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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 01141997 - D5 S { RESOLUTION ' * of the WALDEN DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION Adopted at its meeting an January 5, 1997 WHEREAS AI The Walden District Improvement Association was created in 1951 to inform and represent residents and property owners in the historic Walden District on community matters, and to assist them in their dealings with local government agencies. The Association currently serves residents of more than 5,400 single family homes, condominiums and apartments throughout the Walden area. The Walden District area includes portions of the City of Walnut Creek, unincorporated property within the sphere of influence of Walnut Creek, and a portion of the City of Pleasant Hill. At the hub of the Walden District is the Pleasant Hill BART Station and adjacent BART property, plus the 125 acre Contra Costa County "Specific Plan" area that surrounds the BART property. • Throughout the last 45 years, the Walden District Improvement Association has actively taken the part of the community in preserving the quality of life that residents value. For example: For more than fifteen years, the Walden Association president has served as a member of the PH BART Station Area Steering Committee. The Steering Committee was created by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors and is responsible for advising the Board of Supervisors on development and all other issues affecting the "Specific Plan" area. (tither members of the Steering Committee are the County Supervisors from Districts 3 and 4, the BART Director elected from the area that includes Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek, representatives of the Cities of Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill and Concord, and a representative of the Contra Costa Centre Association.) In 1993 and 1994, the Walden Association was a leader in the successful battle against the County's firmly-entrenched plans to build a roadway down the former Southern Pacific right- of-way, from Monument Boulevard to the PH BART Station, in the midst of homes and neighborhoods and virtually on top of the Iron Horse Trail. In 1995, the Walden Association, in response to the request of hundreds of Walden residents and property owners from the unincorporated territory in and around the "Specific Plan" area and to the north of it, and with the help of the Contra Costa Centre Association, convinced the Local Agency Formation Commission to'reverse a 25-year-old decision and move the territory(including the BART property) out of the sphere of influence of Pleasant Hill and into that of Walnut Creek. In 1996, the Walden Association conceived, initiated and obtained approval from the PH BART Station Area Steering Committee for a program to remove the asphalt from BART's temporary parking lots on the SP right-of-way, and to turn those sites into greenspace and the Iron Horse Trail. Walden Association volunteers serve on various advisory committees and frequently appear before government bodies. They are so concerned about the safety and quality of Walden neighborhoods that .they regularly assist residents in seeking stop-sign installations, pot hole repairs, parking controls, graffiti clean-up, shopping cart removal, and with other issues that are small in scope-but of great importance to the affected individuals. 1 . Megaplex Developer A developer group selected by BART — known originally as Pleasant Hill Entertainment Associates, then as Contra Costa Entertainment Associates, and most recently as Iron Horse Retail Associates — proposes to build and operate an entertainment megaplex on that BART property which is the eight-acre parking lot to the southeast of the PH BART Station. Adjacent Residential Neighborhoods . The neighborhoods to the north, east and south of the entertainment megaplex site, beginning almost across the street and extending for miles in all three directions, are almost entirely residential. The neighborhoods are well established and the homes are of high quality. Land use planning contemplates that they will remain residential. Specific Plan Prohibition and Objectives • The proposed entertainment megaplex site is subject to the Pleasant Hill BART Station Area Specific Plan ("Specific Plan"), which was adopted by the Contra`Costa County Board of Supervisors in 1983, after review and comment by the community and affected cities. The "Specific Plan" specifies various permitted uses of property in the 125-acre area that includes and immediately surrounds the PH BART Station. • A business such as the proposed entertainment megaplex is not a permitted use under the "Specific Plan." In an attempt to legitimize the megaplex plan, County staff has prepared specially-tailored validating revisions and included them in a package of proposed "Specific Plan" amendments ("proposed amended Specific Plan") that is now being reviewed by government bodies. • One of the prime objectives of the "Specific Plan" is to "better utilize the regional transit accessibility provided by BART." The "proposed amended Specific Plan" further clarifies that objective by referring to "transit-oriented development." • Another important objective of the "Specific Plan," and of the "proposed amended Specific Plan" as well, is to "Protect housing within and adjacent to` the Station Area from adverse effects of intensification including noise, traffic intrusions, parking conflicts, visual incompatibilities and obstructions of sunlight." Walden Policy • The Walden District Improvement Association has consistently supported development and growth that is soundly based and does not degrade the quality and good character of existing neighborhoods. The Association supports build-out of the "Specific Plan" area, including development of the BART properties, provided it is transit-oriented development and is consistent with the precepts of the "Specific Plan" and its promises to the community. Municipal Reactions to Megaplex Proposal The site for the proposed entertainment megaplex is .within the sphere of influence of the City of Walnut Creek. Recently, several members of the Walnut Creek City Council have opposed the entertainment megaplex, as proposed, and Walnut Creek staff has voiced numerous concerns about the project. The adjacent City of Concord very recently adopted a resolution saying that any development on the targeted BART property should be residential, rather than the megaplex. The City of Pleasant Hill also has expressed concerns about the megaplex proposal. 