BART has publicized another online open house for the Berkeley – El Cerrito corridor access study project. You can access the open house here until January 8.
The online open house contains a survey which we encourage you to fill out. The survey references a draft version of the access study, which is a 146 page PDF document.
It looks like many exciting options have been proposed, though the details regarding how and when they would be implemented are somewhat scarce. Check out page 11 of the PDF to see the list of recommended strategies, including some specific strategies identified for El Cerrito Plaza. Please provide input into the survey! You can reference any of our prior posts linked below for ideas and inspiration.
Plaza for the People asked several questions to the candidates running for El Cerrito City Council, and all three candidates gave us thoughtful responses. Please see the complete candidate responses, as well as links to additional candidate forums and resources here.
In this November’s election, El Cerrito has 3 candidates running for 2 seats on the City Council. Plaza for the People sent 6 questions to the candidates, and they all took the time to respond. We appreciate the time they spent on their thoughtful responses.
This election season, it turns out many differerent community groups and advocacy organizations have been asking questions regarding housing, transportation, and sustainability. The Sustainable Transportation Candidate Questionaire was developed by a dozen Bay Area advocacy groups and sent to candidates across the region. Local organizations such as El Cerrito Strollers and Rollers also asked questions of our local candidates. Contra Costa Television also hosted a candidate forum which you can view here. The whole forum is worth watching, but the El Cerrito Plaza BART TOD project is discussed starting at 12:10 in the video.
Please share this information with any interested El Cerrito voters.
Click a candidate’s name below to jump to their responses to our questions.
See her responses to the Sustainable Transportation Candidate Questionaire here. Below are her answers to our questions:
What are your goals for the El Cerrito Plaza BART station transit oriented development? How would you use your role on the City Council to achieve those goals? I support transit-oriented mixed-use development where ground-floor commercial space is likely to be rented, or residential or live-work units in areas where this is less likely. The ideal pattern of projects along these transit corridors and in transit nodes should be between four and seven stories (for the base project, not including density bonus), stepping back to a more neighborhood-scaled height and massing toward the rear of the parcel.
What would you propose to improve public safety for people walking/biking to and from the station, not just at the station, but also along the Ohlone Greenway and on nearby streets? My ideal vision would be removing a lane of parking on one or both sides of San Pablo, wherever feasible, and to upgrade the 72R bus rapid network from mere signal prioritization to full-on Bus Rapid Transit (particularly on those stretches of San Pablo that are most heavily impacted during rush hour), and to replace the lost lane of parking with a fully protected bike lane (this could be either a one way lane on both sides of San Pablo or a two-way lane on one side of the street, as is the case on Bancroft). San Pablo Avenue improvements are heavily dependent on buy-in from Caltrans and MTC (which is in the process of releasing a strategic plan for region-wide San Pablo Ave. upgrades). In my opinion, this process has been going too slowly and on occasion (as in the case of real-time signage on I-80 directing traffic to San Pablo Ave) actually going in the wrong direction. If elected, I will start addressing this issue on Day 1, and build a coalition of fellow elected officials who represent jurisdictions that include San Pablo Ave. I also hope to supplement these efforts with periodically evaluating if the El Cerrito San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan updated in 2021 is leading to desired outcomes and ensures that we have a consistent pattern of development and spot zoning is minimized or eliminated.
What would you do to ensure the City completes and implements a parking management plan to replace some of the patron parking that will be lost as the TOD development is built? Understanding that parking is very important to community members who travel into our city for work, I would instruct staff to research efforts by Cities across our state such as Huntington Park which have implemented successful TMP’s in partnership with their development departments. This will ensure that there is some parking still available for community members. This is also an opportunity to leverage the partnership between our two BART stations to make sure all parking needs are filled.
Proposals for inclusion of a library at the BART station require the City to identify and secure funding. What financing sources would you have the City pursue? Do you support a bond measure to build a new library there? I support El Cerrito pursuing a bond ballot initiative to fund this project. I do understand that bond rates have increased AND El Cerrito would need to have its bond rating updated, and will work hard towards that end on the Council. For inspiration we can look to cities like Berkeley and Oakland who have somewhat analogous affordable housing and infrastructure measures on the ballot. Financing through bonding is among the most equitable ways forward in pursuing a vital development like this project, which, when completed, will benefit the El Cerrito community for years to come.
