Pittsburg thinks big with BART area plan

Blanca Torres, San Francisco Business Times

The City of Pittsburg is considering an ambitious development plan for land surrounding its BART station that officials expect to adopt in August.

The plan encompasses a 50-acre site, including the BART station and vacant lands adjacent to the station, and calls for up to 1,200 residential units, 130,000 square feet of commercial space including 30,000 for retail, and 2,300 parking spaces in two garages.

City and BART officials have been working on developing the master plan for the site for three years thanks to a planning grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. An environmental impact report is under review through Aug. 1, after which the City Council expects to approve the plan.

“With the (environmental review) out the way, the progress of the project will happen as fast as the development community can go,” said Loreli Cappel, who worked on the proposal with PMC, a municipal services firm specializing in environmental and urban planning.

Once the plan is adopted, BART will select a master developer for the project. So far, West Coast Homebuilders has signed on to develop a portion of the residential units.

The project calls for $56.9 million infrastructure improvements, including new streets, a kiss-and-ride, sanitary sewers, two parking garages and a park.

Pittsburg, a city in eastern Contra Costa County, is home to the end of one of three East Bay BART lines. The station already draws hundreds of motorists from eastern Contra Costa and the San Joaquin Valley who park there and commute west. The goals of the project include increasing BART ridership, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, creating more services near transit and improving pedestrian and bike access.

BART has several other transit-oriented development projects in the works in the East Bay: at both Dublin stations, Union City, Walnut Creek, San Leandro and MacArthur in Oakland.

“The scale of the projects can be rewarding,” said Cynthia Parker, president and CEO of Bridge Housing, a nonprofit developer that is the master developer of the MacArthur project and is also part of the San Leandro team. “We certainly plan to do other TOD projects with these agencies, but they take a very long time.”

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/print-edition/2011/07/08/pittsburg-thinks-big-with-bart-area-plan.html?response=no&page=all (Subscription Required)

Pleasanton seeks public's input on rezoning for affordable housing

Pleasanton officials want residents to help plan for nearly 2,000 new homes in town, with 80 percent or more for either low- or very low income households.

Robert Jordan, Contra Costa Times

PLEASANTON -- Pleasanton officials want residents to help plan for nearly 2,000 new homes in town, with 80 percent or more for either low- or very low income households.

As part of a court settlement with Urban Habitat -- an organization that won a suit challenging the city's voter-approved housing cap limiting the number of homes here to 29,000 -- the city agreed to provide a housing plan update to the state by August. The update includes plans to accommodate 1,992 new units, of which 1,661 must be income-restricted.

In Alameda and Contra Costa counties, low-income housing is designated for families with a maximum annual income of a $72,240 for a family of four; families making up to $45,150 qualify as very low income.

If the city fails to meet is Aug. 16 deadline, it could face additional sanctions from the court, including loss of its power to issue building permits and to zone property.

The city established a housing element update task force in October. Over the past four months, it has developed a citywide list of 17 potential sites, with a combined 108 acres of land that could accommodate at least 30 housing units per acre. The city estimates it would have to rezone 70 acres to meet its requirement.

The first of three community workshops to seek public opinion on suitable sites will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Fairlands Elementary School, 4151 W. Las Positas Blvd.

Other workshops will be at 9 a.m. March 12 at the Pleasanton Senior Center, 5353 Sunol Blvd. and at 7 p.m. March 14 at Lydiksen Elementary School, 7700 Highland Oaks Dr.

"We are under a tight deadline with a lot of work to do," said council member Matt Sullivan, who is part of the 11-person task force. "It's a sensitive nature because we are trying to locate areas in the city to accommodate high density places."

Urban Habitat, a regional environmental justice organization sued the city in 2006 over its voter-approved housing cap, claiming it violated state law by preventing the city from providing enough affordable housing.

After a four-year court battle, an Alameda County Judge sided with Urban Habitat and ordered the city to drop its housing cap and to plan for its state-mandated share of housing that totals 3,277 housing units, including 2,524 affordable homes for the planning period that ends in 2014. Some of the units had already been planned, the 1,992 other units are now needed to meet the goal.

To avoid further legal action from Urban Habitat and legal costs, the city agreed to a settlement that included a list of 21 conditions, including $1.9 million in legal fees that the city agreed to pay to Urban Habitat. The city has complied with 17 of the 21 conditions and is working on the four remaining items, including the housing update.