2 No Significant,.Benefit for BART o The proposed entertainment megaplex offers little'economic benefit for BART, either directly, in the form of "rent," or indirectly, in the_form of increased-ridership, for several years. According to developer projections, a small portion of the proposed entertainment megaplex patrons would travel to it by BART. According to BART's own projections (in a September 1995 "Executive Decision Document"), anticipated "rent" payments to BART average less than $145,000 per year during the first five years of operation. The cost of "supporting" the proposal in the face of strong and broadly-based opposition, plus the potential loss of ridership and increase in operational expense during construction, could easily outweigh any benefits. BART's Promise to the Community • BART Director and immediate-past-President,Dan Richard, has said that should the community decide that it does not want the entertainment megaplex, BART will honor that decision. One iteration of that assurance was that BART would not "shove it down the community's throat." Preliminary Development Plan Reviewed • Since the entertainment megaplex proposal was first presented to the community, the Walden District Improvement Association has sought to be informed about the substance and status of the project. In fairness to BART and recognition of possible diversity in community views, the Association refrained from either supporting or opposing the proposal until a detailed and authoritative proposal was made available. The Association, however, requested that the developer and BART continue and increase active outreach to and dialogue with the Walden community and others , and that BART Directors resist giving a ground lease to the developer until the implications of the project could be fully explored. • Since Spring of 1996, the developer has said that it would soon submit a Preliminary Development Plan to Contra Costa County, and that the Preliminary Development Plan would provide the more firm and finite information about what was planned. That application was finally filed on December 17, 1996. Representatives of the developer met with the Walden District Improvement Association's Board of Directors on December 23, 1996, to provide further information. The application has been reviewed and the comments of the developer's representatives have been considered by the Board. There is no longer reason to withhold judgment on the proposal. Response from the Walden Community Assessed • The overwhelming preponderance of expressed opinions within the Walden area community is one of strong opposition to the proposed entertainment megaplex. Some residents object to its scale, some to various of its features, some to any motion picture theater complex in the neighborhood, and some to its inconsistency with the "transit-oriented development" — but all object to the deleterious impacts the project would have on the surrounding neighborhoods. Far TooBig • The proposed entertainment megaplex is a massive retail and theater undertaking, totally out of scale to the community generally,and.even to the more intensely-developed "Specific Plan" area, in both size and potential impact. Its physical structure would occupy virtually all of BART's eight-acre ground space southeast of the PH BART Station, and would be up to 75 or 80 feet above ground level. It would loom above the Station and obstruct views of Mt. Diablo from the Station platform. It would have approximately 400,000 square feet of leasable space, plus more than 200,000 square feet more space above ground, and more space below ground, for its customer parking. 3 Because it would displace more than 1,000 BART parking spaces, an addition to the existing multi-story BART parking garage would be built.. The addition would almost double the garage's size, but it would not increase the total number of BART parking spaces. It would house 20 to 25 motion picture theaters, with a total of 5,000 to 5,500 theater,seats. Also, according to developer projections, it would house retail establishments, such as record, video rental, book and sporting-goods stores, a copy center, food courts and restaurants, and other "entertainment related" businesses such as "a-motion simulation theater." In describing the underlying concept, flavor and projected market of the proposed entertainment megaplex the developer has analogized it to'.Disneyland and Universal City. • At 20 to 25 theaters the proposed entertainment megaplex would be the largest theater complex in the San Francisco Bay Area. • The megaplex building, with 400,000 square feet of leasable space, would be nearly three times the combined size of the Century Theater'complex and Montgomery Ward store at Monument Boulevard. It would be almost five times the size of K-Mart in Pleasant Hill, and more than twenty times the size of the Festival Theaters in Walnut Creek: • Suggestions that the size of the proposed entertainment megaplex be substantially reduced, so as to reduce its various detrimental impacts'on the community, have been rejected by the developer as economically unfeasible because of BART's requirement that the developer construct "replacement parking." The developer has said a significantly downsized project would not produce sufficient income to justify the capital investment for parking replacement; and that it could not appropriately ask BART for a reduction in its replacement