Planning Comm. Gives Resounding 'No' to Blair Plan

Planning Commission member Clark Thiel did not mince words in rendering his judgement Thursday on the Piedmont Recreational Facilities Organization's plan to develop Blair Park.

"If this were a house that was before us, there's no redeeming quality about it that would even come close to being approvable," Thiel said in opening the commission discussion after nearly four hours of public testimony.

One by one, the other five commission members subsequently added their reasons for rejecting the PRFO plan. 

In their rambling motion, adopted unanimously, they declared that the proposed development, and in particular the 300' by 150' turf field at it's core, is too big for the site. The construction of that field would require a retaining wall rising 35' above the ground in its tallest corner–that, the commission said, was "unnecessarily high" and the berm that would be required along Moraga Avenue would be "unnecessarily close to the curb line." Concerns about the geological, seismic, and soil impacts of those retaining wall and berm, the commission said, would also need to be addressed if the project were to move forward.

The commission's motion furthermore cites nearly a dozen policies in Piedmont's general plan regarding the protection of open space, balancing active and passive recreation, environmentally sensitive design, and pedestrian and bike safety with which the PRFO plan fails to comply.

PRFO surprised the commission Thursday with new ideas for calming traffic on Moraga Avenue by putting in roundabouts at the entrances to the parking lots that would be constructed at either end of Blair. Those concepts, the commission said in its motion, would require much more study to determine if they were even a feasible.

Before the Planning Commission weighed in, it had appeared the PRFO plan, with a and affirmative recommendations from both the and Commissions under its belt, was steamrolling toward final City Council approval on March 21.

The Planning Commission unanimously passed a second motion Thursday requesting that if, despite its advice, the council does give the go-ahead for the development of Blair Park that the project be sent back to the commission for further guidance. That could mean dozens of conditions for construction.