Residents associated with Friends of Moraga Canyon have been developing an alternative concept for Blair Park.  The Alternative Plan was initially presented to the City Clerk on December 1, 2010 as a Comment to the Moraga Canyon EIR.  A more recent version of the Alternative Plan was submitted to PCA for publication and is reprinted below.  It incorporates several revisions not contained in the original Comment to the Council.

An EIR Comment by William Blackwell to the Council Proposing an Alternative Blair Park Plan, with Scale Drawing:

PROPOSED BLAIR PARK PROJECT ALTERNATIVE

1. Delete the smaller  proposed sports fields and downsize the larger.
2. Widen portions of Moraga Avenue where needed to permit on-street curb parking in lieu of on-site parking lots and access roads. See drawing.
3. Delete as unneeded the pedestrian bridge and elevator linking the sports field to Coaches Field.
4. Improve the balance of the site as an active year-round park and recreation area.

This is a less intense option that partially meets the project objective. > Click to read more…

A letter from Kathleen Quenneville, a Piedmont resident, on good governance and gifts:

I am writing to ask that the Council not certify the Environmental Impact Report for Moraga Canyon at its December 6 meeting. Regrettably, what should be an adult conversation has been turned into a circus by the proponents. > Click to read more…

A letter from a Piedmont resident on Blair Park on public access to future Blair Park facilities:

Last week’s Piedmonter article on the 11/17 Piedmont Recreation Commission (Rec. Comm.) meeting reported what many residents around Linda Beach, Witter Field and Dracena Park have experienced for a long time. Unscheduled use by out of town groups is a major, known and ongoing problem in Piedmont. The pick-up soccer games by adult males are so aggressive that families are afraid to come near the facilities when these games are in progress. > Click to read more…

Forty new pages of letters to the City Council on the Moraga Canyon Sports Field Draft EIR are now posted on the City’s website.  The letters vary from very detailed reasons why the EIR should or should not be certified to form letters with childrens’ names asking the Council to certify the EIR. The final EIR hearing will be held on December 6th at 7:30 p.m. in the Veteran’s Memorial Building at 401 Highland Avenue, Piedmont.

A letter from a Piedmont resident on Blair Park:

It’s a Gift!  I am concerned about the gifting of “exclusive use rights” of City owned public property to a private business. And is it legal? If it is . . . . > Click to read more…

A Letter from a Piedmont Resident on Blair Park:

The EIR as presented before [the City Council] cannot be certified. Specifically in my scoping and response letter, and public comments, I asked for:  (1) an examination of unscheduled use at existing fields and how that would relate to the proposal, and (2) the potential drain on police services, and (3) specific traffic issues first raised in the DEIR. I also raise the issue of pollution in this letter.  My comments were either > Click to read more…

The Piedmont City Council’s scheduled public hearing Monday evening, Nov. 15, 2010, on the Moraga Avenue Sports Fields became a pep rally event, as more than 300 adults, children and young people crowded into Veterans Hall.  Most came to voice  their support for the proposed sports complex at Blair Park. Although the agenda specified a public hearing on the “Moraga Canyon Sports Fields Environmental Impact Report (EIR) Response to Comments,” the majority of speakers focused on the need for more sports fields in Piedmont. > Click to read more…

On Monday, December 6, 2010 the City Council will hold a second and final Public Hearing on the Moraga Fields Project EIR Response to Comments prepared by LSA.  The Hearing will begin at 7:30pm in the Veterans Hall at 401 Highland Avenue.

Piedmonters emailed letters to the City Council in advance of the Monday, November 15, 2010 public hearing to consider the “Response to Comments” on the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Moraga Avenue proposals. Therese Franklin and Robert Blagden objected to

> Click to read more…

At the Nov. 1, 2010 City Council meeting, Piedmont resident, Rick Schiller questioned whether City Administrator Geoff Grote had violated the City Charter by amending a City contract prior to consideration by — and without authorization from— the City Council, as required by the Charter. > Click to read more…