obligations. BART representatives have not responded to suggestions from others that BART facilitate significant downsizing by contributing to the cost of building replacement parking. • The developer's current contention that the "new version" of the entertainment megaplex has been downsized 27% — from about 550,000 to.400,000 square feet — is disturbingly misleading. When the proposal was first officially considered by BART;an "Executive Decision Document" dated September 26, 1995, showed that it would be sized at 403,323 square feet. At a public presentation of the proposal on March 11, 1996, the developers described it as a 450,000 square foot project.. Not Transit-Oriented Development • Approval of the proposed entertainment megaplex would constitute a dramatic and unwarranted change in the primary objective and the well-established and publicly-accepted role of the PH BART Station and the structures and activities immediately surrounding it, i.e., what is now referred to as "transit- oriented development." • The proposed entertainment megaplex is not a "transit-oriented development" use. It does not facilitate transportation improvements, encourage the use of public'transportation, or discourage low-occupancy automobile traffic. For example, unlike the already permissible option of office building use, the proposed megaplex does not have the potential to encourage car pooling and alternatives to automobile travel. • The developers have projected that only a very small percentage of,its patrons will come to it via BART or other public transit during the first few years, and any expectations that the percentage will significantly increase in future years would be'wholly unrealistic given the nature of central Contra Costa County. Although some of its,patrons would be local employees and residents, and BART 4 going to and from the PH BART Station, the vast majority of patrons would be people from passengers g g • throughout Contra Costa and Solano Counties, ,who will arrive and leave by automobile. • Clearly, the predominant reasons, the developer wants to'locate the project at the PH BART Station is the area's superb access via I-680 and major surface streets and the abundance of existing automobile parking space that would be available to its customers during the evenings and weekends, when BART commuters do not need them. Actually a Cause of More and New Traffic Damage • In fact, the proposed entertainment megaplex is the antithesis of "transit-oriented development." As a combination theater complex and shopping center, drawing customers via automobiles from throughout Contra Costa and Solano Counties, it would create significantly more new automobile traffic for the immediate locality and surrounding neighborhoods, and, in a broader sense, for a central-County area that is already in danger of being overwhelmed by developments to the east and south. • More specifically, the proposed entertainment megaplex will substantially increase vehicle traffic, and attendant noise and air pollution,throughout the Walden neighborhoods and adjacent areas, particularly during evening and early morning hours and weekends. Those are times not disturbed by existing uses, and not likely to be disturbed by unbuilt but currently approved uses, within the PH BART Station vicinity. Those are times during which neighborhood residents reasonably and rightfully expect relative respite from the adverse effects of high-volume traffic. Other Disruptions • The proposed entertainment megaplex, also by its very nature, will substantially increase disturbing non-traffic noise during evening and early morning hours and weekends, and present serious security problems, including increased vandalism and criminal activity in the neighborhoods. These detrimental consequences will be exacerbated by the service of alcohol, as the developer has proposed. • Despite clearly articulated community concerns, and despite a statement by the immediate-past-President of BART that "nightclubs" can have no place in the proposed entertainment megaplex, the developer continues to talk of jazz clubs, supper clubs and similar facilities that rely on the sale of alcoholic beverages for a predominant or substantial portion of their income while operating during late night and early morning hours. This is disturbing not only because such establishments are unsuitable in or adjacent to residential areas but also because it indicates an insensitivity to the nature of community concerns. Inappropriate Use of Public Land • Taxpayers purchased the BART property for public transit use. An entertainment megaplex is a wholly inappropriate use of such public lands. Any development on this taxpayer-owned site should provide tangible transportation-related public benefits. For example, the development should be one that encourages the use of public transit by a significant percentage of the individuals traveling to it, and its primary purpose should be to provide needed services to BART riders, local employees and residents in the immediate area. Certain Retail Uses Acceptable • The Walden District Improvement Association does not oppose, and in fact would welcome, quality retail establishments and restaurants on the BART property and some other sites in the "Specific Plan" area, provided they are of an appropriate number and scale and are designed primarily to serve local residents, local employees and PH BART Station passengers. Primary emphasis should always be on 5 b. "transit-oriented" office, housing and institutional uses and "local-serving" retail. The proposed , entertainment megaplex simply does not meet these standards. Problems Can't or Won't Be Fixed • The proposed entertainment megaplex, and anything remotely resembling it, is irreparably incompatible with the "Specific Plan" (and the "proposed amended Specific Plan") objective of"Protect[ing] housing within and adjacent to the Station Area from adverse effects of intensification including noise, traffic intrusions,parking conflicts, [and] visual