Ink at 4th and GIlman. Weatherford BMW has written a letter of intent to buy this property, but has little incentive to move forward if the zoning will not be changed to accomodate retail car sales. Per Don Yost of Norheim and Yost, the property is currently on the market for 5.8 million dollars.
Read Fred Dodsworth’s article on the subject here. Click here to read related past posts.
7pm at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst.
Up for Public Comment and Discussion: West Berkeley Zoning Regulations, and the West Berkeley Plan. If the City choses to accomodate the car dealerships along Gilman and Frontage Road, changes to industrial and manufacturing zones will need to occur.
The meeting is being put on by the planning commision.
Click here to read the PDF.
Per Linda Maio:
There will be a public meeting to discuss the flooding problem in West Berkeley tomorrow night. (Tuesday Jan. 10). The time is 7:00 PM at the Frances Albrier Center in San Pablo Park, 2800 Park Street (between Russell and Ward). Phil Kamlarz and Claudette Ford will both be there. This city is interested to know about the problems people had, and what they may be able to do to help to prevent future flooding.
With some dealerships getting itchy feet, the City of Berkeley is trying to formulate a plan to keep existing, and attract new, car dealerships to the area. Sales tax from local car sales make up about 10% of the city’s total sales tax collection, so finding ways to keep them here is essential to maintaining the already fragile city budget. The tour will kick off the public discussion on the necessary changes to the West Berkeley Plan and zoning code that would need to occur to accomodate the dealerships–mostly along the Frontage Road/Gilman St./Camelia St.
The Saturday morning tour starts at 9:45 a.m. at 2700 Shattuck Ave. in front of McKevitt Volvo-Nissan. From there it will wind its way through west Berkeley along the Frontage Road, and end at Weatherford BMW on Ashby a couple hours later. The public is encouraged to attend. There will also be a follow up public workshop on this topic this Wednesday at 7pm at the North Berkeley Senior Center at 1901 Hearst.
For more info:
* Click here for the Daily Planet article or here for the Berkeley Voice Article.
* Or call assistant planner Jordan Harrison at 510.981.7416.
Apparently this is old news…but here it is anyway. Back in Feb/March of 2005, Cemex, one of the largest producers of building materials in the world, bought RMC Pacific. Sounds a little like a monopoly to me. The old RMC plant located on 5th st. between Camelia and Gilman will continue to function as usual.
Click here for a RMC timeline.
There will be a public workshop on this topic on Jan. 12. at the West Berkeley Senior Center, 1600 Sixth St. Clear here for more info.
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