What kinds of transit and other transportation improvements would you support for better access to/from the El Cerrito Plaza BART station? How should these improvements be funded? I support 21st century, out of the box approaches to transportation demand management on this highly congested corridor. I intend to work with stakeholder organizations like the Sierra Club and Bike East Bay about opportunities to achieve a real multimodal transportation system on this major transit corridor, which would align itself with a Sustainable Communities Strategy.
Updates to the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan have been in the works for a few years and the Draft Supplemental EIR was published this summer. Do you feel prepared to review and vote on the Plan? What information would you consider in your vote? I am currently reviewing the 409 page plan. As I am studying important items I am looking for are tied to the quality of life for our current community members as well as the ongoing development. Items of particular importance to me in rendering my decision include:
– air quality – emissions report – cultural and historical resources – socio-economic and health environment
As I study the plan, I am also looking at recent efforts in neighboring jurisdictions such as Albany and Berkeley to revise their respective San Pablo Corridor plans, to ensure that alignment takes place. Should I be elected to the Council, I will be ready to continue to take public input and vote on the Draft Supplemental EIR as it comes up.
See his responses to the Sustainable Transportation Candidate Questionaire here. Below are his answers to our questions:
What are your goals for the El Cerrito Plaza BART station transit oriented development? How would you use your role on the City Council to achieve those goals? I’ve been very supportive of transit-oriented development throughout my two terms on the El Cerrito City Council. I will continue to support housing and mixed-use development to lower the amount of cars coming into our city, protect our environment and provide affordable housing to our neighbors at our El Cerrito BART stations. We have two stations and should utilize this access as much as possible.
What would you propose to improve public safety for people walking/biking to and from the station, not just at the station, but also along the Ohlone Greenway and on nearby streets? Pedestrian and cyclist safety is a priority of mine. Our residents need to feel safe when they are on our roads. I’m committed to any and all safety measures that will mitigate traffic accidents, including additional signage, increased bike parking around the station and strengthening the use of buses to get to and from the station.
What would you do to ensure the City completes and implements a parking management plan to replace some of the patron parking that will be lost as the TOD development is built? Many of El Cerrito’s neighbors still drive vehicles, and as elected officials, we need to be mindful of that. While I strongly support the development at the El Cerrito BART station, I am also committed to ensuring that patrons who want to park their cars at the station won’t impact the neighborhoods around the stations. I am open to exploring a parking management plan to mitigate that, as well as increase public transit and alternative modes of transportation around the stations to mitigate the need for parking itself.
Proposals for inclusion of a library at the BART station require the City to identify and secure funding. What financing sources would you have the City pursue? Do you support a bond measure to build a new library there? El Cerrito passed a transfer tax (Measure V) to help fund the library at the station, but we need more funding to ensure that we build the library. I have very strong connections to regional and statewide leaders who can help identify funding to build the library. Our community deserves a 21st century library and I continue to be supportive of and all efforts to fund it.
What kinds of transit and other transportation improvements would you support for better access to/from the El Cerrito Plaza BART station? How should these improvements be funded? My strong connections to regional and statewide leaders as well as local transit agencies will help create a more streamlined process for getting buses and alternate modes of transit around our El Cerrito stations. Having coordinated efforts will ensure that bus services provide alternate routes to and from the stations as well as increased bike parking and walkable sidewalks. While this seems ambitious, I’m committed to seeing this through to fruition.
Updates to the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan have been in the works for a few years and the Draft Supplemental EIR was published this summer. Do you feel prepared to review and vote on the Plan? What information would you consider in your vote? The San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan is in conjunction with other municipalities and will only work if our cities are coordinating and cooperating together to make this a reality. I’m prepared to review this and caucus with fellow councilmembers and Mayors to get their input before making a final decision.
