Councilmember's Senior Housing Has No Fresh Air

Councilmember Quan and her developer, AMG & Associates from southern California, still want to stack 115 units five stories high right next to Interstate 580 at High Street. Laurel district merchants and neighbors issued this update:
  

This project is scheduled for hearing before the Oakland Planning Commission at 8 p.m., Wed., Sept. 19 at City Hall, Hearing Room One. Please write to the Planning Commissioners or better yet, come and speak against the project.

Here's why we continue to oppose it: 1. It is fundamentally a bad project for elderly people; and 2. It violates zoning by shoving a bad residential project into retail and by grossly exceeding the height restrictions with a horribly designed structure.

1. We now know that AMG admits there is a high risk of dangerous pollutants for the elderly because of the proximity of the freeway. Their solution? Hermetically seal the old folks into the building and use a filtration system. No open windows, no outdoor time for these poor residents!
2. AMG also now admits that the so-called shuttle service that would take elderly people across the four lanes of High Street for shopping will run maybe twice a week, and AMG is not committing to pay for the service, nor is anyone else.
3. Who wants to live right next to and above a freeway anyhow? For example, the nearby Lincoln Court elderly housing is sited far more appropriately and sensitively.

1. If the height variance and other permits are granted, they will set a bad legal precedent for the Laurel. We do not want tall buildings that belong downtown stuffed into our commercial area and backing into our modest homes where they will cut out light, views and in other ways degrade our neighborhood.
2. The Laurel merchants have paid out of their own pockets nearly half a million dollars in the last three years to bring beautiful public improvements to our retail area. The City should give far more consideration to their desires for developing the area than to a Los Angeles developer wanting to make money off inappropriately sited elderly housing.
3. Councilmember Jean Quan argues that this project will make a success of Laurel retail by bringing more elderly people. This just demonstrates why someone who has never run a business shouldn't tell business people what's good for them. The merchants have staked their personal assets on making a success of the Laurel, and they are doing very well without the assistance of Quan and her AMG Los Angeles connection.
4. Similarly, the argument that the land will be vacant forever because owner Hahn is asking too much money holds no water. Hahn shouldn't take our entire community hostage with the City's blessing by refusing to lower his price so that reasonable development can occur. The best way to handle a blackmailer is to say No and let him sit on his property as long as he likes, cleaning up the graffiti, paying the taxes, keeping it free of nuisance problems, etc. Those are his expenses, not ours.

If you need more information, feel free to contact our attorney, Leila H. Moncharsh, at (510) 482-0390 or by email at 101550@msn.com.

Quan-AMG Anti-Senior Project Dealt Heavy Blow

Councilmember Quan and her chosen developer for a senior housing project suffered a rare defeat at the Sept. 19 planning commission meeting.

The massive five-story, 115-unit building situated on High Street at Interstate 580, proposed by AMG of Encino, would offer senior residents no fresh air in a desperate attempt to overcome the fatal flaw of locating right next to a major freeway laden with vehicle pollution.

Commissioners, despite bowing to the questionable principle that Oakland must make way for almost any senior housing proposal, voted three to one that southern California developer AMG must fundamentally redesign the project and begin all over again at the Design Review committee. This is a step back from appearing before the full planning commission.

It was clear that AMG must 1) redesign the building so that more apartments are further away from the freeway and its pollution; 2) install and maintain both a central air filtration system and air conditioning; 3) ensure shuttle service for the resident seniors, with identified funding, so they can shop and meet their medical appointments.

The conditions arose out of analysis offered by Laurel merchants and residents, who overwhelmingly oppose the Quan-AMG proposal. Developer Alexis Gevorgian had the nerve to state that he had worked with the community for almost two years. The lawyer hired by Laurel merchants and residents, Leila Moncharsh, responded that she had had exactly one phone conversation with the developer's staff, trying without success to open a dialogue.

The planning commissioners' decision to send the project back to AMG for extensive improvement and then receive a revised proposal at the design review committee was a blow to councilmember Quan. At a Feb. 15 public meeting, Quan told the community that if the planning commission rejected the application, the developer would appeal to the city council, and she would push it through. (Listen to her remarks, 22 seconds) If the commissioners had rejected the project outright, it would have gone straight to Quan's comforting hands.

Readers' Comments

AMG's comments that the Laurel business district really has little to offer – but AMG's oversized, non-conforming project would be a benefit – belie the merchants' work and investment over the past 15 years, starting with the zoning designation, the new businesses coming in, the retention of major anchors (one of the few retail areas to keep its Albertson's/Lucky store), and the beautification projects. In fact, this October 6 the Laurel will once more see a collaborative effort of merchants, property owners, neighbors, and customers in a day of dirt and plants when Laurel District Association delivers 40 more planters for placement.

Maureen Dorsey, DVM
Secretary/Treasurer and Land Use Committee Chair
Laurel District Association

Also, beware the "central air filtration system and air conditioning." That's what enabled the camel's nose of the Little Belmont Law (fortunately failed), which would have required that all new apartment construction forbid residents to smoke in their own homes, on the rationale that everyone in the multi-unit complex was inescapably forced to breathe the same air.

Do not allow the construction of multi-unit buildings without a dedicated filtration and air conditioning system for each unit, and do not allow the construction of any buildings whose windows don't open. Let people control their own air.

Mary Eisenhart