Message from Safeway Representative

The following was sent by Elisabeth Jewel, Safeway's PR representative with information regarding upcoming Stakeholder's Meetings:

"I am the community relations consultant for Safeway for this project. I want to remind blog readers that there is no Stakeholders meeting next Wednesday October 13th, and that the meeting scheduled for November 3rd is now being held on November 12th. All meeting times and location stay the same – 7-9 pm at the Claremont Middle School Gym.

The next meeting is October 22nd. This meeting will be an opportunity for members of the public to bring their expertise and creativity to share with Stakeholders and Safeway’s team of architects and consultants, so we can begin to get a feel for what an improved store would look like and how it could fit into the neighborhood.

It’s important to remember that we are not debating the merits or demerits of any previous proposals offered by Safeway. Our task now is to be open to a host of ideas and concepts, and work toward refining them into a project that is functional and uniquely complements its surroundings.

Please consult the Safeway website at www.safewayoncollege.com for an up to date calendar of meetings along with the proposed plan presented by the Stakeholders at our last meeting, and many other related documents.

Elisabeth Jewel
elisabeth@ajepartners.com"

Plans for Good

"Plan for Good" left the following comment on the "Introduction and Mission" entry, and I thought it was interesting enough to merit its own post. Plan says:

"I think this is coming and our job is to help direct it positively. So lets think big: architect/design competition for new model of revolutionary "green" supermarket in terms of layout, parking, planted courtyard to increase and host the pedestrian traffic in the area, super bike & stroller storage/loading, energy efficiency (setting a new standard for carbon footprint for markets around the country, compostable everything and solar panels), new delivery models with direct farmer delivery, on-site fabulous recycling center and ecology booth with a volunteer ombudsmen/answer guy.

It could be a win-win for neighborhood and safeway by being inviting not big, worthy not wasteful, cost saving not consuming, and could lead meaningful change across America. An opulent luxury boutique store is not what we want here in rockridge so let's make it ours."

I think what his idea captures is the desire to have the Safeway store reflect our neighborhood identity, not their corporate one, and help Safeway see this project as an opportunity for innovation - embracing the very real cultural shift underway towards life lived locally and sustainably, a shift that Rockridge already epitomizes. At the meeting last night, there were so many comments about the possibilities Safeway could embrace, with a constant theme of a pedestrian (and transit) friendly store, open space, and most importantly, small scale, both in height and frontage.

There was a well-received suggestion for a design charette - an invitation for multiple architects to create a broadly-sketched out plan in response to the program for the site. One person observed that the reason Safeway has received so much opposition is that they've only given us two options: giant and enormous. Why not offer the community -and themselves - the opportunity to consider multiple options?

Todd Paradis, the Safeway real estate manager, seemed receptive to the proposed program the Stakeholder representatives presented (see Oct. 1 blog entry), but then again, one person mentioned that Safeway had been engaging the community and gathering comments for well over a year, only to present a 76,000 sq. ft. behemoth. Another person expressed her nervousness that he would so radically shift his position to a "clean slate" one in just a week - how genuine is that intention, and what are the machinations behind that shift? And finally, the Contiguous Neighbors representative alluded to the ongoing problems Safeway's closest neighbors have with the store, with 2 years of discussion yielding little result. "This is your job, your corporation," she said, "but these are our homes. This is our neighborhood. This just can't be dialogue. It has to be real."

I'd like to invite readers to leave comments with their ideas for what the new store might be. This is an open forum, so all ideas are welcome. Please make ready use of the proposed program below - it is still a work-in-progress, but already contains many of the concerns of the neighborhood.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Please Attend The Stakeholder Meeting This Evening

Rockridge Safeway Stakeholder Meeting #3

Claremont Middle School Gym (on Miles Ave, just east of College Ave)

Wednesday, October 1st from 7:00 – 9:00 pm

Agenda 

(created by facilitator Pamela Hopkins of Enact Global Consulting):

Section I. Introduction/Context 7:00-7:15
• Welcome, introduction, agenda review
• Review overall project objective and today’s objectives
• Review of community meeting groundrules
• What we heard from you – review of input from meeting #2
• Stakeholder membership
• Group process

