Neighbors Still Critical of New Safeway Plan, Commissioners Say It's Getting Closer

Neighbor after neighbor spoke out Tuesday night against aspects of Safeway's new proposals for development of its Solano Avenue store, though there was agreement that the plans are an improvement over earlier attempts.

Planning & Zoning commissioners said the plans show promise, but that the grocery store needs to continue thinking about how to address traffic and circulation concerns.

Safeway presented the plans to the Traffic & Safety Commission last week.

A plan entitled "Site Plan Option A," which seemed to garner the most support, includes a large opening for big rig trucks on Neilson Street, and vehicle entrances from Curtis Street and Neilson into a garage below the store.

Many neighbors voiced a preference to have primary entrances for trucks and customer vehicles on Solano. But they said they were concerned there wasn't enough parking included in the plans, which would lead to congestion on residential streets.

Commissioner Andrea Gardner said neighbors couldn't have it both ways. Given the size of the store Safeway hopes to build, moving vehicle access onto Solano will limit on-site parking because large ramps will be needed to provide access to an underground garage.  Entrances further south, closer to homes, would allow for more parking because of smaller ramps.

"All else considered, this (option) 'A' may represent the best truck access," said Commissioner Andrea Gardner, chair of the group. "But any of the things you're asking for in circulation are going to decrease parking inside the garage. There's going to be a trade-off there. When you max out parking spaces to minimize impact on streets, you're pushing the entrances to the residences. You're not going to get maximum parking and perfect circulation."

Some neighbors said that, though option A seemed the most feasible, there wasn't anything good to compare it with, as the other two options the store presented did not seem to offer workable solutions. These options involve trucks backing down Solano then reversing into a loading zone on the west side of the lot, near Curtis.

"I just really would doubt the commission would consider having a big rig truck back down Solano and make a backward turn into the Safeway lot," said Linda Hsu, who lives on Neilson. "I'm surprised to see it on paper. It just doesn't seem like anything anyone would consider."

Josh Fox, who lives on Curtis, told the commission he thought the plan is "a long way from a project that's workable given the constraints on our neighborhood."

Curtis Street resident Ric Prindle said he didn't like the idea of a new cafe at Safeway, because it could take business away from local shops that "deserve Albany's support."

"Otherwise this is the best I've seen from the architects and the planners," he said.

Albany resident Brian Parsley said the plan was "a good idea," and that neighbors needed to accept that they live next to a business district. 

"Safeway has been here since 1929 and it has served this community well," he said. "The street is public parking....It's open to the public. You border a business district. It's the nature of the beast."

Commissioner Peter Maass said moving the main vehicle entrances onto Solano would lessen the benefits of moving the store up to the street. The goals of shifting the store further north include a more developed urban landscape and better access for bicycles and pedestrians. 

"This is going to take awhile for me to figure out what is going to work the best or what I'm most in favor of," he said. "Right now I'm still kind of open to a lot of ideas. There's pluses and minuses in these three plans that have come up."

Commissioner David Arkin reminded the group how far the discussion has come since it began; the project has been in the works for five years. He said many good ideas arose in the meeting, including a bicycle ramp from the street into the garage. He said parking on Solano could be increased by placing spots at a 60-degree angle, and suggested a right-turn-only  entrance into the garage from Neilson, and a right-turn-only exit onto Curtis. 

He said it would be important for planners to have a thoughtful approach to "congestion management" so trucks waiting to get into the loading area wouldn't stack up, idling, on nearby streets.

Commissioner Leo Panian said he'd like to see a combination of the three newest options. 

"Somewhere in there is a hybrid that has a possibility," he said. "Maybe (option) 'C' is you get in and out via Solano.... That sort of starts to respond seriously to all of these things…. It poses some constraints on the retail area. But I think taking those drives out of the side streets, if you can make something like that work, there's a potential compromise."