Politics & Government

Public Hearing Wednesday on Safeway-Rockridge Shopping Center Project

The Oakland Planning Commission will consider certification of the final EIR and approval of necessary permits for the project.

SUMMARY

The Oakland Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Wednesday, Sept. 25, on the Safeway-Rockridge Shopping Center redevelopment project proposed at the corner of Broadway and Pleasant Valley Avenue (51st Street).

After public comment, commissioners will consider certifying the final environmental impact report (EIR) and approving city permits for the 15-acre project.

The commission meets at 6 p.m. in the City Hall council chambers at 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland. The Safeway project is the final item on the agenda. The meeting agenda and a staff report on the project are available on the City of Oakland website here.

DETAILS

According to a report by Oakland planning department staff, Safeway has made some changes to the final design for the shopping center redevelopment, which now totals nearly 331,000 square feet of commercial space. That's an increase of about 10,000 sf from the previous design and nearly double the amount of commercial space in the center currently.

No residential development is included, although some community members earlier urged Safeway to consider a mixed residential-commercial development.

The changes include a new location, closer to Broadway, for the entrance to a parking garage.

The project would require reducing Broadway from three lanes of traffic to two lanes in both directions between College Avenue and 49th Street, with a new traffic signal to allow left turns onto Broadway by drivers leaving the shopping center.

The staff report says the project is also expected to have impacts on traffic on Piedmont Avenue and Howe Street.

The plans call for 967 parking spaces at the shopping center, a roughly 50 percent increase from the existing 615 spaces. The spaces would be located at ground level, in a rooftop garage of the new Safeway supermarket and in a three-level parking garage above commercial spaces. Building height for the garage would be about 80 feet.

The project would be built in two phases over a period of about 20 months.

In the first phase, the existing CVS Pharmacy and nearby commercial space would be demolished and the new Safeway constructed in that location.

In the second phase, the existing Safeway store and nearby spaces would be demolished and replaced by new commercial space and parking.

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