Piedmont meeting on Moraga Canyon Specific Plan set for Nov. 30
By Lou Fancher
Begun by the city of Piedmont this past summer, the Moraga Canyon Specific Plan will determine the best way to use city-owned land in the city’s Moraga Canyon to develop 132 new housing units, 60 of which are to be affordable housing for residents with lower incomes. The incorporation of new housing and improvements related to the safety and use of areas on both sides of Moraga Avenue includes Blair Park, Coaches Field, Kennelly Skate Park, and the city’s Corporation Yard. When finalized, the plan will require an amendment to the city’s general plan, with density and development standards established to meet site conditions and other terms laid out by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), which determines housing policy and building codes across the state. Importantly, the plan seeks to maintain recreational open space and use of the area for public works while also meeting the state’s housing requirements to be certified by the HCD for Piedmont’s sixth cycle housing element. To comply with the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) mandate to develop 587 new Piedmont housing units by 2030, be eligible for time-dependent funding and update its housing element every eight years as required, Piedmont like all communities must have its housing element approved by the state HCD. The sixth cycle runs from 2023 to 2031. ABAG officials have estimated the cost to create a specific plan at about $544,000. Because rezoning and other elements related to revisions to codes and development standards are a public process and require significant community engagement and multiple public meetings, the city held a community discussion Oct. 11 and recently issued a citywide survey. Public feedback from those initiatives will be studied by city staff, members of the planning commission and City Council members and used to develop a series of potential development concepts that will be shared at a Nov. 30 community workshop. The survey invited residents to respond to several open-ended topics, such as how often and how they typically use Moraga Canyon, what they value most about the area, their thoughts on how well different architectural styles might fit in Moraga Canyon and what type of improvements are most important for future development in the area. Planning and Building Director Kevin Jackson said that before the community gathering in November, the city is meeting with sports organizations, developers and other stakeholder groups. “After the community workshop on November 30th, we’ll be looking to schedule more engagements and perhaps a study session in early January 2024,” he said. “That meeting will be with the planning commission, City Council and members of the community, so it wouldn’t be an action-ized meeting, it would be study session. And depending on the first survey results, we’re hoping to have new follow-up information gathered to share and other groups identified for engagement.” Jackson said specific improvements to the area will only be finalized after the study and public engagement period is concluded but pointed to targeted and likely areas ripe for change. “With traffic safety, the goal would be to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety throughout. In terms of wildfire mitigation, it’s important to note that any new developments would have to meet the more stringent codes for compliance, such as defensible space and building and fire codes for construction — so this would actually improve the overall safety of the area.” Aesthetically and in terms of organization and use, the Corporation Yard would benefit under the new plans. “That area was never planned on a comprehensive basis,” Jackson said. “One goal is to improve circulation on the site. How city vehicles are best stored can be improved within the planning process.” Goals for the area already set out in the city’s general plan call for the continuation of the athletic areas, but options for expanding the size of the soccer field would mean it meets the dimensions to become more usable by sports groups and improve its accessibility. “Also up the hill from the baseball diamond, there’s a staircase to the skate park,” Jackson said. “The hours the skate park is open and it’s remoteness mean it’s underused. We’d like to create a more dynamic and accessible skate park with this new plan.” Jackson said community input will be essential in determining if the steeper terrain of the northern portion of the land becomes a network of hiking paths or finds other purposes. Regardless of public opinion, housing development has to ride in tandem with the city’s housing element requirements that Jackson said are “quite different from previous cycles” and “immensely challenging for small cities that don’t have a lot of half-acre or larger sites” that can be developed in the next eight years. “The HCD requirements don’t have a city the size of Piedmont in mind. How does that play out? We’ve been approving ADU (accessory dwelling unit) developments, and that helped us meet the fifth (housing element) cycle and actually exceed the 60 units it required. “But ADUs will not get us to the 587 units needed for the sixth cycle, so we’re also processing duplexes and partial splits and other developments that will still facilitate a positive experience for the community.” Jackson believes as much as the community has expressed strong interest in preserving the area’s open spaces and rural feel, most people do not fully understand that meeting the additional housing numbers is a requirement, not a choice the city is making independent of residents. “I don’t think that’s fully understood. We’re not just doing this on a whim. The state has a housing crisis, and the Piedmont community themselves voted for and elected legislators who proposed legislation related to this issue.” Asked what measure plays the greatest role in gaining public support, other than encouraging transparency and plentiful community input, Jackson said it’s all a question of time. “It’s people getting used to change and finding out it’s actually positive. They learn that welcoming new people to the area adds more students to the school population, makes the community more diverse and vibrant. I think it’s experiential. People’s fears are calmed when they find changes meet their desires and are good things.” |