Controversial plans for a new Safeway in Rockridge will be discussed in an upcoming series of meetings between the Pleasanton-based supermarket chain and invited community groups.
Construction at the Safeway in Montclair Village has some residents complaining about incessant noise.
Neighbors say calls to Safeway went unanswered while noise levels were intolerable for those living close by.
The Rockridge Community Planning Council has come out against plans for a new, bigger Safeway.
In response to that and other feedback, the retail chain is taking another look at the controversial new store.
The Rockridge Community Planning Council has come out against the controversial Safeway expansion on College Avenue. In a letter to Safeway, council President Stuart Flashman called the project “too big” and the design “incompatible with the surrounding community.”
The comments echo those of many people who attended a community meeting about the proposal on June 19th.
Safeway is aggressively converting all its stores to “lifetsyle” stores, which are intended to be more contemporary and offer a wider array of foods and services. In many instances, Safeway wants to expand the footprints of the stores to accommodate the new services and to allow for wide aisles. The plans for the College Avenue Safeway would approximately double the size of the current store, built in 1964.
In addition to the Rockridge store, Safeway wants to remodel or expand several other Easy Bay locations. It recently released plans for an expansion of its Solano Ave. store in Albany. It just completed a remodel of its Dimond neighborhood store on Fruitvale Avenue. And the Montclair Safeway is currently being “lifestyled.” Also, the Broadway and Pleasant Valley store is slated for a make-over.
Related: RCPC says ‘no’ to Safeway, North Oakland News
See all our Safeway coverage here.
On the Oakland Tribune’s website.
After it was published, the founders of Concerned Neighbors wrote to me and said they thought it was more like 300. They got nearly 200 on their petition, they said.
At a community meeting to discuss plans for a new Safeway on College Avenue, residents delivered a barrage of criticism, ranging from impassioned pleas to outright anger.
They spoke about size, architecture and traffic, but primarily about maintaining the characteristic charm of the street in Rockridge.
I had expected Thursday night’s community meeting on the Rockridge Safeway proposal to be contentious, but I don’t think I was prepared for just how heated and lopsided it was going to get.
[See all our related Safeway stories here.]
Well, the pastor has good karma after all.
Earlier this week, we learned about an unnamed pastor whose car was stolen while he went grocery shopping. At the scene, the Safeway manager said this was a first-time event for his Montclair store.
Last night I attended a meeting to hear input from neighbors on a proposed redesign of the Safeway supermarket on the corner of College Avenue and Claremont Avenue.
There were more than 80 speakers — from the audience — plus presentations. It was clear people really had something to say. Most of it was along the lines of “too big, too ugly, too much traffic, too big, too ugly.” The question, of course, is how much influence local people really have.
More when I write the article, of course, but you can see renderings of the store here.
Related: See related Safeway coverage here.
Rockridge-area residents turned out en masse tonight to tell Safeway that plans to more than double the size of its existing store on College Avenue are unacceptable.
About 300 people crammed into a hot auditorium at Peralta Elementary School to hear Safeway officials discuss their proposal for the 40-year old store. Most didn’t like what they heard.
“I do think when I looked at the plan for the first time, it was not College, it was not Oakland, it was Bay Street,” said Peter Sussman, reflecting the sentiments of many in the room. “What Safeway needs to do is go back to the drawing board and see what we the neighborhood needs, not what Safeway needs.”
Safeway wants to tear down the current 25,000-square-foot store, built in 1964, and replace it and an adjoining gas station with a 59,000-square-foot structure housing a supermarket, 212 parking spaces and 16,000-square-feet of street-level retail shops.
The College Avenue side could feature space for sidewalk tables, bike racks and plenty of room for pedestrian traffic, said Todd Paradis, of Safeway real estate. Paradis said the architects designed the College Avenue facade with about 85 percent glass to give it a more open, airy feel.
Todd Paradis of Safeway, right, speaks to the crowd.
So I think I’m coming around on this project. We certainly could use more retail on College and that parking lot is an eye sore! Thursday’s meeting will be contentious, but now I know where I stand.
One good thing about being around here for awhile with an active memory is history. I remember when Dreyer’s Ice Cream proposed its giant facility for Rockridge, and many, including for a time me, were against it. One reason for this was that the original plan called for a visible College Avenue presence that was just too out of scale with the neighborhood. I say that’s true for the Safeway proposal before us.
