Oaklanders Weigh In on Blair Park

There’s one chapter, at least, devoted to Oakland in the book of the Piedmont City Council session Monday-Tuesday.

The council, by a 4-1 vote, gave a tentative go-ahead for a plan to build an athletic field in Blair Park, which is in a northern corner of Piedmont skirting Oakland neighborhoods.

Oakland City Councilwoman Libby Schaaf, who represents the Montclair area just east of Piedmont, was among the dozens of speakers who filled out a card to address the Piedmont council.

She thanked Piedmont Mayor Dean Barbieri and Administrator Geoff Grote for meeting with Oakland residents recently to discuss the Blair Park plans.

Then she moved to her point: “Though it has an admirable purpose, I continue to be opposed to this project in this place.” She said the original Environment Impact Report was insufficient, adding that the current project is different from the one in the EIR.

“There is concern about the hydrology report, the impacts of water that flows through both of our cities,” said Schaaf.

The insufficiency of the EIR was also on the mind of Eric Angstadt, the deputy director of the Oakland Deputy Community and Economic Development Agency, who faxed an official letter over Monday for the Piedmont record. Angstadt also cited inadequate consideration of traffic mitigation measures and hydrology issues.

Angstadt said the city of Oakland supports the rejection of a Blair Park plan by the Piedmont Planning Commission Feb. 24, writing, “The project is too large for the site, particularly as it relates to the positioning of the full-sized soccer field, which requires an unnecessarily high retaining wall at the south property line and an unnecessarily high retaining wall and berm too close to the south property line on Moraga Avenue."

Angstadt concluded by looking forward to the two cities working together to address concerns.

West Oakland resident Alice Monroe cited earlier speakers who had urged Piedmont youth sports advocates to cast a wider net for practice field options, such as at Laney College in Oakland.

Monroe, a baseball umpire herself, noted that the PRFO plans for the Blair Park included a snack bar. That, she said, indicates someone is thinking of being a host field for a tournament. She said that might be more big-time than Blair Park and Piedmont are ready for.

“It looks like a circus after a tournament,” said Monroe.

She said Piedmont kids should play and practice on West Oakland fields. Although the West Oakland fields are “tatty,” Monroe said, “you should play baseball in flat places. Keep trees in canyons where they belong.”

Jim Semitekol, president of Friends of Moraga Canyon, told the council that there were many Oakland residents among the more than 700 people who signed a petition against the Blair Park project for safety and environmental reasons.

Several speakers for Piedmont Recreational Facilities Organization, the non-profit group advocating and pledging to pay for the cost of the Blair Park project, noted that it wasn’t a healthy environmental solution for so many soccer (and baseball) moms to be driving kids to practices in Oakland and Alameda.

“We have a great base of support by people all over Piedmont, and a lot of Oakland residents, too,” said Jessica Berg, president of PRFO.