incompatibilities . • Although, .in the course of conversations with Walden District Improvement Association members and others, and in the Preliminary Development Plan, the developer has attempted to accommodate or allay certain concerns, it has failed or refused to effectively address the major and most troublesome issues of size, scale and use. • Despite developer assertions, the adverse impacts of the proposed entertainment megaplex cannot realistically be mitigated. NOW THEREFORE IT IS RESOLVED that the WALDEN DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION Oppose the proposed entertainment megaplex. * Oppose any amendment of the "Specific Plan" that would permit or facilitate the proposed entertainment megaplex, or any project of similar nature and of any substantial size. * Request the BART Board of Directors to immediately withdraw BART support of the proposed entertainment megaplex, to revoke its participation as the property-owner party to the Preliminary Development Plan at the earliest date legally feasible, and to deny any further extensions of its "Exclusive Negotiation Agreement" with the developer. * Request the City of Walnut Creek to formally oppose the proposed entertainment megaplex and to instruct its PH BART Station Area Steering Committee representative and alternate to vote accordingly on all Steering Committee actions involving the proposed megaplex. * Request the City of Pleasant Hill to formally oppose the proposed entertainment megaplex and to instruct its PH BART Station Area Steering Committee representative and alternate to vote accordingly on all Steering Committee actions involving the proposed megaplex. Urge the Pleasant Hill BART Station Area Steering Committee to recommend to the'Board of Supervisors the rejection of all proposed amendments to the "Specific Plan" that would 'permit or facilitate the proposed entertainment megaplex, or any similar use anywhere within the "Specific Plan"area. * Further urge the PH BART Station Area Steering Committee to recommend to the Board of Supervisors the rejection of any and all applications for approval or other permission to develop, construct or operate the proposed entertainment megaplex. Urge residents and property owners in the Walden District area to remain well informed about the entertainment megaplex proposal and to communicate their views to their various public representatives. �[3 6 WALDEN DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION e/0 Post Offiee Box 4505, Walnut Creek CA 94596 O 510/943-7621 .......... 41010101k" ........... January 9, 1996 RECEIVED HON. MARK DeSAULNIER JAN 13 1qq,7 CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA 7S—U—PF-- ------ - RVI 651 PINE, STREET CLERK 130'�'�� COSTA CO.SORS MARTINEZ, CA 94553 CONTRA Dear Mark: Congratulations from the Walden District Improvement Association on your election as Chair of the Board, and our best wishes for a year filled with opportunities to be enjoyed and challenges that are overcome.. One challenge,to which you already been exposed, is the proposal to build a massive 24-screen theater and retail complex on BART property in the Pleasant Hill BART Station"Specific Plan" area(and within the boundaries of Supervisorial District M. The Walden Association, which represents residents in more than 5,000 homes in and around the Specific Plan area, has closely and carefully followed the unfolding of the proposal for that"entertainment megaplex" and anxiously awaited an authoritative document setting forth the developers' intentions. Finally,three weeks ago,their Preliminary Development Plan was filed with the County. After considering the Plan and receiving additional comments from the developers, the Walden Board of Directors,at its meeting Sunday,voted unanimously to oppose the megaplex proposal. The various reasons for that action are set forth in the enclosed resolution. We hope that you will soon have an opportunity to review it. When you do, you will see that we ask the PH BART Station Area Steering Committee to recommend disapproval of the entertainment megaplex plan and of all the proposed amendments to the"Pleasant Hill BART Station Area Specific Plan" that are being offered in an attempt to legitimize the presence of the megaplex in the Specific Plan area. We look forward to talking with you about this troubling proposal in the near future. We also look forward to the Steering-Committee-mandated public heari.ngs on the proposed Specific Plan amendments. Those hearings were specified in a resolution unanimously approved by the Steering Committee at its October 10, 1996. Specifically, the Steering Committee resolved to hold two or more Committee meetings, the first to be in late October or early November, to receive and consider "public comments and recommendations, from a public policy standpoint, about the amendments that Redevelopment staff has proposed for the existing Specific Plan, and about other changes that should be made in the Specific Plan . . . ... Thanks again for your continuing interest and assistance. Sincerely, Jay Lutz,Pres ent alden District provement Association cc: Jim Kennedy,Redevelopment Director RESOLUTION of the WALDEN DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION Adopted at its meeting on January 5, 1997 WHEREAS The Walden District Improvement Association was created in 1951 to inform and represent residents and property owners in the historic Walden District on community matters, and to assist them in their dealings with local government agencies. The Association currently serves residents of more than 5,000 single family homes, condominiums and apartments throughout the Walden area. The Walden District area includes portions of the City of Walnut Creek, unincorporated property within the sphere of influence of Walnut Creek, and a portion of the City of Pleasant Hill. At the hub of the Walden District is the Pleasant Hill BART Station and adjacent BART property, plus the 125 acre Contra Costa County "Specific Plan" area that surrounds