See her responses to the Sustainable Transportation Candidate Questionaire here. Below are her answers to our questions:
What are your goals for the El Cerrito Plaza BART station transit oriented development? How would you use your role on the City Council to achieve those goals? My overall goal for the Plaza BART development is to ensure it is built in a climate-friendly manner and to maximize its actual public benefit to the residents of El Cerrito. I have talked with many residents who are confused about what is happening with this project, and this concerns me, because the project’s ultimate success will depend on support and input from the community. As a City Councilmember I will encourage more public engagement in the planning process. I will do my best to ensure that the project adheres to LEED standards and includes at least 50% affordable/low-income housing, and that it offers these spaces first to local renters who will be at risk of displacement once this project is built and their rents start to go up. I will also advocate for including a public library, and numerous other public services – including a staffed bike station, coffee shop, tool lending library, public garden, art space, and skate park – and I am open to other ideas from community members for how to best serve them. I will also work to ensure that the street design surrounding the development adheres to “8-to-80” design principles (ensuring everyone aged 8 to 80 years old can safely navigate the street), and that any new parking is pre-wired for EV charging.
What would you propose to improve public safety for people walking/biking to and from the station, not just at the station, but also along the Ohlone Greenway and on nearby streets? I would look at re-striping the greenway to better accommodate the different needs and speeds of pedestrians and bicycles/scooters (particularly electrified micro-transport). I would like to see separated bike/scoot lanes for all main thoroughfares in El Cerrito (including Richmond, Fairmount, and Central Ave.). I will support bulb-outs and other traffic calming measures to improve pedestrian safety. I will work to plant more trees (which helps to slow traffic, on top of many other benefits), and to explore curbless street design (which, counter-intuitively, helps to slow traffic and improve pedestrian safety). I will also work with the county and neighboring cities to build permanent housing and provide mental health and substance abuse services for our unhoused neighbors.
What would you do to ensure the City completes and implements a parking management plan to replace some of the patron parking that will be lost as the TOD development is built? I will work with city management to ensure that the new transportation planner is experienced in traffic and parking management, and skilled at engaging with the public. I will work with BART and City management to ensure a robust public engagement process, in order to develop a parking management plan that works for ALL El Cerrito residents, including those who live nearby, and those who live in the hills and currently drive to BART. I will help local neighborhoods to keep the existing parking restrictions they have fought for. I will work with BART and local transportation equity groups like TransForm to ensure that the new development includes electric carshare for its residents, and EV Ready charging infrastructure in all new parking facilities. I believe that we need to transform our built environment to be less car-dependent, and also to transform our residents’ behavior – and I know from personal and professional experience that people need to feel a sense of agency, that they are being heard, and that there is ‘something in it’ for them before they are willing to change. I will work to create affordable, accessible, reliable, and sustainable alternatives to driving, to help solve our ‘last mile’ problem, so that BART’s ultra-low parking ratio doesn’t just result in more car congestion and instead makes it easier for everyone in El Cerrito to get around without a car.
Proposals for inclusion of a library at the BART station require the City to identify and secure funding. What financing sources would you have the City pursue? Do you support a bond measure to build a new library there? I come from a long line of librarians, and fully appreciate the value and many community benefits that a 21st century library would bring to our community. And, I am very concerned about our city’s current fiscal crisis, and what effect our current BBB- bond rating will have on our ability to finance a new library. I believe the first step is to create and make public an audited financial cost/benefit assessment of the cost to build the library at Plaza, as compared with building it in another location in El Cerrito. The original library bond measure failed because El Cerrito voters didn’t have confidence in what the bond would be paying for – or an adequate understanding of how much a new library might even cost. If, as seems likely, building at the Plaza location proves to be significantly cheaper than at other locations, I am in favor of a bond measure, assuming that we can raise our bond rating and that the cost of doing it soon at BART, at a higher rate of interest, is still less expensive than doing it later somewhere else. In any event, it will be essential for the public to understand what they are voting on, and this assessment needs to be done ASAP to meet the time window of the BART development.
What kinds of transit and other transportation improvements would you support for better access to/from the El Cerrito Plaza BART station? How should these improvements be funded? El Cerrito suffers from a ‘last mile’ problem, and I support the following measures to address it: – Expanding the Richmond Moves pilot program into El Cerrito – EV reach codes to ensure all new construction and significant retrofits include EV infrastructure – EV carshare – Publicly available micro-transit, including bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters. I believe we should take advantage of the many state and federal grants currently and soon to be available – especially funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The National EV Infrastructure formula program, for example, includes $5B in funding, the vast majority of which is for communities located within a mile of an interstate. El Cerrito qualifies and should be applying for these funds now via the CA Department of Transportation. I believe that a public-private partnership might be appropriate for launching new initiatives like micro-transit, but in the longer term, I believe these should be publicly-owned and run, possibly under the umbrella of WCCTAC.
