The A’s pitch for a new waterfront ballpark district at Howard Terminal in West Oakland has checked off another necessary milestone.
On Wednesday, the Oakland Planning Commission unanimously voted 6-0 in favor of recommending that the Oakland City Council approve the final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Howard Terminal project. An important binding EIR vote from the Oakland City Council could occur in February.
Oakland city staff published the final version of the 3,500-page EIR in December, responding to more than 400 public comments about the Howard Terminal project. The EIR provides a thorough framework for the ballpark district and how it will affect the surrounding area’s population, traffic, environment, wildlife, etc. Oakland and the A’s are still negotiating the financials and other details for the $6 billion proposal behind closed doors. At full buildout, the proposed district will feature a privately-financed $1 billion, 34,000-seat ballpark, 3,000 residential units, high-rise hotels, commercial space, 18 acres of public parks and potentially a 3,500-seat performing arts center.
In essence, the Oakland Planning Commission provided a first round of vetting for the comprehensive EIR document. Wednesday’s affirmative vote cuts another piece of red tape from the bureaucratic slog.
A’s president Dave Kaval joined ABC7’s Casey Pratt Thursday to share his thoughts on Wednesday’s voting results from the Oakland Planning Commission.
“The fact that we’re taking binding votes now is a major accomplishment,” Kaval told Pratt. “The fact that we have an EIR that’s so positively put together and positively received by the experts of the commission. I think we’re in a very good spot. We’re in that last quarter of the race.”
Now the EIR is kicked to the eight-person Oakland City Council, which voted 6-1 in favor (with one abstention) of a term sheet proposed by city staff last July 20, though the A’s were unhappy with the version of the term sheet voted on. Kaval told the San Francisco Chronicle’s Sarah Ravani that the A’s and Oakland are meeting “multiple times a week to negotiate final terms.” Oakland has enlisted the help of Alameda County and said it has tapped into federal funds to help levy the costs of the necessary off-site infrastructure for the project.
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So, the EIR is progressing through the necessary hoops and it sounds like the business details are being figured out for the terms of eventual development agreement. But there are still plenty more bureaucratic steps that are needed to make this project a reality.
Pratt shared a slide from City Planner Peter Vollman’s presentation Wednesday that laid out the next entitlement milestones that could occur in 2022:
-- City Council considers final EIR and jurisdictional legislation (perhaps mid-February)
-- Planning Commission and Council consider General Plan Amendment, Rezone, Development Agreement, Preliminary Development Plan, Tract Map
-- The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) considers Bay Plan amendment
-- Port of Oakland considers real estate agreements, Port Building Permit
-- California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) considers Remedial Action Plan
-- A’s submit for BCDC Major Permit
-- State Lands Commission considers Exchange Agreement
Despite that daunting laundry list of to-do items, Kaval said he hopes progress continues to be swift.
“Hopefully, we can get this thing in front of the [election] cycle and it doesn’t get derailed by politics, and we can get binding votes over the next 3-4 months,” Kaval said. “It’s an election year and we don’t want to slip into an election cycle.”
Though the A’s have made some very public flirtations with Las Vegas, the city of Oakland seems to be making all the efforts to keep their lone big-league franchise in town. The next year will be crucial in determining the fate of the A’s, who have been playing at the Oakland Coliseum since 1968.
In a statement, Oakland mayor Libby Schaff said: “Tonight’s Planning Commission recommendation to send the Final Environmental Impact Report onto the City Council for certification is a huge win for our entire region and puts Oakland one step closer to building a landmark waterfront ballpark district with the highest environmental standards.”