the BART property. Throughout the last 45 years, the Walden District Improvement Association has actively taken the part of the community in preserving the quality of life that residents value. For example: For more than fifteen years, the Walden Association president has served as a member of the PH BART Station Area Steering Committee. The Steering Committee was created by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors and is responsible for advising the Board of Supervisors on development and all other issues affecting the "Specific Plan" area. (Other members of the Steering Committee are the County Supervisors from Districts 3 and 4, the BART Director elected from the area that includes Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek, representatives of the Cities of Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill and Concord, and a representative of the Contra Costa Centre Association.) In 1993 and 1994, the Walden Association was a leader in the successful battle against the County's firmly-entrenched plans to build a roadway down the former Southern Pacific right- of-way, from Monument Boulevard to the PH BART Station, in the midst of homes and neighborhoods and virtually on top of the Iron Horse Trail. In 1995, the Walden Association, in response to the request of hundreds of Walden residents and property owners.from the unincorporated territory in and around the "Specific Plan" area and to the north of it, and with the help of the Contra Costa Centre Association, convinced the Local Agency Formation Commission to reverse a 25-year-old decision and move the territory(including the BART property) out of the sphere of influence of Pleasant Hill and into that of Walnut Creek. In 1996, the Walden Association conceived, initiated and obtained approval from the PH BART Station Area Steering Committee for a program to remove the asphalt from BART's temporary parking lots on the SP right-of-way, and to turn those sites into greenspace and the Iron Horse Trail. Walden Association volunteers serve on various advisory committees and frequently appear before government bodies. They are so concerned about the safety and quality of Walden neighborhoods that they regularly assist residents in seeking stop-sign installations, pot hole repairs, parking controls, graffiti clean-up, shopping cart removal, and with other issues that are small in scope but of great importance to the affected individuals. 1 Megaplex Developer • A developer group selected by BART — known originally as Pleasant Hill Entertainment Associate's, then as Contra Costa Entertainment Associates,and most recently as Iron Horse Retail Associates —! proposes to build and operate an entertainment megaplex.on that BART property which is the eight-acre parking lot to the southeast of the PH BART Station. Adjacent Residential Neighborhoods • The neighborhoods to the north, east and south of the entertainment megaplex site, beginning almost!. across the street and extending for miles in 'all three'directions, are almost entirely residential. The neighborhoods are well established and the homes are of high quality. Land use planning contemplates; that they will remain residential. Specific Plan Prohibition and Objectives • The proposed entertainment megaplex site is subject to the Pleasant Hill BART Station Area Specific; Plan ("Specific Plan"), which was adopted by the Contra:Costa County Board of Supervisors in 1983,i after review and comment by the communityand affected cities. The "Specific Plan" specifies various; permitted uses of property in the 125-acre area that includes and immediately surrounds the PH BART' Station. • A business such as the proposed entertainment megaplex is not a permitted use under the "Specific; Plan." In an attempt to legitimize the megaplex plan, County staff has prepared specially-tailored, validating revisions and included them: in a package of proposed "Specific Plan" amendmentsi ("proposed amended Specific Plan") that is now being reviewed by government bodies. • One of the prime objectives of the "Specific Plan" is to "better utilize the regional transit accessibility: provided by BART." The "proposed amended Specific Plan" further clarifies that objective by' referring to "transit-oriented development." • Another important objective of the "Specific Plan," and of the "proposed amended Specific Plan" as well, is to "Protect housing within and adjacent to the Station Area from adverse effects of, intensification including noise, traffic intrusions, parking conflicts, visual incompatibilities and; obstructions of sunlight." Walden Policy • The Walden District Improvement Association has consistently supported development and growth that is soundly based and does not degrade the,quality and good character of existing neighborhoods. The; Association supports build-out of the ".Specific Plan" area, including development of the BART! properties, provided it is transit-oriented 'development and is consistent with the precepts of the; "Specific Plan" and its promises to the community. Municipal Reactions to Megaplex Proposal The site for the proposed entertainment megaplex, is within the sphere of influence of the City of Walnut Creek. Recently, several members' of the Walnut Creek City Council have opposed the, entertainment megaplex, as proposed;.and Walnut Creek staff has voiced numerous concerns about the, project. The adjacent City of Concord very recently adopted a resolution saying that any development on the targeted BART property should be residential, rather than the megaplex. The City of Pleasant Hill also has expressed concerns about the megaplex proposal. 