EIR for Rockridge Shopping Center Expansion, 'Lifestyle' Safeway Gets Public Hearing Feb. 20

The public will have a chance to comment on the plan for an expanded, rebuilt Rockridge Shopping Center – including a "Lifestyle" Safeway – at a meeting of the Oakland Planning Commission on Feb. 20.

The city, which has been reviewing the "Safeway Redevelopment Project" proposal for four years, has posted the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the plan, which describes the project in detail, along with the impacts. The Draft EIR is available on the city's website.

The Planning Commission, whose approval is needed for the project to proceed, will hold a hearing on the Draft EIR on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

The 15.4-acre shopping center is located at Broadway and Pleasant Valley Avenue.

On the same agenda, before the hearing on the shopping center, the commission will consider whether to approve two AT&T cell phone antennas on an existing 53-foot-high PG&E utility pole across from 7541 Claremont Avenue.

The Rockridge Shopping Center proposal – submitted in early 2009 by Safeway affliate Property Development Centers, Inc. – would tear down all 185,000 square feet of existing buildings at the center, whose master lease holder is a Safeway supermarket. The center also includes a large CVS Pharmacy and several other commercial tenants.

The rebuilt center would have 322,500 square feet of new commercial space, representing an increase of about 75 percent. Buildings would range in height from one to four stories. It would include 967 parking spaces, up from the current 615.

It would place a Lifestyle Safeway of 65,000 square feet, in place of where CVS is currently located. The Draft EIR, prepared by the Oakland-based Lamphier-Gregory environmental planning firm, offers the following description of a Lifestyle Safeway:

"The 'Lifestyle' Safeway store is part of a corporate branding campaign intended to differentiate these stores from competitors as a more upscale shopping experience. Generally, these types of stores are designed with a more inviting decor with warm ambiance and subdued lighting, and containing special elements such as sushi and olive bars and the addition of in-store coffee kiosks. Many Safeway store locations are being converted to the 'Lifestyle' format."

The remaining commercial space would be used for retail, office and restaurant space, the Draft EIR says.

A separate Safeway proposal in another part of Rockridge – to rebuild the Safeway center at College and Claremont avenues – won approval from the Oakland City Council in December after a compromise was reached. The compromise included reducing the proposed size to 45,000 square feet.

Construction of the new Rockridge Shopping Center at Broadway and Pleasant Valley is estimated to take about 20 months, beginning in July, and would occur in two main phases, according to the Draft EIR. The first phase would include demolition of the CVS building and construction of the new Safeway where CVS is now located. The second phase would include demolition of the remainder of the site and construction of a new shopping center.

The report found a number of significant, unavoidable traffic impacts, chiefly increased congestion at the intersection of Broadway and Pleasant Valley/51st Street, and also at Howe Street and Pleasant Valley and at Piedmont Avenue and Pleasant Valley.

The report notes that several issues of public concern were raised in 2009 when the city issued its notice of a pending environmental review. Those concerns included aesthetics of the building design, health risks from construction, planning integration with the neighborhood and traffic system, the "auto-centric" nature of the project, and the wildlife habitat of a quarry pond.

The six main buildings that constitute the current shopping center were built in 1964 and 1965, the report says.

Public comments may be submitted orally at the meeting, or in writing at any time through Feb. 25.

A city notice contained the following instructions on submitting comments:

"Comments may be made at the public hearing described above (the one to be held Feb. 20) or in writing. Please address all written comments to Darin Ranelletti, Planner III, City of Oakland, Department of Planning, Building and Neighborhood Preservation, Planning and Zoning Division, 250 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Suite 3315, Oakland, CA, 94612; (510) 238-6538 (fax); or e-mailed to dranelletti@oaklandnet.com. Comments should be received no later than 4:00 p.m. on February 25, 2013. Please reference case number ER09-007 in all correspondence."