# The Rockridge News - July 1986

- Issue ID: 1986_07
- Source PDF: issues/1986_07.pdf
- Rendered pages: 3 of 3

## Extracted Text

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Sponsored by the Rockridge Community Planning Council, 6225 Ross St.,Oakland
- 658-9523 —

B=

Individual Applications O.K.

Planners Reject
Wilson Request

Oakland City Planning Commission Staff recommended |
last week that Wilson Associates’ request for a blanket Major |
Conditional Use permit for their Market Hall development be |
denied and that standard application procedures be followed by
each of the Wilson’s tenants.

The Staff report recommended approval for two of the

|

ABC Suspends
Yoshi’s Nightclub

Liquor Sales!
Neighbor’s Letter Prompts Review

Liquor sales in Yoshi’s nightclub were suspended
effective Wedneday, July 9, by the State Department of
Alcoholic Beverage Control following an investigation of the
establishment’s liquor license. ABC Enforcement Supervisor

three current applications — a_ restau-
ranicafe and a chocolate shop —
submitted by the Wilsons. The third
application — for a wine shop — was
recommended for denial because it was
submitted under a General Food Sales
permit request instead of a permit for the
sale of alcoholic beverages. The Staff
will reconsider the permit when it is
submitted for the correct category.

The Planning Commission accepted
Staff recommendations at their regular
Wednesday meeting.

RCPC made a submission to the
Planning Staff suggesting specific
recommendations for restaurant closing
hours, litter control, and methods of
cleaning without using noisy mechanical
devices.

The suggestions were generally
supported by staff and approved by the
Commission except for the closing
hours. The Wilsons asked for and
received an 11 p.m. closing time for the
Testaurant.

Rockridge News
Summer Break

Those lazy, hazy, crazy Days of
Summer are here again, and many of us
will be out of town for the duration.
This issue of the Rockridge News is a
Summer Special, combining news and
views for July and August. The
Calendar below includes events and
dates for both months, and will enable
you to plan your meetings and
Neighborhood activites through the first
part of August. Watch for flyers that
may be posted in your area announcing
special or emergency meetings. Watch
for the next regular issue of the
Rockridge News the first part of
September. Meanwhile, keep an eye on
the Bar-B-Que!

Ron Gravitt — 464-1106 -said that
Yoshi’s owner Kaz Kajimura will
have to file an application to transfer
the current and still valid restaurant
liquor license to include the nightclub
area in order to resume liquor service
in the nightclub.

According to the findings of the
investigation, prompted by a
Neighbor’s letter, the liquor license
only covered service in the restaurant
and upstairs bar of the establishment.
Expanding service to the nightclub
violated the terms of the license.

To resume service, according to
Mr. Gravitt, Yoshi’s will have to
follow ABC posting regulations
pertaining to a transfer of service.
Those regulations call for Yoshi’s to
post a Notice of Intention to transfer
and to notify residents within a 150
foot radius of the establishment
within 15 days of the posting. The

See ABC Suspends, page 4

f

ates Calendar Events Calendar Dates Calendar Events

Tuesday July 15 = 7:30 pm
Thursday July 17 7:30 pm
Saturday July 19 = 11-3 pm
Wednesday Aug 20 = 1:30 pm
Thursday Aug 21 7:30 pm
XS Saturday Aug 2311-3 pm

City Council votes on Planning Commission Downzoning recommen-
dation for Leimert area. Show your support for other Neighborhoods.
RCPC July General Meeting, College Avenue Presbyterian Church.
Informational table in front of College Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Planning Commission reviews Yoshi's conditions.

RCPC August General Meeting, College Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Informational table in front of College Avenue Presbyterian Church.

The Rockridge News

July 12, 1986

Page 2

A Look At Rockridge And The
Rockridge Community Planning Council

By Andrea Gabriel

The Rockridge Community Planning Council - RCPC
~ is a neighborhood organization whose purpose is to promote
community involvement in neighborhood planning and
zoning, traffic control, and area development, and to combat
community deterioration. In addition, RCPC serves as a
liaison between the community and the Oakland Planning
Commission. Formed in 1970 as an organized effort to resist
rezoning for constrution of a highrise apartment complex,
RCPC has thrived through active participation and
cooperation by neighbors and merchants.