12 ? No Significant,Benefit for BART • The proposed entertainment megaplex offers little economic benefit for BART, either directly, in the form of "rent," or indirectly, in the form of increased,ridership, for several years. According to developer projections, a small portion of the proposed entertainment megaplex patrons would travel to it by BART. According to BART's own projections (in a September 1995 "Executive Decision Document"), anticipated "rent" payments to BART average less than $145,000 per year during the first five years of operation. The cost of "supporting" the proposal in the face of strong and broadly-based opposition, plus the potential loss of ridership and increase in operational expense during construction, could easily outweigh any benefits. BART's Promise to the Community • BART Director and immediate-past-President,Dan Richard, has said that should the community decide that it does not want the entertainment megaplex, BART will honor that decision. One iteration of that assurance was that BART would not "shove it down the community's throat." Preliminary Development Plan Reviewed • Since the entertainment megaplex proposal was first presented to the community, the Walden District Improvement Association has sought to be informed about the substance and status of the project. In fairness to BART and recognition of possible diversity in community views, the Association refrained from either supporting or opposing the proposal until a detailed and authoritative proposal was made available. The Association, however, requested that the developer and BART continue and increase active outreach to and dialogue with the Walden community and others , and that BART Directors resist giving a ground lease to the developer until the implications of the project could be fully explored. • Since Spring of 1996, the developer has said that it would soon submit a Preliminary Development Plan to Contra Costa County, and that the Preliminary Development Plan would provide the more firm and finite information about what was planned. That application was finally filed on December 17, 1996. Representatives of the developer met with the Walden District Improvement Association's Board of Directors on December 23, 1996, to provide further information. The application has been reviewed and the comments of the developer's representatives have been considered by the Board. There is no longer reason to withhold judgment on the proposal. Response from the Walden Community Assessed The overwhelming preponderance of expressed opinions within the Walden area community is one of strong opposition to the proposed entertainment megaplex. Some residents object to its scale, some to various of its features, some to any motion picture theater complex in the neighborhood, and some to its inconsistency with the "transit-oriented development" — but all object to the deleterious impacts the project would have on the surrounding neighborhoods. Far Too Big • The proposed entertainment megaplex is a massive retail and theater undertaking, totally out of scale to the community generally,and even to the more intensely-developed "Specific Plan" area, in both size and potential impact. Its physical structure would occupy virtually all of BART's eight-acre ground space southeast of the PH BART Station, and would be up to 75 or 80 feet above ground level. It would loom above the Station and obstruct views of Mt. Diablo from the Station platform. It would have approximately 400,000 square feet of leasable space, plus more than 200,000 square feet more space above ground, and more space below ground, for its customer parking. 3 Because it would displace more than 1,000 BART parking spaces, an addition to the existing multi-story BART parking garage would be built. .The addition would almost double the garage's size, but it would not increase the total number of BART parking spaces. It would house 20 to 25 motion picture theaters, with a total of 5,000 to 5,500 theater seats. Also, according to developer projections, it would house retail establishments,such as record, video rental, book and sporting-goo ds'stores,'a copy center, food courts and restaurants, and other "entertainment related" businesses such as :'a motion simulation theater. In describing the underlying concept, flavor and projected market of the proposed entertainment; megaplex the developer has analogized it to Disneyland and Universal City. • At 20 to 25 theaters the proposed entertainment,megaplex would be the largest theater complex in the San Francisco Bay Area. The megaplex building, with 400,000 square feet of leasable space, would be nearly three times the, combined size of the Century Theater complex and Montgomery Ward store at•Monument Boulevard.' It would be almost five times the size of K-Mart in Pleasant Hill, and more than twenty times the size. of the Festival Theaters in Walnut Creek:- . • Suggestions that the size of the proposed entertainment megaplex be substantially reduced, so as to; reduce its various detrimental impacts`on the community, have been rejected by the developer as! economically unfeasible because of BART's requirement that the developer construct "replacement' parking." The developer has said a significantly downsized project would not produce sufficient income; to justify the capital investment for parking replacement, and that it could not appropriately ask BART: for a reduction in its replacement obligations. BART representatives have not responded to suggestions) from others that BART facilitate significant downsizing by contributing to the cost of building replacement parking. • The developer's current contention that the "new version" of the entertainment megaplex has, been] downsized 27% — from about 550,000 to'400,000 square`feet — is disturbingly misleading. When the proposal was first officially considered by BART, an "Executive Decision Document" dated September! 