Parking Battle Brewing in E’ville

The City Council unanimously approved to implement the first of a series of recommendations from the controversial North Hollis Short term Parking plan at last Tuesday’s council meeting. The five year old, 69 page Wilbur Smith Assoc. parking study recommends a multiple-solution approach to dealing with our escalating parking scarcity, the first of which is adding 141 short term spaces (mapped below) or 2-hour “green zones” expected to be implemented by the end of February. In addition, signage on Hollis will direct drivers to the fifty free 4-hour spaces that the city has subsidized in the 

Realtor responds to NOBE Controversy

I first heard the term NOBE (pronounced No’ bē) a few months ago through an Emeryville news alert for this article. The recently produced video below (since removed by its creators) and accompanying website produced by local Realtors declaring the geographic area as “NOBE” ticked off some local publications and community organizations once again drawing the battle-lines of “Gentrification”.

Oakland Local recently published this article admonishing the term and a well-intentioned community organization called Phat Beets has further stoked these flames by implying that this neighborhood nickname is a subversive form of racism by comparing the

E’ville’s Cafe Aquarius featured on KQED’s “Check, Please!”

It was one of the East Bay’s best kept secrets. I would bring pastries from them on occasion for my office and would always get the same inquiries “Wow, where did you get these?”. Their blueberry pin-wheel and Cinnamon Rolls are among my favorites. Lately, you have to get there a bit early to have a shot at these as word has gotten out.

Transitions in City Council: CM O’Keeffe to retire. Brinkman takes helm as Mayor

Appointed Mayor Kurt Brinkman

Jennifer West’s one year term as Mayor ended on December 4th. Via her blog, she announced a personal career change that will bite into here public service availability. The City Emeryville does not have a directly elected Mayor. Every year, the five City Council members select a Mayor and Vice-Mayor from among themselves for a one year term. This year, Kurt Brinkman has been selected to fill this role that consists of the additional powers of running the council meetings and making political appointments. More can be read about this process on this Emeryville Tattler Opinion post. Council member Jac Asher was selected as the new Vice Mayor.

 

The Bureau: E’ville’s latest neighborhood restaurant

Owner James Sansangasakun hard at work putting the finishing touches on his latest venture

I had the pleasure of attending The Bureau’s “soft-opening” last night prior to today’s official opening and if this is any indication of what is to come, then I can’t wait for the final product (Another “Grand Opening” date with all the fanfare is still TBD).

James, his wife and 5 other partners have created an impressive “rustic warehouse–style” space with the attention to detail that they brought to their neighboring Thai restaurant, Summer Summer. Located in the new EmeryStation building on the prominent corner of Hollis and Powell, this burger and sandwich eatery blends trendy chic with industrial cool. The menu, created by acclaimed Chef Edward Higgins (of Four Seasons fame), is “a triumph of classic comforts and international flavors”.

Victory Burger: Open for Business

V-Day was declared on November 23rd for burger lovers and the Golden Gate neighborhood (Or “NOBE“, or “3-Corners” … 😉 ) with the grand opening of Victory Burger. Actual Cafe’s Sal Bednarz’s Kickstarter Venture has come to life after a six-month fundraising campaign and construction effort. 369 “Backers” pledged over $25,000 to help Sal retrofit and decorate the adjacent space to his popular Actual Cafe. As a small contributor to this venture, I can’t tell you how gratifying it is to see a project come to life. Especially a project that contributes to the growing sense of community that Sal has played a big part of. Sal’s dedication and passion to his craft will ensure that this will be a success.

Does Retail make Emerville a Target for Criminals?

Retail has been a blessing for Emeryville’s tax base … but at what cost? A recent  2011  FBI uniform crime report lists Emeryville as having the Bay Area’s highest violent crime rate ahead of cities with violent crime reputations like Oakland and Richmond. In fact, my own experience with crime led me to pursue this blog. Is this label justified or are these numbers misleading? The issue is a complicated one for sure. Perhaps the fact that people actually report “smaller” crimes has bloated this figure (there are some areas where people don’t even bother reporting crimes because they know that no action will be taken)? I hope that by asking this question it leads to a larger discusion of the safety within our community in what appears to be a growing problem. Are there other explanations for this unfavorable ranking? What do you think?

I conducted a ten question email interview with Emeryville Police Department Crime Analyst Adrienne Robinson on how the EPD views this and what we as residents can do:

EPD seize 400 lbs of marijuana from Pellegrini warehouse

Evening Dog-walkers and residents of Blue Star Corner couldn’t help but become a little suspicious of the corner unit of the Pelligrini Warehouse on Halleck. The evening flow of traffic and clientele indicated that this space was either being used as a band practice space … or something slightly less “innocent”. Some neighbors reportedly even noticed a distinct odor. Our suspicions were confirmed on Thursday AM as EPD vehicles staged a raid on the area seizing 400 pounds of marijuana. It’s unclear if this space was being used to actually grow or merely as a distribution center for a larger operation. The Secret News provides more details including the fact that suspected occupants claimed it was being used as a skateboard manufacturing shop when confronted. It should be noted that no reports of any violent crime or other violence have been associated with the space and it’s unclear if the product was being used for “medicinal purposes” compliant with Prop 215. | abc7news.com »

Emeryville dumps red-light cameras | KTVU News

Emeryville has joined the growing list of cities (including Berkeley, L.A. and Cupertino) that have decided to end their use of red-light cameras. Citing among the reasons for taking down the devices is that they were too time-consuming to oversee. Many cities see these automated devices as “Cash Cows”. In fact the red-light Camera at 40th & Horton issued 3120 citations in 2011 at $508 a piece (That’s $1,584,960 in revenue!). The reporter in this segment says the city “makes $1,000’s”. If this is the case, where does the rest of this revenue go? Apparently a State Mandate required the

Sherwin Williams Site Design Competition

Battery Park from zero to positive (HOK San Francisco)

The toxic cleanup at the former paint factory officially came to a finish back in April (Ongoing air and groundwater quality testing can be monitored here). Final steps include grading (compacted earth is being covered with gravel), capping of the slurry wall, and adding asphalt along the Rifkin property line. The reality of the next phase of a massive development has begun. Diesels carting away toxic soils will no doubt be replaced by Diesels carting in construction materials augmented with the steady hum of heavy equipment. While the design for the new development has not been finalized and no timetable has been established, talk of the addition of an open space and the ongoing pedestrian bridge to Bay St. has gotten the attention of Park avenue district residents. The existing zoning map allows an entitlement for the construction of a single tower of up to 200 feet and a second tower of up to 150 feet. Additions that would dramatically impact the congestion and make-up of this historic section of Emeryville.