Oakland City Council Okays Lawsuit Over Blair Park

Oakland City Council members voted 8-0 Tuesday to challenge the City of Piedmont's approval of the proposed Blair Park sports field project in court if the two cities cannot agree to extend the deadline for filing a lawsuit.

The Oakland council directed Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker to file suit if Piedmont does not agree by Jan. 9 to "toll" (suspend or delay) the legal deadline for initiating litigation.

Oakland's suit would target the Piedmont council's acceptance of the environmental impact report on Blair Park and its adoption of the Blair Park element of the Moraga Canyon Sports Field Project on Dec. 6.

Oakland council members said they would prefer to try to resolve Blair Park issues outside of court, but will move ahead with legal action if a tolling agreement is not signed.

The decision came during a closed Oakland City Council session Tuesday afternoon and was announced by a City Attorney's Office staff member during the public council meeting Tuesday evening. The motion was made by Libby Schaaf, who has acted as the Oakland council's point person on Blair Park. She represents Oakland's District 4, which includes Montclair and other hill areas.

The Piedmont city council's actions during a marathon Dec. 5-6 meeting included:

• Approval of an addendum to the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the project and a "statement of overriding considerations," items that let the project move ahead without preparation of a new EIR.
• Approval of a modified PRFO plan and conditions of approval for the project.

The $6 million project to build sports fields in oak-studded Blair Park on Moraga Avenue would be financed with donations raised by the Piedmont Recreational Facilities Organization (PRFO) and its legal offshoot, Blair Park LLC.

PRFO members say the fields are needed to provide practice space for Piedmont youth sports teams, many of whom now practice at leased fields in Alameda.

Many opponents of the project, including the non-profit Friends of Moraga Canyon, would prefer to see Blair Park remain in a more natural state.

Other opponents have raised questions about traffic on Moraga Avenue, access for emergency vehicles, impacts on neighbors and other issues.

Eric Angstadt, deputy director of of Oakland's Community and Economic Development Agency, told Piedmont Patch recently that his concerns include traffic and potential adverse impacts on Oakland from increased rainwater runoff from a sports field of artificial turf.

"We haven't been given time to properly assess those effects," he said.

In a letter to the Piedmont City Council prior to the Dec. 5 meeting Angstadt urged the city to require a subsequent or supplemental EIR rather than an addendum that "not only fails to remedy the deficiencies in this EIR, but also ignores meaningful review of new and significant Project changes and environmental impacts."

For earlier articles on the sports field proposal, see Piedmont Patch's Blair Park page.