26, 1995, showed that it would be 'sized at 403,323 square feet. At a public presentation of the; proposal on March 11, 1996, the developers described it as a 450,000 square foot project. Not Transit-Oriented Development Approval of the proposed entertainment– megaplex would constitute a dramatic-and'unwarranted change, in the primary objective and the well-established and publicly-accepted role of the PH BART Station and the structures and activities immediately surrounding it, i.e., what is now referred to as "transit oriented development." • The proposed entertainment megaplex is nota "transit-oriented development" use. It does not facilitate transportation improvements, encourage the use of public`transportation, or discourage low-occupancy; automobile traffic. For example, unlike the already permissible option of office building use, the proposed megaplex does not have the potential to encourage car pooling and alternatives to automobile travel. • The developers have projected that only a.very.small percentage of its patrons will come to it via BART or other public transit during the first few years, and any expectations that the percentage will significantly increase in future years would be wholly unrealistic given the nature of central Contra Costa County. Although some of its'patrons would be local employees and residents, and BART :4 passengers going to and from the PH BART Station, the vast majority of patrons would be people from • throughout Contra Costa and Solano Counties, who will arrive and leave by automobile. • Clearly, the predominant reasons the developer wants tolocate the project at the PH BART Station is the area's superb access via I-680 and major surface streets and the abundance of existing automobile parking space that would be available to its customers during the evenings and weekends, when BART commuters do not need them. Actually a Cause of More and New Traffic Damage • In fact, the proposed entertainment megaplex is the antithesis of "transit-oriented development." As a combination theater complex and shopping center, drawing customers via automobiles from throughout Contra Costa and Solano Counties, it would create significantly more new automobile traffic for the immediate locality and surrounding neighborhoods, and, in a broader sense, for a central-County area that is already in danger of being overwhelmed by developments to the east and south. • More specifically, the proposed entertainment megaplex will substantially increase vehicle traffic, and ' "attendant-noise-and air pollution,throughout the Walden neighborhoods and adjacent-areas;particularly during evening and early morning hours and weekends. Those are times not disturbed by existing uses, and not likely to be disturbed by unbuilt but currently approved uses, within the PH BART Station vicinity. Those are times during which neighborhood residents reasonably and rightfully expect relative respite from the adverse effects of high-volume traffic. Other Disruptions • The proposed entertainment megaplex, also by its very nature, will substantially increase disturbing non-traffic noise during evening and early morning hours and weekends, and present serious security problems, including increased vandalism and criminal activity in the neighborhoods. These detrimental consequences will be exacerbated by the service of alcohol, as the developer has proposed. • Despite clearly articulated community concerns, and despite a statement by the immediate-past-President of BART that "nightclubs" can have no place in the proposed entertainment megaplex, the developer continues to talk of jazz clubs, supper clubs and similar facilities that rely on the sale of alcoholic beverages for a predominant or substantial portion of their income while operating during late night and early morning hours. This is disturbing not only because such establishments are unsuitable in or adjacent to residential areas but also because it indicates an insensitivity to the nature of community concerns. Inappropriate Use of Public Land A Taxpayers purchased the BART property for public transit use. An entertainment megaplex is a wholly inappropriate use of such public lands. Any development on this taxpayer-owned site should provide tangible transportation-related public benefits. For example, the development should be one that encourages the use of public transit by a significant percentage of the individuals traveling to it, and its primary purpose should be to provide needed services to BART riders, local employees and residents in the immediate area. Certain Retail Uses Acceptable The Walden District Improvement Association does not oppose, and in fact would welcome, quality retail establishments and restaurants on the BART property and some other sites in the "Specific Plan" area, provided they are of an appropriate number and scale and are designed primarily to serve local residents, local employees and PH BART Station passengers. Primary emphasis should always be on 5 "transit-oriented" office, housing and institutional uses and "local-serving" retail. The proposed_ - entertainment megaplex simply does not meet these standards. Problems Can't or Won't Be Fixed • The proposed entertainment megaplex, and anything remotely resembling it, is irreparably incompatible with the "Specific Plan" (and the "proposed amended Specific Plan") objective of "Protect[ing] housing within and adjacent to the Station Area from adverse effects of intensification including noise, traffic intrusions, parking conflicts, [and] visual incompatibilities. • Although, in the course of conversations with Walden District Improvement Association members and others, and in the Preliminary Development Plan, the developer has attempted to accommodate or allay certain concerns, it has failed or refused to effectively address the major and most troublesome issues of size, scale and use. • Despite developer assertions, the adverse impacts of the proposed entertainment megaplex cannot realistically be mitigated. NOW THEREFORE IT IS RESOLVED that the WALDEN DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION ,t Oppose the proposed entertainment megaplex. * Oppose any amendment of the "Specific Plan" that would permit or facilitate the proposed entertainment megaplex, or any project of similar nature and of any substantial size. * Request the BART Board of Directors to immediately withdraw BART support of the proposed entertainment megaplex, to revoke its participation as the property-owner party