Victory for smart growth

by V Smoothe | March 24, 2008 | 6 comments

STAND lost their lawsuit. The group was suing the City over approval of a new building at 4801 Shattuck, claiming that the project needed an Environmental Impact Report. The City Council rejected STAND’s appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval of the project last July, and in August STAND sued. Earlier this month, Judge Frank Roesch issued a tentative decision denying STAND’s request and affirming that the project is exempt from CEQA review.

Also going on today:

Oakland’s 2008 homicide total is up to 33 – last year at this time, we were at 22.
Oddly, both Oakland magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle are still saying that Fresh & Easy is coming to West Oakland this year. I keep hearing that they still have not signed a lease and are now looking at locations in East Oakland instead. Strange.
The Trib’s take on kids selling bootleg DVDs on the street? They’re entrepeneurs!
I actually thought that Brenda Payton had already left the Trib, but I guess I was wrong. Here’s her farewell column.

6 Responses to “Victory for smart growth”

1
MJH Says:
March 24th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
“April is no month for burials.”
- Leo Cox, Rite of Spring
2
Max Allstadt Says:
March 24th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Does STAND ever win anything?

I mean their strategy is infinitely silly. They show up at the Planning Commission with 3 to 8 people at every meeting. They have a little show that they do where various members say various things, but there are two certainties: 1. George Nesbit reads the commissioners rules they already know in byzantine detail, without removing his hat. 2. One of them says something icky to the commission or to an individual commissioner.

Seriously, have they ever won anything? Sometimes I think the planning commission would be more likely to consider community input against development if STAND wasn’t there.
3
m30 Says:
March 24th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
the trib calls the sale of the bootleg dvds “side commerce.” it doesn’t label the young men as entrepreneurs.
4
V Smoothe Says:
March 24th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
They’re referred to as entrepreneurs in the following paragraph:

The additional foot traffic on the heretofore deserted street has also provided opportunities for a little side commerce, such as young men selling $5 bootleg DVDs of current movies or setting up tables piled high with colorful socks and shirts.

Glenn, the store manager, who did not want to divulge his last name, said he’s had to call the cops to chase away the entrepreneurs more thanonce.
5
m30 Says:
March 24th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
yeah, i just saw that. nevermind.
6
stilldancer Says:
March 25th, 2008 at 10:53 am
STAND up

len raphael: Unconfirmed that MJQ laid off 100 employees today, blaming RDA court case. How much did she and the CC waste in legal fees betting against Jerry’s lawyers?

ralph: No, Livegreen, Occupy Oakland is doing plenty good. They are the poster children for the new, “This is Your Brain on Dope” Campaign.

Livegreen: They seem to b determined to shut down Oakland and little else. They’ve forgotten Wall St. I can’t help but think the Officers who were preventing them from breaking in to City Hall could have spent...

gregory mcconnell: The Occupest disrupted City Hall today. They managed to make it difficult, but not impossible, to go into City Hall. They demanded that people who accosted cops on Wednesday should be released. I was out...

livegreen: I watched the M-Y mtg last night, & it was painful. Jose is a nice guy, but he has difficulty running a meeting that gets anything done. They debated for about 1 hour whether they should discuss recommendations...

len raphael: The murder of 5 year old Gabriel Martinez. Got a call from an acquaintance who lives in East O and often gets supper at his family’s taco stand. She asked where she can sign up to help on the recall.

Ravi: I’m sure that all of those Quan diehards (“a recall would be a waste of time and too expensive”) are very gratified that this lovely and deserving woman is having such a good time. No doubt they prefer...

len raphael: JQ “”I’m actually having a lot of fun,” she said after rehashing many of the lower moments from her first year in office.” “http://www.insidebayare a.com/news/ci_19651889R...

Ravi: And regarding police reform and the crime thing, Judge Henderson could decide to put OPD under Federal jurisdiction because the terms of the NSA haven’t been fulfilled by the City Administration. Those folks in City...

len raphael: Harbinger of things to come to the City Council when they eventually have to make similar decisions. But they won’t. The Fed bankruptcy judge will do it for them.

livegreen: Yeah, but OUSD has to do something. There are way too many schools for the school population. There’s simply no choice. At least they’re willing to make the tough decisions. Unlike the City of...

len raphael: Are those school board recalls entirely over the school closing decisions? Different groups or one umbrella?

Ravi: Two recall petitions for Quan; five recall petitions for five school board members.

len raphael: City says there are now 7 concurrent recall petitions. Not clear how many are for Quan and how many for Council Members. Direct democracy at work.

Ravi: Can the Oakland City Council lead? Nope, nor can the Mayor. It’s up to the citizens, who are deeply divided and have been for a very long time.

len raphael: Oakland Local is the only on or offline general circulation media that shows understanding of the depths of our fiscal situation and understands that it’s causes precede the real estate crash. One of these...

Mkilian: Related to the Cal Supremes haircut to Oakland with respect to RDA and the immediate need for a “fiscal operations plan” is another issue put forth in Oakland’s internet newspaper, Oakland Local, is...