Updates to the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan have been in the works for a few years and the Draft Supplemental EIR was published this summer. Do you feel prepared to review and vote on the Plan? What information would you consider in your vote? First and foremost, I would ensure a robust public engagement process and listen to the voiced concerns of the community. I have already scanned through the 2014 San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan, and I look forward to reading the (406 page!) Draft Supplemental EIR and Plan Update. In reviewing the Draft SEIR, I will consider the listed potential impacts, and the likelihood that they would be properly mitigated. In reviewing the Updated Plan, I will ensure that it continues to support the “complete streets” community vision articulated in the 2014 San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan: a vibrant, walkable, sustainable, and transit-oriented boulevard that respects surrounding neighborhoods and creates a virtuous cycle of local economic activity and investment. I will also look to see if existing zoning and parking requirements preclude new development on existing parking lots.
I believe that greening El Cerrito requires transforming San Pablo Avenue from a 20th century auto-based highway corridor into a 21st century civic boulevard. Specifically, that means implementing: – widened sidewalks to encourage pedestrian activity and enhanced place-making for local businesses; – protected bikeways to improve safety and encourage a transportation modal shift from automobiles to health- and environment-enhancing cycling; – mid-block crossings on large blocks to improve pedestrian flow; – Bus Rapid Transit with a dedicated lane, to encourage a transportation shift from automobiles to walking and public transit (by expediting transit travel times and frequency); – public art to increase civic pride and improve local place-making; – urban agriculture to increase local food security, strengthen biodiversity, and provide opportunities for community collaboration and engagement; – stormwater planters and bioswales to improve groundwater recharging, stormwater filtration and greening of the public space; – more street trees to improve air quality, slow traffic, and lower heat island effects; and – small, flexible, and affordable commercial spaces to support more small, locally-owned businesses – improving both economic vitality and civic pride.
The City of El Cerrito is hosting a joint meeting of the Planning Commission and Design Review Board on September 7 at 7:30pm, with the Plaza TOD being the sole agenda item. Please attend and make your voice heard during public comment.
Our detailed thoughts and feedback regarding the latest plans released by the development team: Click Here
Additionally, you can submit feedback regarding the project via the survey that is currently live. Please fill that out before September 10 at this link.
The El Cerrito Plaza Bart’s selected development team shared their updated vision for transforming surface parking lots into housing and public spaces in July 2022. We encourage you to view the latest plans here.
The development team also has a survey online where you can give feedback for each page in their plan documents. The survey can be found here, and we hope you fill it out!
Besides filling out the survey, you can also give your feedback at an upcoming City of El Cerrito joint meeting between the Planning Commission and Design Review Board on September 7. The meeting is virtual (zoom link here), and the meeting packet is linked here.
Plaza for the People has been advocating for the El Cerrito Plaza BART station to become a vibrant center with mixed-income housing, commerce, and public spaces that enhance the existing neighborhood and furthers the Plaza’s potential to serve as a community-gathering hub for all. We’ve previously shared our site design ideas and inspiration, as well as our thoughts regarding station access and parking.
Overall, we are excited by the plans shared thus far by the development team. The plans as designed would create a significant number of new homes in a tremendously walkable and transit-rich location, with many of the homes being below market rate. The site plans include a plaza area, cafe, and a beautiful new library for El Cerrito. The site plans also include elements intending to improve station access by all modes of transportation.
While the plans are a great start, we have some suggestions for the development team that we feel could further enhance the site. We hope you find our summaries and suggestions helpful as you provide feedback and comments to the development team.
HOUSING
Plaza for the People believes in housing for all, with market rate and affordable housing, units of all sizes for singles, families, and households of all types.
On page B1-1, the development team has stated there will be 750-800 homes on the site. This is a significant amount of housing units delivered steps from BART, which we find very exciting.