Prior to 1970, Rockridge — a community bounded by
Berkeley to the North and Northeast, Broadway to the East,
51st Street to the South, and Telegraph Avenue to the West
— was a middle class working community with Chabot
Canyon and Temescal Creek as recreation areas and College
Avenue as a major shopping area. Most of the homes were
built as single family dwellings. With the completion of the
Grove-Shafter Freeway, about 1,400 properties, mostly
homes, had been destroyed, the shopping sector was split in
half and many businesses had disappeared. The Canyon and
Creek were gone, buried under tons of cement and fill.

In November, 1970, a group of developers calling
themselves the Rockridge Neighborhood Committee issued a
report to the Oakland City Council requesting rezoning around
the BART stateion area to allow construction of an 83 unit
highrise apartment complex. Alarmed neighbors and local
groups banded together to secure a plan for future development
that reflected the Neighborhood’s wishes.

In January, 1971, more than 400 residents met at an
Oakland Planning Commission hearing to voice opposition to
the proposed development and to request a rezoning
moratorium and a planning study. Later that month, various
neighborhood groups organized themselves into the Rockridge
Community Planning Council and elected Ted Burton
chairman.

With help from the Telegraph Avenue Neighborhood
Association - TANG - the grassroots movement gradually
grew and in April a well-organized, widely publicized meeting
was held. A petition requesting funds for a planning study in
the Rockridge Area was circulated and a vote was taken in
favor of a building moratorium. The College Avenue
Merchants Association - CAMA -— at that time more
pro-development, advocated development and rezoning but
agreed to cooperate with RCPC.

In 1972, pressure by RCPC loosened HUD funds for the

planning study from a reluctant Oakland City Council. In late
1973, the authors of the study, Gruen and Gruen and
Associates, suggested five alternatives for the neighborhood:
1) minimum growth, maximum preservation; 2) scattered low
rise apartments; 3) low rise development West of College
Avenue; 4) high rise apartment clusters aroun the BART
station; 5) high rise density and development around the
BART station. The study indicated that the Rockridge Area
could support heavy commercialization, but that without
planning, the existing character of the Neighborhood would
deteriorate.

In June, 1974, RCPC and merchants came out against a
proposed plan to locate a Taco Bell where College Square now
stands. Earlier in the year, RCPC had organized six sub-
neighborhoods, elected board members from each one and
developed an _ effective communications network.
Neighborhood political activity in an around Rockridge in
1973 and 1974 caused the City Council to examine the entire
area. In an atmosphere ripe for change, RCPC, CAMA, and
the City Planning Department worked jointly and separately
that summer to devise a zoning plan for Rockridge.
Compromises were made and by September, the Planning
Department had drawn up a new zoning policy: R-35,
single-family residential; and C-31, special commercial zone
for College Avenue. The new zoning allowed for commercial
expansion with design and use limitations to maintain a
pedestrian oriented merchant and business area within a
residential community. The new zoning ordinance passed at
the December 10 meeting of the Oakland City Council.

The success of RCPC has always depended upon
concerned, motivated people willing to volunteer their time,
money, labor and creativity to maintain an_ effective
Neighborhood Organization. Though the late 1970’s saw a
relaxation in development after the fervent and persistent
energy directed toward the rezoning plan, renewed commercial
development efforts in the 1980’s have mobilized RCPC
members. The expansion of Yoshi’s restaurant, the
construction of the Market Hall, and the proposed expansion
of Dreyer’s Corporation have renewed the need to distribute
information and stimulate action on these plans throughout
the Rockridge Area. RCPC will continue to monitor
proposed development and strive to maintain a high level of
community involvement.

Information for this article was drawn from a
detailed report prepared by Rockridge Resident
Ellen Drogin in connection with an
Environmental Impact Report prepared for BART.

his article is the second in a series examining the facts and figures, the history and fantasy surrounding
the proposed expansion by Dreyer’s Corporation in the Rockridge Neighborhood.
This look at the history of the Rockridge Community Planning Council in the Rockridge Area will be

balanced in future articles with the history and present status of Dreyer’s Ice Cream Corporation, and the Corporation’s

plans.

The purpose of the series is to get as much correct information to the Neighborhood as possible to encourage

discussion.

Your response and point of view are welcome at all times. Please write in care of the Rockridge Community

Planning Council, 6225 Ross Street, Oakland, CA 94618.