Section II. Idea Generation from stakeholders & public 7:15-8:45
• Opening with stakeholders – “the blank slate” – possibilities discussion with David Blair
• Group discussion & Public Comment

Section III. Close of Community Session 8:45-9:00
• Identify high-level agenda items for the next meeting, what do we need to cover?
• What additional resources are needed, if any?
• Other Next Steps

PROPOSED PROGRAM FOR SAFEWAY ON COLLEGE from STAKEHOLDERS

In response to "the blank slate”design agenda item listed for tonight's Stakeholder's meeting—a discussion with Safeway's architect David Blair about possibilities for the new building—the Stakeholder group representatives met last night. Knowing that an architectural project needs to define criteria/program, before design commences, we respectfully ask that Safeway accept the below “Proposed Program for Safeway on College” as a good-faith effort to provide a foundation for our process with Safeway. This is a product of the Stakeholder groups' collective input, and we look forward to hearing all public comments on it.

SCOPE OF WORK: Major renovation with limited expansion of existing store as a satellite to the Rockridge Center mega store on 51st and Broadway. The following are key components:

1. Individual and unique architectural design compatible with the best of contemporary Rockridge/College Avenue — No generic shopping mall design
2. Limit project to existing parcel
3. Parking plan that supports the strong interdependency of our shopping neighborhood, and that incorporates an overall landscaping design.
(The neighborhood appreciates and is happy with our local merchants)
4. Sound and visual buffer for Contiguous Neighbors to mitigate noise, odor and pest impacts on neighbors

I EXTERIOR OF BUILDING/STORE
A. Improve design of existing solid wall fronting on College Ave.
B. Reconfigure layout to accommodate a relocated receiving dock that is NOT adjacent to residences.
C. Elimination of exterior vending machines
D. Elimination of recycling station (already done, thank you)
E. Dark Sky compliant exterior building lighting

II. INTERIOR OF STORE
A. Safeway may want to consider more double stack express check-out stands
B. Safeway may want to consider double stacking normal check-out stands
C. Baffled lighting as in the Cabrillo Safeway store to minimize 24-hour light glare on the adjacent neighborhood.
D. Safeway performs best as a low price, non-gourmet alternative for this mixed income area.

III. PARKING & LANDSCAPING
A. Mitigate the visuals of a sea of cars with extensive specimen trees and planting, thus creating a visual balancing texture to the parking.
B. Manage vehicular access to parking areas so as to minimize impact on pedestrians, contiguous residences and existing traffic congestion.
C. Match species and spacing of street trees to West side of College between 63rd and Alcatraz.
D. Dark Sky compliant landscape and security lighting

IV. CONTIGUOUS NEIGHBOR BUFFER
A. Site all entrances and exits AWAY from the contiguous homes
B. Redesigned and relocated or enclosed delivery dock that is visually and acoustically screened from the contiguous neighbors.
C. Building design that minimizes loss of sunlight on the adjacent properties
D. Relocate the following away from adjoining residential property lines:
a. trash compactor and grease containment
b. HVAC
c. refrigeration
E. Easily visible signage for all delivery trucks stipulating:
a. Enforced State of California 5 min. idling law.
b. Noise reduction standards for all deliveries.
c. QUIET ZONE AT ALL TIMES OF DAY AND NIGHT
F. Enforced monitoring of trucks for compliance to signage
G. Penalty/fines for non-compliance

V. ONGOING REGULAR/DAILY/WEEKLY/MONTHLY MAINTENANCE OF EXTERIOR, INCLUDING LANDSCAPING
A. Provide neighborhood with maintenance schedule
B. Penalty/fines for non-compliance

Some of Your Neighbors' Comments

One of the alternate representatives for the Stakeholders meetings sent me their notes from the prior meeting, held on Sept. 22nd.  Below are some of the public comments collected from that meeting, in response to the size issue on the table:

• Feeling is clear that we will not support a large store, or one that covers that site.

• Should not expect neighborhood to pay for Safeway’s short-sightedness. They closed the Shattuck store that became Berkeley Bowl.

