How does the City Council plan to oversee the use of the City owned property at 801 Magnolia Avenue?

While seniors decry the lack of senior programing and voice a need for a Senior Center in Piedmont, private business use has taken priority over public use limiting public use.

Approval of a new lease with the Art Center Board indicates various Council policies are needed:

• Policy decision authority retained by the Council, the ultimate landlord
• Guaranteed inclusion rather than exclusion of legitimate non-profit uses of the facility 
• Council oversight of compliance by all users with local, state, and federal laws including: municipal, state, federal taxes, 501c3 non-profit status, workers compensation, ADA compliance, anti-discrimination, incorporation documentation, valid business licenses and  prohibition of political activities on the premises
• Accounting of space utilization and ongoing consideration of lost City revenue
• Evaluation and accountability of liability, risks, and costs to the City by each user and provision of appropriate insurance coverages
  
• Semi-annual reports to Council on diversity of users, uses, financial statements, compliance with City policies, and City obligations
• Staff Annual reports to Council on building structural integrity, safety measures, maintenance, ADA compliance, and interior and exterior upkeep expenditures
• Required Council approval for all commercial subleases extending over two weeks
• Council adoption of written conditions required for all sublets 
• Prohibition of Art Center Board members and advisors to sublet the property for more than two weeks per year
• Prompt staff reports to Council concerning issues arising from the lease or sublets 
• Public access to financial records, board meetings, and minutes of Art Center Board
• Adoption of comprehensive Council policies governing the use and rental of all Piedmont public properties

Piedmonters, owners of 801 Magnolia Avenue, have been awaiting invitations to observe Board meetings and receive regular financial reports from their tenant.  The Piedmont Center for the Arts Board is composed of well-meaning, generous, local residents of Piedmont and Oakland who may have overlooked their obligation to keep Piedmont citizens informed in a transparent manner of the use of this important public asset.

The following link is for the video of the Linda Beach Phase I Master Plan meeting held on Saturday March 6. Click below.

Linda Beach Phase I Master Plan Virtual  Neighborhood Meeting Recording

Rick Schiller writes: “Above is the link to the March 6, 2021 City webinar concerning Phase I of the Linda Beach Master Plan. Phase I is about obtaining grant funding for the bathrooms, play area behind the bathrooms and the area next to and under the Oakland Avenue Bridge.  At 39:30 in the tape there is reference to pickleball that goes to about 44:00. My sense is that City Staff are aware of the presence and growth of Pickelball; the consultant dismissed pickleball stating the decision had been made to incorporate Bocce instead. I believe Linda Beach is the only available space in town for dedicated pickleball courts and not just dual-use tennis courts which require daily pickleball net setup and breakdown.”

Linda Beach Park Item: #5 on Recreation Commission meeting March 17, 2021.  Click agenda link below:

March Recreation Commission Meeting  Agenda March 17, 2021

2021 Design Awards Presentation Ceremony on March 8, 2021

Each year, the City of Piedmont Planning Commission hosts a Design Awards program to recognize design projects completed in the past year. Awards are given to the property owners of projects that not only meet Piedmont’s design and planning guidelines, but exemplify excellence in design.

Design awards will be presented for the following categories:

Excellence in Accessory Dwelling Unit Design               778 Kingston Avenue

Excellence in Historic Restoration                                 55 Craig Avenue

Excellence in a Seamless Addition                                 457 Mountain Avenue

Excellence in Outdoor Living Design                             20 Greenbank Avenue

and Landscaping

Excellence in Architecturally Consistent Design             46 Nace Avenue

Excellence in Integrated Indoor/Outdoor Design            135 Requa Road

The City of Piedmont will host a virtual Design Awards Ceremony on Monday, March 8, 2021 starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Planning Commission meeting. The virtual Planning Commission meeting will be held on Zoom. Anyone interested in celebrating excellence in architectural design is welcome to attend.

To attend the virtual ceremony, please use one of the following methods:

• Computer or smart phone: Click on https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88479798987
• Computer or smart phone: Click on https://piedmont.ca.gov/government/meeting_videos and select the Planning Commission meeting
• Telephone: Dial (669) 900-9128 and enter webinar/meeting number 884-7979-8987
• Television: Watch on KCOM, Comcast Channel 27 or AT&T UVerse Channel 99

– Click below for photos –

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/scte31rpctwp342/AADTfJTAEaIOATH8wTIHhN6Fa?dl=0

For more information about the Design Awards, please contact Assistant Planner Steven Lizzarago at 510-420-3094 or at slizzarago@piedmont.ca.gov.

