The reaction of the Oakland NIMBYs to the project is completely predictable. Particularly when you consider it's at the top of Coltart Street, which is well-known as having a high concentration of old-time homeowner occupants compared to the rest of Oakland who are highly organized. I'll never understand how - in a neighborhood which is probably 90%+ renter occupied - they have so much friggin pull, but whatever.
It's the hostile stance that the OPDC has taken that just has me scratching my head, as projects of similar scale in the same general area have either sailed through or met limited resistance. It makes me wonder if - similar to the fiasco with Penn Plaza and ELDI - OPDC just felt like they had to take an anti-development stance for once in order to still be seen as legitimate in the eyes of the (NIMBY) community.
Edit: I should also note this fight comes at a bad time, because the city is considering an overlay for the Forbes-Fifth corridor, with the presumed eventual goal of replacing the existing zoning, and all of the impetus appears to be on downzoning, rather than upzoning.
Last edited by eschaton; Aug 17, 2019 at 8:27 PM.
|