Once the city plans for its affordable housing units, it will nearly double the number of low- and very low-income units in the city. According to the city's below-market rate housing inventory, it has 944 low- to very low-income city restricted units and another 236 units that are pending.

Some areas on the list for possible rezoning include three acres near the new BART station, 16 acres close to Stoneridge, 27 acres near Valley Avenue and Stanley Boulevard, 13 acres near a planned Safeway off Bernal Avenue and Interstate 680, 18 acres off West Las Positas Boulevard and eight acres near CarrAmerica Conference Center.

"We are hoping to find a good growth management technique and meet our growth and give the public a chance to see every thing we do," said council member Cindy McGovern. Along with Mayor Jennifer Hosterman. McGovern helped negotiate a settlement with Urban Habitat. "This impacts the community and we want to make sure as we go forward that we do it well."

Pleasanton completes rezoning to allow more housing in Hacienda Business Park

Robert Jordan, Contra Costa Times

PLEASANTON -- After nearly a year of work, the Pleasanton City Council unanimously approved development guidelines for rezoning three areas in the city's largest business park.

The council, in complying with a court settlement, voted 5-0 for transit-oriented development standards and design guidelines for three plots in the Hacienda Business Park on the city's northern edge, near Interstate 580 between Hopyard Road and Hacienda Drive.

The approved guidelines include designs for streets, pedestrian walkways and open spaces, as well as for buildings between three and five stories -- which would include apartments and possible retail uses. The guidelines will guide development of about 31 acres in the business park that were rezoned by the council in October 2009.

The rezoning included 11 acres of the W.P. Care site just south of the Dublin-Pleasanton BART station, which was rezoned from industrial, commercial and office uses to mixed use. BRE Properties' 8-acre site and 12 acres of the 33-acre Roche Molecular System site were also approved for the same rezoning.

The guidelines and rezoning are part of a lawsuit the city settled with Urban Habitat, an environmental justice group, that sued and won over Pleasanton's voter approved 29,000-unit housing cap. Urban Habitat said the cap prevented Pleasanton from providing its share of affordable housing.

The development plan had to be adopted by March 1, according to the court settlement.

BART starts long-awaited push into East Contra Costa

Paul Burgarino, Contra Costa Times

 

PITTSBURG -- After more than a decade of planning, regional leaders and BART officials broke ground on BART's long-awaited extension into eastern Contra Costa County on Friday.

Dubbed eBART, the extension's diesel battery-operated trains will carry passengers about 10 miles from BART's terminus at the Pittsburg-Bay Point station to a planned station in Antioch near Hillcrest Avenue. The trains, which will also stop at an eBART station near Railroad Avenue in Pittsburg, will run down the middle of Highway 4.

Local leaders were thrilled at the prospect of rapid transit finally coming to the growing region.

"It's been discussed, analyzed and criticized, but now we're finally able to bring the best, affordable, deliverable transit option for this corridor," said BART board member Joel Keller, who was among the local and regional leaders who spoke at the groundbreaking event at the Pittsburg-Bay Point station.

"It was a promise made, and we're starting to see a fulfillment of that promise. It's been a huge effort to take this from concept to this day of reality," said county Supervisor Federal Glover.

Oakley Mayor Pat Anderson added: "Today, we're one step closer."

The eBART project is anticipated to cost $462 million and be completed by 2015, though the timeline hinges on how the widening of Highway 4 proceeds.

"We're trying to add as many features for BART as possible. They just have to lay down the track," said Susan

Miller, project manager with the Contra Costa Transportation Authority.

The Highway 4 widening is in progress, with an estimated cost of $500 million.

Construction will start by December, though work probably won't be noticeable until a few months later, said Ellen Smith, the eBART project manager.

The eBART project will create about 600 local construction jobs and 40 to 80 permanent jobs when the trains begin operation, Keller said. About 85 percent of the parts used will be made in the United States, he said.

Over the years, many East Contra Costa residents have grown weary of paying into the BART system with little to show for it.

The eBART proposal was presented to regional leaders in 2001, and some officials and residents have expressed frustration since then that the region isn't getting traditional BART service.

"I remember thinking what's an eBART. We've been paying into the system for BART," Glover said.

The region is not getting the electric-powered service because of cost. Extending traditional BART to Hillcrest would cost more than $1 billion, Keller said.

Conventional BART still could be built on the eBART line someday, he said.