Learn about the Linda Beach Park Master Plan and Proposition 68 grant opportunities.

The City of Piedmont needs your ideas for potential California Playscape volunteer projects!

VIRTUAL NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 2021

10-11 AM https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89959577946

Call-in: +1 (669) 900 9128; Meeting ID: 89959577946

For more information contact: Nancy Kent at nkent@piedmont.ca.gov

LindaBeach Virtual Meeting Flier

Piedmont Police Department Press Release –

On February 18, 2021, a jury found Christopher Ware guilty of second degree robbery with personal
use of a firearm, an additional second degree robbery, identity theft, possession of a firearm as a
convicted felon and several other firearms and ammunition offenses.

On July 10, 2020, the defendant followed the victim (a 76 year old woman) from an In-N-Out in East
Oakland to her home in Piedmont. When the victim parked in front of her house, the defendant
forced her driver’s door open and robbed her at gunpoint. The defendant fled the area in his white
Lexus RX300. The victim was able to provide a limited description of the suspect, his vehicle and
the handgun he used. Also, City of Piedmont license plate readers and public safety cameras
recorded the defendant’s vehicle driving behind the victim into Piedmont city limits minutes before
the robbery. This information was shared with other law enforcement agencies in the area.

On July 31, 2020, Oakland Police officers noticed the defendant on Douglas Avenue in Oakland.
Officers watched the defendant get into the driver’s seat of his white Lexus RX300 and detained him
before he could drive away. Officers found an unregistered and loaded black Smith & Wesson .45
caliber handgun next to the driver’s seat. The handgun had multiple distinctive markings on it
consistent with what the Piedmont victim described.

This is another example of the successful collaboration between local law enforcement and the
District Attorney’s office combined with the use of technology to apprehend the suspect in these
crimes.

Anyone with additional information and/or inquiries related to this case are asked to please contact
Detective Jeff Spranza or John Lagios at (510) 420-3013.

Nomination period for Piedmont’s Heritage Tree program is now open !

• the grove of Eastern Redbuds at the west end of Piedmont Park off Wildwood, nominated by Lisa Kieraldo;
• the massive Coast Redwood growing in front of 71 Hazel Lane, nominated by Cindy Rafton;
• the four evergreen Dogwoods that frame the City Hall entrance, nominated by Bobbe Stehr and Mark Enea;
• the reclining Coast Live Oak in Piedmont Park, nominated by Will, Finn, and Max Brumfiel;
• the dense grove of 18 Coast Redwoods in the traffic triangle at Wildwood, Nova and Magnolia, nominated by Gail Lombardi and Claire Faughnan;
• the Coast Redwood outside Community Hall (used as the annual holiday tree), nominated by Sue Herrick and Cameron Wolfe;
• a group of ten Highland Poplars behind Exedra Plaza, nominated by Jim Horner;
• a row of seven Dawn Redwoods growing in the former quarry at Dracena Park, nominated by Lyle Gordon;
• and the Southern Magnolia in the median triangle at Lexford and Hampton, nominated by Betsy Goodman.

>Nomination Form

  Nomination Forms are also available on the City’s website: https://piedmont.ca.gov/cms/one.aspx?portalId=13659823&pageId=17431167

For more information, please contact:

Nancy Kent at nkent@piedmont.ca.gov

or 510-420-3064.

Planning and Building News:

Nicole Finley

I am writing to urge you to renew the lease for the Piedmont Center for the Arts. In a community that prides itself on promoting culture and the arts in our school curriculum, it seems inconceivable that the city council might not renew the Center’s lease.

Over the years and with countless numbers of tireless volunteers, the Piedmont Center for the Arts has become a venue for world class musical events.  It has enabled our residents to enjoy outstanding concerts without fighting the traffic and parking we face going into San Francisco and Berkeley.   Celebrated musicians from renowned companies have spoken of the venue’s lovely space, its stellar acoustics, and the magnificent Steinway piano.

The Center has become a jewel in the crown that is Piedmont, and it saddens me to think of this almost sacred space being used as a community center.  Do not let this cultural treasure slip away.  Please renew their lease.

Thank you,