In a letter to the City Council, Melanie O. Robertson, chair of the Planning Commission for the City of Piedmont, raised concerns about potential damage to the properties above Blair Park as a result of the Moraga Canyon sports fields project, and the City’s liability in such cases. Here is an excerpt:

What happens if there is any damage, real or perceived, to any of those 24 properties?
That question needs to be seriously explored in the EIR. Because of bedrock, the
excavation likely will require jackhammering into the slope, which will generate large
amounts of ground vibration and potential slope stability issues. The City recently spent
over $400,000 defending itself against one lawsuit brought by only one dissatisfied
property owner regarding the undergrounding of utilities, and there were no actual
damages in that lawsuit. It also spent over $2.5 million to complete the undergrounding
work that the assessment district was unable to pay when bedrock-related change orders
almost doubled the cost of the project. Multiply that amount by 24 and it becomes
apparent that the City’s financial exposure from potential lawsuits is huge. Currently the
EIR does not address those potential liabilities.

Her full letter is on page 44 of the Staff Report for the Dec. 6 City Council meeting.

Monday, December 6^th, at 7:30 p.m. in Veterans Hall the last public hearing will be held before certifying the Environmental  Impact Report. If you have objections to this project and the findings of the EIR, It is imperative that you make your voice heard now! Attend the meeting if possible to voice your concerns directly to the City Council. If that’s not possible, please write a letter.  Now is the time for action.

It is very possible that City Council will take a vote on certifying the EIR on this night.  They may also have discussions about the design of the project.  If there is an agenda item regarding the design, it would be very important to voice your concerns at this time.

We have added some recent letters from Piedmont residents to the Responses to Draft EIR letters page. They will give you some additional background and a look at the issues at hand. As a whole, we feel that the EIR document is inadequate and full of flaws so that Council should not certify it without further review.

We appreciate your support and hope to see you on Monday night!

After an additional appropriation of $25,000 and a delay of almost four weeks, the Draft Response to Comments has been published on the City’s website and will be available in limited supply in hard-copy form from the City Clerk’s office on Monday, November 8th. This 700 page document includes reproduction of all comments that were received regarding the Draft Environmental Report issued in June 2010, along with the EIR consultants’ responses to those comments.

As described in this press release (PDF) from Recreation Director Mark Delventhal, two public hearings have been scheduled for Monday, November 15th, and Monday, December 6th. Both hearings have been moved to Veterans Hall in order to accommodate the anticipated large turn-out. Note that because of the location, the hearings will not be broadcasted live through the City’s website or KCOM. They will be uploaded to the website on the day following each hearing.

The public hearings provide the opportunity to submit your oral testimony to City Council and the EIR consultants regarding the Response to Comments document. Written comments can also be submitted to jtulloch@ci.piedmont.ca.us.

It is still unclear when a vote will be considered by City Council to certify the EIR. Check back on this website for updates.

These public hearings are your chance to be heard.
Don’t pass up the opportunity!

Be sure to look at the responses to your comments
made by the EIR consultant and City staff
and see if you agree with what they said.

Oakland mayoral candidate Joe Tuman sent this open letter regarding the Moraga Canyon Sports Fields proposal. Here’s an excerpt:

The proposed design of the Moraga Sports Complex would replace the natural, rustic beauty of Moraga Canyon. A visible pedestrian walkway, fencing, and a large retaining wall would obscure and change the feel and aesthetic quality of the canyon. In my view, bringing new design ideas into a location that has traditionally been rustic requires, at the very least, a design concept that blends with what was originally there.

As the father of two children who played many sports, I understand Piedmont parents’ desire to provide a space for young people to play. However, neighboring communities need to be sensitive to, and respectful of, the needs of one another. Piedmont cannot ignore Oakland residents’ concerns in this situation, including those of safety and traffic congestion.

Read the entire letter (PDF, 70K)

The review period for the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Moraga Canyon Sports Fields project is now closed. Many concerned residents and non-residents, as well as the City of Oakland, have submitted numerous issues and deficiencies with the draft that must be addressed by the EIR consultants before the final EIR is certified. We’ve collected some of these responses on the Responses to the Draft EIR page; please contact us if you’d like us to include your letter there.

If the City of Piedmont chooses to continue with the EIR certification process as scheduled, the consultants will prepare a list of responses to all substantive comments by October 12, with hearings on final certification of the EIR in November. If the EIR is certified at that point, the City Council could subsequently proceed to consider whether the project should be approved.

Friends of Moraga Canyon will continue to monitor the process and provide updates on moragacanyon.org.