47% of the proposed homes will be below market rate, which is a higher proportion than required by state legislation and significantly higher than the City’s inclusionary housing requirements. While the exact mix isn’t known yet, 35% will likely have “lower income” rents with a range of roughly $700 – $1,450 for a 1-bedroom and $900 – $1,850 for a 2-bedroom. Another 12% will have “moderate income” or “middle income” rents with a range of roughly $2,100 – $2,600 for a 1-bedroom and $2,500 – $3,150 for a 2-bedroom.
Much of El Cerrito’s housing was built decades ago. This project will represent one of the largest increases in affordable housing in El Cerrito’s history, which is a great accomplishment. The below chart is from a city presentation regarding El Cerrito’s housing element process.
While most funding programs favor cost-effective, 100% affordable buildings that make possible much deeper affordability than including affordable units in a market-rate building, the development team has taken care to situate market rate buildings next to below market rate and to build both in each phase of the project. We hope that the building exteriors are similar as well.
The proposed building heights of 5-7 stories make good use of the BART station and are similar to some of the nearby new San Pablo Ave developments. Still unknown is the mix of housing types (studios, 1BR, 2BR, 3BR, etc.). It’s also unknown if the market-rate homes will be rentals or if any will be sold as condos.
COMMUNITY GATHERING HUB
Plaza for the People believes in a vibrant destination where the broader community can gather and enjoy. We envision pedestrian-friendly spaces where people can explore, congregate, relax, shop, dine, and play.
In the latest development plan document, sections B2-2, B2-3, and B5-1 highlight open space, plazas, and ground floor site plans. The community hub is centered around Fairmount Avenue.
While the plans indeed are exciting and would transform the current space, we have some suggestions for the development team:
The plans currently only feature a small cafe along with the library for public amenities along Fairmount Ave. Moreover, the cafe and library are not adjacent. The plans also contain multiple residential lobbies and amenities along Fairmount, which would not be accessible to the public. We would like to see additional restaurants / bars / other commercial spaces along Fairmount, with residential amenities moved off of Fairmount. If space for parking in the building is reduced, and/or if the building is widened, that should free up space to relocate the residential amenities elsewhere in the building and off of Fairmount Ave.
The city should continue to ask El Cerrito Plaza shopping center businesses to reopen their doors on the Fairmount side of the buildings.
We believe the new library may be more ideally located at the corner of Fairmount and Liberty. The Fairmount and Liberty location, which has more street frontage, may be more conducive to quickly dropping off and picking up books (or people). In the currently proposed location, the library is somewhat tucked away from streets.
Consider integrating a tot lot into the design, though it should be separated from Ohlone Greenway bike traffic.
STATION ACCESS / TRANSPORTATION
Plaza for the People believes that the station should be accessible to all, encouraging walking, biking, and public transportation. The development plan documents discuss station access in sections B3-1 and B3-2.
We believe that less resident automobile parking is possible. This location supports a lifestyle without car ownership. With car-share and a designated ride-share pickup zone, people can access cars when they need them.
Our specific thoughts on car parking / car infrastructure are as follows:
With a parking management program that manages street and existing parking lot spots, we can reduce onsite BART parking to just ADA and staff.
The City of El Cerrito should develop a detailed parking management plan that demonstrates how and where people can still park nearby if they want to.The current documents only show a small shaded map. Nearby residents should also understand how the residential parking permit program will work. Importantly, the documents indicate that residents in the new buildings will not have on-street residential parking permits, and therefore will not be competing with existing neighborhood residents or BART commuters for street parking.
In the developer documents, the Fairmount Ave curb uses in section B3-2 did not appear to match the road diagrams in section B3-1. Specifically, the road diagrams suggest there will be parallel parking along the Fairmount, Liberty, Central, and Richmond St perimeter, but the curb use diagram suggests mainly passenger and commercial loading areas. We hope the development team can better articulate their curb use plan.
The loading zones can be further clarified. Which garage or service areas will allow for loading / deliveries?
Any parking that exists should provide spaces for micro-mobility, motorcycles, scooters, and other smaller vehicles.
We appreciate the complete streets vision for the area, including the protected bike lanes proposed on Central Ave. That said, we have the following additional suggestions regarding bicycle / pedestrian infrastructure:
What connections can be made with the Plaza shopping center? Can access to the Plaza entrance be improved for people walking from the BART station or biking from north of the station?