—
Page 3

July 12, 1986

The Rockridge News

~ RCPC Board Hears

Treasurer’s Report

O money, money, money, I’m not necessarily
one of those who think thee holy,

But I often stop to wonder how thou canst go
out so fast when thou comest in so slowly.

Ogden Nash’s couplet describes accurately the financial
situation of the Rockridge Community Planning Council,
according to RCPC Treasurer Don Kinkead.

In his Treasurer’s Report to the Board last week, Mr.
Kinkead said the recent Neighborhood Area Fundraiser had
earned close to $3,000. for the organization but that
two-thirds of that went to meet past bills and debts. “The
Fundraiser was great and we have money to meet expenses for
the next few months,” he said, “but we need a regular source
of funds in addition to periodic fundraisers.”

Mr. Kinkead reminded the Board that RCPC by-laws
suggest an annual minimum voluntary donation of $10. per
household, and proposed the Board invoke that provision of
the by-laws. He also suggested two additional voluntary
donation categories: one for the Rockridge News at a
suggested annual amount of $10.; and one for future Legal
Expenses, also at a suggested $10. minimum.

According to the Treasurer’s Report, publication of the
Rockridge News costs $350.-$400. per month, approximately
$0.08 cents per copy. Other organizational expenses are for
stamps, stationery, copies of City documents, Xeroxing costs,
and preparing and duplicating flyers.

The Board accepted the proposal and asked the Treasurer
to solicit donations in accordance with the organization’s
by-laws, and to make other donation categories available.

Asked about his plans, Mr. Kinkead said, “Fundraisers
will continue to be a source of entertainment and funds, but
we expect a membership drive will generate a steadier income
flow. All Rockridge residents are RCPC members, of course,
but we want to be able to reward those who take the time and
trouble to become registered members. We are looking at
discounts for tickets to fundraising events and other special
opportunities for registered members, among many possi-
bilities. Naturally, additional donations earmarked for the
News will help reduce the strain on the RCPC budget and
help everyone’s money go farther.”

hs

Yes! Enroll Me as a Registered Member of the Rockridge Community Planning :
I Ihave enclosed a check for my tax-deductible donation for a year’s registration and other support areas

Neighbors WorkingTogether

Big Victories In
Other Neighborhoods!

Effective neighborhood and community response to the
increasing pressure of ill-conceived development is on the rise
all over the Bay Area. Neighbors and friends are working
together to maintain a meaningful urban environment. Recent
Court and administrative decisions supported the positions of
these Oakland Neighborhoods:

West Clawson— This Neighborhood Organization
directed its concern to the shipment of spent nuclear fuel rods
transported by truck through neighborhood streets, and
succeeded in stopping this dangerous practice.

Residents mounted a media campaign combining
television, newspaper, and letter-writing to alert neighbors
and other Oakland residents to the potential for disaster posed
by these shipments.

Ultimately, the residents carried the campaign to the
Port of Oakland. After a series of meetings and an untimely
denial, the Port acknowledged the shipments were being made,
agreed they were unsafe, and announced a prohibition of future
shipments.

38th Street Neighborhood Association—

Rebuffed by the City in efforts to obtain reconsideration
of an unpopular fast-food restaurant approval, members of
this Neighborhood Organization turned to the Courts for
satisfaction. Late last year the group filed suit to block
construction of the restaurant, contending building permits
were approved and issued by the City without proper notice to
neighborhood residents.

The Court agreed with the Association and issued an
order on June 25th halting construction or modifications until
proper public notice is issued and responded to by interested
neighbors, and Environmental Impact Report Hearings are
held. a City plans to join with the developer to appeal the
order (!).

Leimert Area—  Out-of-scale construction in this
Neighborhood prompted residents to organize a proposal to
down-zone the area to prevent future similar intrusions.
Neighbors were successful in drafting and presenting a
proposal the City Planning Commission accepted to change
the zoning from C-10 to C-5. The Commission’s recommen-
dation will be considered by the Citv Council Julv 15. at its
regular meeting starting at 7:30

Ouncil!

| Ihave checked off: |
| $___—_—uRRegistration Donation |
| Name: . . |
| $__________ Rockridge News Donation |
Address: $ Legal Fund Donation
| City/Zip: Thank you! Mail to: Don Kinkead
5626 Oak Grove Avenue
\ Phone: Oakland, CA 94618