• We need to examine the very real presence of carcinogens that exist and will increase by doubling parking. In the immediate neighborhood there have been 3 cancer victims, whose cancers are associated with ethyl benzene.

• One person noted that three different people unknown to each other all expressed their interest in pedestrian-friendly and open space.

• The Grand Ave store should not serve as model, because of the parking lot there. Doesn’t want to see a parking lot to College Ave.

• Encourages Safeway to revisit exterior model they’re using. The stucco design is offensive - why not shingle siding? We can sell our houses and move to Danville, if we want to look at that plastic design.

• In the morning, the whole side across from Safeway has lights and trees. Building a large Safeway will shutter sunlight and destroy the existing landscaping.

• One individual who recently moved here – and paid a tremendous amount of money to live in this neighborhood - wants pedestrian-friendly neighborhood preserved. Believe the community will get its way when a plan is presented.

• Pedestrian-friendly is not same as size, scale is not same as size.

• Likes view of hills, can we create an analysis to understand impact of height on view and light?

• Questioning market research done on income levels? She never received a survey, did they talk to people in the area? Because she won’t use and doesn’t need all the departments.

• If Safeway don’t like what we want, others will, so listen to us. Can’t believe the PR charade. When you plan you discuss size. Don’t care about their departments.

• Safeway was grandfathered in there with a 25M square foot store and that’s what they are going to get.

• Likes larger store, lots of congestion, not good for cars but there’s life. Can ride bike and likes that he can get all his needs at one store.

• It is clear that Safeway has a model, but we want something different. If you don’t like our suggestions, leave. Safeway is overlooking something that could make it a leader for urban stores.

• You can’t design building by committee or with representative model. There will be plenty of time during the planning process when this comes before various boards for the groups to come forth. For this group, forget about strict representation, look for creativity and ideas the community has. Other thing is that forcing this into a mold of corporate facilitation will not give Todd the info he needs to make a more modern store with community feeling. Question of size and other issues can’t be isolated, where the size is concentrated is also an issue. Has specific feeling on use of the corner. Here to tap into local creativity.

• Discussing this new store and it’s size is like stuffing an elephant into a bathtub. Sooner we figure that out the better. FAQs, about departments and hurting local merchants.

• AC transit – concern about parking emptying out on College and bus transit delays associated with that.

• Would like everyone to think about how to solve this problem vs. confrontation, size is real and symbolic, how to solve, current size, vs 76M, where are we going to end up? Don’t know but think about the process. Think about this process vs. Dreyers, think about what size store you want. Go to other stores and ask Safeway.

• Plans for other stores were asked for, and on the agenda, but not discussed.

The Silent, Oppressed Majority?

I recently received an email from Elisabeth Jewel, the PR person for Safeway.  In it, she expressed her concern that those in favor of an expanded Safeway have been oppressed by the very vocal opposition to the project.  In her words:

"Safeway recently convened a neighborhood Stakeholders Group in an effort to involve the neighborhood in planning a new and much improved store. Unfortunately, those that want minimal change have been dominating the public input at these community meetings. Please don’t let your opinion be drowned out by those who come to the meetings proclaiming the neighborhood is united in opposing a larger store."

Safeway seems convinced that despite several public meetings where HUNDREDS of people have voiced their opposition to this project, there exists some silent majority (do they really want to evoke Nixon?) who are on their side.  I know from attending these meetings that there is some support for a larger Safeway. But I find it hard to believe that there is some significant groundswell of favorable opinion that the neighborhood doesn't know about because its supporters are too intimidated to speak up.   Elisabeth's email is a further tactic to obscure the fact that the opposition is so vocal and strong because it in fact represents the prevailing view - we don't want a large Safeway in our neighborhood!  Who knows how long they will continue to try to avoid this plain truth.

I think it is very important that all opinions are represented any public forum discussing the proposed expansion, both favorable and unfavorable.  It is important to establish what the range of opinions truly is.   Therefore, I invite everyone to attend this evening's meeting at the Claremont Middle School Gym, Miles Ave at College, at 7 pm.