Can Liberty St bike infrastructure be enhanced, to connect the Central Ave bike lanes to the Plaza shopping and Fairmount plaza area?
As the centerpiece for El Cerrito’s new downtown, the Fairmount Ave street design needs to be reconsidered.
The proposed 16.5 foot travel lane eastbound (sheet B3-1) is very wide. This exceeds any lane widths that even Caltrans prefers for highways. The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) street design guide states “Travel lane widths of 10 feet generally provide adequate safety in urban settings while discouraging speeding. Cities may choose to use 11-foot lanes on designated truck and bus routes.”
In addition, the proposed plan removes the median, which along with the wide lane might increase average speeds on the street.
Slimming down the traffic lanes offers an opportunity to keep the Fairmount street median and add a bike lane eastbound. If this lane continues to the Ohlone Greenway, cyclists can make an easy right turn to head south.
One possibility for a reconfigured Fairmount Ave is in this diagram. If an additional bike lane can also be added westbound, all the better.
Site plans should show increased securebicycle parking locations throughout the site. The bicycle parking currently showed appears to be inadequate, especially in the library area. Secure bicycle parking should also be available in any residential vehicle parking garages.
The area encompassed by Fairmount Ave, Richmond St, Ohlone Greenway, Central Ave, and the BART station will have many walkers, cyclists, and motorists intersecting. Everyone entering this area should be encouraged to slow down and be attentive to others traveling by other means. While we’ll leave the specific implementation to the design and engineering team, we would imagine a solution could include elements such as signage, speed tables, bollards, and/or lane markings.
For additional thoughts and concise survey talking points, please see what has been suggested from the El Cerrito Strollers and Rollers community group at this link.
Mark your calendar to attend the Design Review Board / Planning Commission Meeting on the evening of September 7. Then add your voice to the discussion during public comment. See the meeting packet at this link.
Share this blog post with your friends and neighbors and encourage them to make their voice heard!
BART recently announced that an open house will be taking place at the Plaza BART station in between Central Ave and the north turnstiles. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, July 20, between 4:00 – 6:30pm. According to BART, the development team will be presenting their latest design concepts for the site. Additionally, staff will be on hand to discuss station access strategies.
If you will be coming or going from the station at this time, please check it out! If you live locally and can stop by, please do so and provide your feedback and ideas.
If you are seeking talking points / ideas to suggest, please see some of our past content:
We have a once in a generation opportunity to transform the El Cerrito Plaza BART station into a vibrant gathering hub with mixed-income housing, shops, restaurants, and public spaces. A thoughtful plan will enhance and serve the existing neighborhood residents as well as the broader community, which relies on BART and surrounding amenities and services. To accomplish this, BART and the City of El Cerrito need to take an “all of the above” strategy to station access so that the need for driving and parking is minimized.
We have created a petition to the BART Board and the El Cerrito City Council asking them to take action to ensure we address our climate and housing emergencies. While the petition text spells out all of the actions we are asking of the Board and City Council, one key point is our belief that any need for BART rider parking should be handled by the City managing parking on surrounding streets, and not by building parking on BART property. This goes hand in hand with BART and the City making it as safe and convenient as possible to access BART via walking, biking / rolling, and public transportation.
With the actions we are proposing, residents of the transit oriented development will be less likely to own cars, BART riders will be more likely to access the station without driving, and surrounding streets will have sufficient parking available for local residents as well as the BART riders whose personal circumstances necessitate that they drive and park.
BART recently publicized some new public input opportunities related to the Berkeley – El Cerrito corridor access study project. There are some Zoom office hours, as well as a new survey in an “online open house”.
Plaza for the People is still trying to assess what has been proposed, as the online open house website doesn’t list many tangible specifics as it relates to the El Cerrito Plaza station. In the meantime, we encourage everyone to review the materials for yourselves and participate in some upcoming public input opportunities:
Wednesday April 27, 5-6pm: Zoom office hours, topic is “Parking management around El Cerrito Plaza station”. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7888271878
Wednesday May 4 and Thursday May 5, 5-6pm: Zoom office hours, topic is “General access strategies for all stations”.