East Contra Costa leaders say they've struggled to convince the public of the merits of eBART, but the result will be worth the wait.

"We've received a lot of disdain, discourse and strife," Antioch Mayor Jim Davis said. "But, I think like in 2016, when people take a look back and they see Highway 4 widened, traffic is moving and eBART is going all the way to Hillcrest, they'll stop and say, 'What was all the fuss about?' "

Antioch Councilwoman Martha Parsons agreed. Having been on a similar train in San Diego, she said: "A lot of people will change their mind and think it's the better of the two."

Antioch resident Doyle Keeton travels on BART each day, and it takes him an hour bus ride, including a transfer, to get home.

"I can't wait; it will help me get home quicker," he said outside the Pittsburg-Bay Point station.

The first piece of the project is a crossover platform just east of the existing BART station. Passengers will walk across the platform to get from standard BART trains to the smaller eBART cars.

Novato-based West Bay Builders Inc. won that project this month with a bid of $26.1 million.

BART planners and Antioch officials continue to discuss the design of the Hillcrest station.

Regional leaders hope to see BART service eventually extend beyond Hillcrest. The station's design is expected to be presented to Antioch leaders early next year.

BART and Pittsburg are still working out details for the station near Railroad Avenue. That station will be funded by Pittsburg, said Joe Sbranti, the city's assistant city manager.

Keller also hopes to secure $2 million to complete environmental studies and ultimately $100 million to extend eBART to a station off Laurel Road on the Antioch-Oakley border.

Those additional three miles could increase ridership by 40 percent, and would be "the best transportation bargain in the Bay Area," Keller said.

"We're trying to find funding for past Hillcrest. We're going to continue no matter what," he said.

Grand Boulevard Initiative receives $1 million grant

Federal grant will fund planning efforts to encourage smart growth along El Camino Real.

Zach Stahl, Millbrae Patch

The Grand Boulevard Initiative has received over a $1 million federal grant that could support pedestrian-friendly streets and transit-oriented development along El Camino Real in Millbrae.

On Oct. 20 the US Department of Transportation announced the release of $600 million worth of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) II grants, including $1.1 million for the Grand Boulevard Initiative, a collaboration of city and government leaders spanning San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

"We are always happy to have money," said Millbrae Councilwoman Gina Papan, who represents the city on the Grand Boulevard Task Force. "There are areas where we could definitely use funding."

The US Department of Transportation selected only 33 projects out of 700 applicants, said Program Manager Corrine Goodrich. "This funding will help advance the work that will bring the Grand Boulevard project closer to reality," she said.

She said the grant will supply planning toward four areas: designing segments of El Camino Real to better accommodate pedestrians and cyclists, assessing economic and housing development opportunities along the Highway 82 corridor from Daly City to downtown San Jose, studying what infrastructure needs exist, and exploring financing prospects.

"[The grant] comes to us but it's really going to benefit the cities," Goodrich said, explaining that the design work and infrastructure evaluation will pave the way for local projects that support the Grand Boulevard vision. To receive a grant, cities would be asked to contribute funds to cause, she said.

Papan said Millbrae would like funding to improve pedestrian safety at crosswalks and develop water-efficient landscaping along El Camino Real.

"Millbrae is actually the widest part of El Camino in San Mateo County," she said.

Established in 2006, the multi-jurisdictional initiative has helped fund capital projects in Millbrae, San Bruno, San Mateo, San Carlos and Daly City, Goodrich said.  The Millbrae grant is going toward signal crossing improvements near the BART station, while the San Bruno project included median and crossing upgrades near its BART stop, Papan said.

Last month the Grand Boulevard Task Force approved its Multimodal Transportation Corridor Plan, which aims to "guide the transformation of El Camino Real into a pedestrian and transit friendly, high-performing multimodal arterial where all modes of transportation move efficiently and safely."

The task force will be asking cities in both counties to endorse the plan in coming months, Goodrich said.

Millbrae and other San Mateo County cities are already moving forward with developments that are consistent with the Grand Boulevard vision.

Examples include mixed-use projects such as 88 South Broadway and Park Broadway along El Camino Real in Millbrae.

The city is also looking to redevelop 116 acres around the BART/Caltrain station to include homes, a movie theater, retail and office space. "That is a big part of our economic future," Papan said.

Source: http://millbrae.patch.com/articles/grand-boulevard-initiative-receives-1-million-grant