Oakland Gains More Time to Study Blair Park EIR

The City of Piedmont extended its "tolling" agreement with the City of Oakland late this afternoon, averting an immediate lawsuit and giving Oakland until Feb. 24 to study environmental issues around the Blair Park sports field project, Oakland City Councilmember Libby Schaaf said today.

The existing agreement was set to expire today, Jan. 18. The Oakland council voted Dec. 20, 2011 to file litigation against the City of Piedmont if Oakland city staff and officials did not have enough time to review environmental documents before the legal deadline to sue.

Schaaf said she was encouraged that Piedmont officials are willing to continue discussion on the Blair Park proposal and to address Oakland's concerns.

She said Oakland council members discussed the potential Blair Park litlgation in closed session Wednesday but did not take any formal action. That left in place the Oakland council's previous decision to file suit immediately if the legal deadline for litigation is reached.

This is the second time Piedmont has extended the deadline. The Piedmont city council approved the initial tolling agreement (legal language for a delay or extension) on Jan. 3, extending the filing deadline from Jan. 9 to Jan. 18.

Piedmont's council gave the go-ahead to the privately financed $6 million-plus Blair Park project at its Dec. 5-6 meeting, including approval of an addendum to the project's final Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

It's the approval of the addendum, rather than a requirement for a new or supplemental EIR, that has been Oakland's main target. Oakland officials have said that an addendum was not sufficient to meet the standards of the California Environemental Quality Act.

Oakland officials have expressed concerns about the impact of the Blair Park project on traffic, public safety and hydrology.

Under state law, Oakland had 30 days from the filing of Piedmont's notice of determination on the EIR addendum with Alameda County to initiate litigation unless both cities agreed to an extension.

The non-profit group Friends of Moraga Canyon (FOMC) filed a  separate lawsuit against the City of Piedmont over the Blair Park EIR on Jan. 5.

For more information and previous articles about the sports field project, see our Blair Park page.