Related:
New College Ave. Safeway plans released, OaklandNews
Revised plans for controversial new Rockridge Safeway due in two weeks, OaklandNews
Some neighborhoods would kill for a luxurious, 60,000-square-foot supermarket. But when there’s already two produce stores, two meat markets, a fresh fish dealer and a wine shop on the same street within a half-mile stretch, the reaction is disdain and dread.
Related:
New College Ave. Safeway plans released, OaklandNews
Revised plans for controversial new Rockridge Safeway due in two weeks, OaklandNews
Supermarket chain Safeway released a second set of plans this morning for an overhaul of its College Avenue store. The company posted the drawings and photos here.
The company’s first set of plans, released last year, sparked controversy in the Rockridge neighborhood near College and Claremont avenues because of the size of the proposed new store and the impact it would have on traffic and local merchants.
The new plans are similar to the original proposal in that they greatly expand the footprint of the store, pushing it to the corner of Claremont and College and taking over the space now occupied by a 76 gas station. But the proposal now calls for a more visually varied facade on College Ave, with retail shops on the ground level of the building and the supermarket itself on the top-level.
The parking area that used to be on the roof is now on the ground level, but hidden behind the street-level retail shops and underneath the second-story supermarket.
Safeway said that parking “has been designed to be mostly hidden from pedestrian view.”
“We believe you will find that the proposed design complements the style and scale of the neighborhood and unique urban setting,” the company said in a statement on the web site it built for the project. “We strived to be mindful of enlivening and enhancing the area with outdoor seating, retail shops, and walkable sidewalks to promote increased pedestrian activity and community pride.”
The changes did nothing to mollify two of the project’s biggest critics, neighbors Susan Shawl and Nancy McKay, who have organized to oppose a massive expansion of the store. Safeway representatives met with the two women Friday afternoon and discussed the store over McKay’s kitchen table. The pair came away unimpressed.
“I feel nauseated,” McKay said of the new building, which she said would cover 59,000 square feet. “It feels like a Walnut Creek mall. It has this huge corporate Safeway presence about it.”
Safeway wants to demolish the current store, which opened in 1964, and rebuild it as one of its modern “lifetsyle” stores that feature a wider selection of foods and services such as a bakeries, delis, and pharmacies.
The company will host a community meeting on June 19th to discuss the proposal. Shawl and McKay expect a large turnout at the meeting. They have leafleted about 3,000 homes in the area and sent out about 700 email announcements.
The meeting is scheduled for June 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Peralta Elementary School Gym, 460 63rd Street.
UPDATE: This story has been updated throughout with new details and reaction from the project opponents.
Safeway, city officials and residents will gather at a June 19 public meeting to discuss new plans to rebuild the supermarket in Rockridge. The plans, which are expected to be significantly different from previous designs, will most likely be made public June 12.
Previously: Revised plans for controversial new Rockridge Safeway due in two weeks, OaklandNews
In our reporting on the College Avenue Safeway story, several people mentioned that they thought Safeway wanted to relocate its Broadway and Pleasant Valley store into the space now occupied by Longs Drugs. That particular Longs is a favorite all-purpose general store of many Oaklanders. You can seemingly find just about anything you need there at any hour of the day or night - from socks and sewing supplies, to garden mulch, toilet repair kits, toys and fishing supplies.
The topic of moving the Safeway into the Longs space apparently came up last summer, in a meeting that Safeway officials had with Rockridge residents about its College Avenue store. Although Safeway does not own the Pleasant Valley property, it’s apparently the master developer for the entire shopping center, giving it considerable control over how the space is used.
“What I heard was they wanted to move Longs out and build a new Safeway there,” said Stuart Flashman, chair of the Rockridge Community Planning Council. Continue reading…
By Michael Bazeley
OaklandNews
Safeway is about to unveil a second set of plans for the demolition and rebuilding of a larger College Avenue store - a proposal that’s already agitated neighbors worried about increased traffic and the effect on local merchants.
The Pleasanton-based supermarket chain will post its revised plans online at safewayoncollege.com on June 12th, a Safeway representative said. A community meeting will likely follow on June 19th, co-hosted by the Rockridge Community Planning Council and Councilwoman Jane Brunner’s office, said Elisabeth Jewel, of Aroner, Jewel & Ellis Partners, Safeway’s public relations consultants.
“What we present will reflect the direction and the scale that we want to go,” Jewell said.
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