We hope to learn more details regarding the list of strategies under consideration. From initial review, we are concerned by the lack of protected bike lanes being proposed. We hope the corridor access study continues to leave no stone unturned in pursuing an “all of the above” strategy.
Previous thoughts on station access can be found here:
On October 28, the BART board met, and the El Cerrito Plaza Transit Oriented development was on the agenda. This time, the boare was to vote whether or not to adopt the goals and objectives for the station, including defining a range in the number of replacement parking spaces that should be included onsite.
The video of this agenda item can be viewed here, with this agenda item happening at the 2 hour 30 minute mark of the meeting.
(As an aside, it is particularly difficult for members of the public to participate in BART board meetings, as they occur during weekdays, and your agenda item of interest might come up when you have to do school drop offs / pick ups or be at work, etc.)
During their presentation, staff recommended a replacement parking range of 100 to 250 spaces. What was a surprise to many of us in the Plaza for the People community was the minimum of 100 spaces. For us, if BART can enable its riders to access the station without any replacement parking, that would better enable our vision for this Plaza station area to fulfill its potential as El Cerrito’s downtown and community destination.
Staff justified the 100 minimum spaces by recent data indicating 13% of current drive and park riders would need to continue driving and parking due to mobility challenges.
Of note is that the 13% figure is much higher than the 2019 survey which said only 3% of drivers needed to park due to mobility challenges.
BART Board Vice-President Rebecca Saltzman made a motion to lower the minimum to 60 spaces, with Director Janice Li offering an additional amendment to not set any minimum, and only set a maximum of 250 spaces. In a victory for the potential of this transit oriented development, the amended motion passed unanimously!
Now things shift to BART staff and the City of El Cerrito. They must work together to ensure that we are doing everything we can to get BART riders to the station without needing to drive. This means we need a clear commitment from the City of El Cerrito to create a managed parking program for the thousands of spaces that surround the station. We also need to see protected bike lanes on Central Avenue and/or Fairmount St, both for those coming from west of San Pablo Ave, as well as for those coming from the hills to the east. And we need to look at all options for bus/shuttle, for scooter/e-bike rentals, autonomous vehicles, and everything in between. These options need to move from the theoretical to a reality, so that when BART needs to decide on the final replacement parking number, the board can feel confident with having no replacement parking onsite, aside from ADA and BART maintenance / staff needs. If there truly is $40 million available for access improvements, let’s see those dollars to go eliminate the need for any replacement parking at all.
What can members of the community do?
Send an email thanking the BART board members for their votes to not set any parking minimum:
BoardofDirectors@bart.gov
Rebecca.Saltzman@bart.gov
Janice.Li@bart.gov
Speak out at the upcoming El Cerrito City Council meeting on November 2 during the opening public comment time, asking the city to start working with BART right now to design the managed parking program, and to put in protected bike lanes in the east-west direction to improve access to BART.
The BART board will be meeting this Thursday 10/28, starting at 9am. The BART El Cerrito Plaza TOD will be on the agenda. More specifically, the board will be deciding on the what range of BART passenger replacement parking spaces will be built on the BART property. Staff has recommended a range of 100-250 spaces.
We hope as many people as possible will call into the meeting and speak out in favor of as low of a parking minimum as possible, ideally even lower than 100. Some talking points you can use include:
We wish for the El Cerrito BART station to become a vibrant center with mixed-income housing, commerce, and public spaces that enhance the existing neighborhood and furthers the Plaza’s potential to serve as a community-gathering hub for all.
The City of El Cerrito already has thousands of on-street parking spaces within walking distance of hte station, and the city has expressed its desire to pursue an on-street managed parking program. BART should work cooperatively with the city to help establish that program.
150 parking spaces would cost 12 million dollars to build, benefitting about 150 daily riders. That same 12 million dollars could go towards bike, pedestrian, and other multimodal access enhancements, benefitting thousands of daily riders.
Therefore, we wish for BART to set the minimum parking space count at 0, aside from ADA passengers.
You are also encouraged to email the BART board directly at BoardOfDirectors@bart.gov, as well as board.meeting@bart.gov with subject line “Public Comments Agenda #7A”
For more of our thoughts on this issue with additional detail and talking points, please see our prior post here:
Plaza for the People 