to the Preliminary Development Plan at the earliest date legally feasible, and to deny any further extensions of its "Exclusive Negotiation Agreement" with the developer. ,t Request the City of Walnut Creek to formally oppose the proposed entertainment megaplex and to instruct its PH BART Station Area Steering Committee representative and alternate to vote accordingly on all Steering Committee actions involving the proposed megaplex. * Request the City of Pleasant Hill to formally oppose the proposed entertainment megaplex and to instruct its. PH BART Station Area Steering Committee representative and 'alternate to vote accordingly on all Steering Committee actions involving the proposed megaplex. * Urge the Pleasant Hill BART Station Area Steering Committee to recommend to the Board of Supervisors the rejection of all proposed amendments to the "Specific Plan" that would permit or facilitate the proposed entertainment megaplex, or any similar use anywhere within the "Specific Plan" area. Further urge the PH BART Station Area Steering Committee to recommend to the Board of Supervisors the rejection of any and all applications for approval or other permission to develop, construct or operate the proposed entertainment megaplex. * Urge residents and property owners in the Walden District area to remain well in about the entertainment megaplex proposal and to communicate their views to their various public representatives. 413 P. 6 J Told -Tdiol CONTRA OST CGLTNTY Sochd Service Deparbnent DATE: 7anuarq 13, 1997 TO: Supervisor Jim Rogers FROM Cahn Culler, DlredDr Phil Batchelor SUBJECT: Your Request re Relinquishment of Children of Welfare Recipients fbr Adoption in Governor Wilson's Welfare Reform Proposal 1 Last week,the Crovem+or publicly revealed a number of details related to his proposed Welfare Refrm Progratm. included in this package is language that requires tl'tat mothers receiving Teanpmwy Assistance for NeWy Families(TANF)be encouraged to emsider rdmq��W=g their children for adoption as an alternative to welfare. We find this proposal to be both ethically unconsdonable and fiscally shortsighted. Any regulation that would impose upon a mod=a zequiret=t to consider adoption solely because of poverty is unacceptable and anti-family. Studies in this State have sham dwt the average longth a household currently receives AFDC is approximately two years. It makes little sense to permanently sever a parental relationship over what is frequently a temporary, situation problem: Poverty is not an mdicatx of the quality of parenting a child receives. Many chddren raised in poor and law Mi home families go on to be highly educated and successful. Ueir mord m and 66 were to nurture them, to bold them and comfort them when they hurt, to applaud them twhm they s=eed, to encourage their.achievement in school, and to assist theta in developing health self-esteem. Pion of this requires a mukile--lass.income. To even suggest that these families should be disrupted because of poverty ignores the c oft importance of This .specific proposalis also fiscally irresponsible. It presupposes that there are many&&dies in our communities who are ready to adopt and will assume full financial responsibility for the children. If this were the case, there would not be the need to actively and constantly recruit adoptive families for childit already in the child welfare system as a result of abuse and neglect. Across the State, time are many chMm of all ages and races who need permanent families and dm is a dwffi..off families waiting for them. If event a percentap of the children in households receiving TANF were relinquished, there is little doubt that they would heave to be cared for in gmp faedities, whether we can them ti0'd 6EP29 Ql '1d3a 33I063S -idI--OS WONJ SS:ET L66'I-2L-Ndf JAN-13•-1997 13:57 FRO111 SOCIAL SERVICE DEPT. TO 63429 P.02 supervisor Jim leers VVV Janes+ 13, 1997 page orphanages or group homes. 'Their cost of care would be in excess of$3,0001month as opposed to the few hundred a month Breit parents rumve, The public would be fvned to assym this additional financad obligaticm until an adoptive family weld be 1vt Wd and prepared. Adoption is a good thing. It is a"pro- y"program. It Words the opportunity for children whose birth parents truly cannot care for them to be ratwd in a loving home. It should be reserved for duldrea who have been neglected and/or abused by their birth families or whose parents recognize their own inability to raise a child. The .t ommw's ar3g" Adoption initiative,passed into law last year,positively promotes adoption for dim cliddren. This should remain the focus of government's rale in adaption. JBC:sjb D. 5 THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA DATE: January 14 , 1997 MATTER OF RECORD on this date, the following persons spoke under public comment : A. Jay Lutz expressed the opposition of the Walden District Improvement Association relative to the entertainment megaplex on BART property which is the eight-acre parking lot to the southwest of the Pleasant Hill BART Station. B. Al Simmons, AMARCH, welcomed the new Board members and noted his concern with the assignment of Black Children in foster care . C. Warren L. Smith requested the Board to consider renaming its chambers "The Thomas John Coll Board Chambers . " THIS IS A MATTER FOR RECORD PURPOSES ONLY NO BOARD ACTION TAKEN � S (�Mtn-r_zt- D.5 r RECEIVE® SAN - January 6, 1997 6 1997 CLERK BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CONTRA COSTA CO. Clerk of the Board of Supervisors 651 Pine Street,, Room 106 Martinez, CA Respectfully requested herein is permission for time on the first available agenda as a regular time . Posing the question "Which is the more fitting dedication for the Board of Supervisors Chambers?" 1 . "The Sunne McPeak Board Chambers" 2 . "The Thomas John Coll Board Chambers"? Oral presentation will be made . Requested time is approximately ten (10) minutes . Submitted, r� A ' Warren L. Smith 1100 Bailey Road Pittsburg, CA 94565