adeline corridor plan community visioning workshop summary€¦ · community visioning workshop at...

1 City of Berkeley DRAFT Summary: Community Visioning Workshop Last Updated: 9/18/15

ADELINE CORRIDOR PLAN COMMUNITY VISIONING WORKSHOP SUMMARY

Saturday, August 29, 2015 | 10:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. Harriet Tubman Terrace, 2870 Adeline Street, Berkeley, CA 94703

Introduction On August 29th, 2015, the Adeline Corridor Planning Team hosted an interactive

community visioning workshop at the Harriet Tubman Terrace Community Room in

South Berkeley. The workshop was attended by over 150 people and served as the

culmination of over five months of intensive community engagement and grassroots

outreach. The primary goals of the community visioning workshop were to:

• Share community input to date and key findings of the existing conditions

report;

• Explore and affirm community members input on assets, issues, and

opportunities; and,

• Brainstorm a palette of improvements, solutions and ideas for the corridor.

Discussion topics at the workshop included, but were not limited to, transportation,

affordable housing, local history and culture, economic development, public safety

and community design. The community input collected during the workshop and

through other outreach channels will be used to support and affirm the development

of a clear vision for the character of the corridor and adjacent land uses into the

future.

This summary outlines the high-level themes from the group discussions regarding

the future visions for the corridor; the improvements, opportunities and solutions

proposed to achieve the community’s vision; as well as issues and opportunities that

can be addressed in the near future. This summary is organized as follows:

I. Outreach Methods

II. Workshop Process

III. Key Findings: Small Group Breakout Discussions


IV. Next Steps

I. Outreach Methods To promote and publicize the community visioning workshop, the Adeline Corridor

Planning Team conducted extensive and targeted outreach throughout the planning

area. Outreach activities included:

Posting to the City website and calendar and other community e-calendars,

Door-hanger and flyer distribution to residences, businesses and community

centers (e.g. South Berkeley Senior Center and Tarea Pittman Branch Public

Library) in the plan area,

Regular email “blasts” to the project email distribution list,

Announcements in local media outlets, and

Outreach to key partners such as community-based organizations, local

churches, and established neighborhood/business groups;

Additional neighborhood outreach by members of the Adeline Community

Outreach Team (ACOT); and,

Targeted communications with local media outlets (e.g., Berkeleyside)

Appendix A to this summary includes copies of the flyer and door-hangers distributed throughout the planning area to publicize the community workshop and pop-up event.

II. Workshop Process

The workshop began with a welcome and opening remarks from Interim City

Manager Dee Ridley-Williams. Next, Jamillah Jordan of MIG, Inc. (City Consultant)

provided a brief review of the workshop agenda and outlined the structure of the

workshop for participants. Ms. Jordan served as the lead facilitator for the workshop

and helped to moderate the conversation.


Following the agenda review, Ms. Jordan gave a brief presentation on the overall

community engagement program for the planning process, describing how

community members are shaping and will continue to actively shape the

development of the plan. Ms. Jordan summarized the four phases of the planning

process, which include:

Phase 1: Existing Conditions and Vision

Phase 2: Concepts and Alternatives Analysis

Phase 3: Draft and Final Master Plan

Phase 4: Approval

Next, Ms. Jordan reviewed the traditional and innovative community engagement

activities used to solicit public input on the planning process. These activities and

engagement opportunities included the Adeline Community IDEA Center and Mobile

IDEA Center, the Opportunities + Needs survey, the PhotoVOICE project and survey

outreach collaboration with Youth Spirit Artworks (YSA), stakeholder interviews and

community focus groups, pop-up events, walking and biking tours, participation at

popular community events (e.g. the Berkeley Juneteenth Festival) and the

involvement of the Adeline Community Outreach Team (ACOT).

After this presentation, Ms. Jordan introduced two youth who participated in the YSA

PhotoVOICE project and survey outreach. Mahal Bryant and Oneyex Johnson

shared the highlights of their experience collecting surveys and creating photo-

collages that conveyed their ideas and future hopes for the corridor.

Following the YSA presentation, Ms. Jordan introduced Mukul Malholtra of MIG to

give a presentation on the community input received to date, as well as the key

findings of the Existing Conditions Report. The Existing Conditions report includes

information about existing demographic, economic, land use, mobility, infrastructure,

and other conditions in the plan area. Mr. Malholtra’s presentation provided important

context on current conditions in the community and highlighted key takeaways from

the City’s research that will significantly inform development of the plan. The agenda

and presentations described above are available in Appendix B.


After these presentations, Ms. Jordan framed and described the small group

breakout activity and questions. The large audience then went to their assigned small

group breakout location.

III. Key Findings: Small Group Breakout Discussions Workshop participants were divided into 12 small groups of 10-15 people for

breakout discussions. Each group had a facilitator from the Planning Team to guide

the discussion, as well as an assigned recorder. During the discussions, notes were

recorded on both an easel, as well as on a map of the plan area provided. After one

hour of discussion, each group selected a person to present a summary of their

discussions to the entire workshop. The full notes from the discussions and summary

presentations are available in the Appendix C. The three questions below guided the

breakout group discussions:

1. What is your vision for the Adeline/ South Shattuck Corridor in 30 years?

2. What improvements, opportunities and/or solutions would you propose

to achieve your vision for each of the categories below? Where do you

see these improvements happening?

a. Housing

b. Jobs

c. Community life

d. Transportation

3. Which of the issues, improvements and/or opportunities that we just

discussed can be addressed in the short-term/ near future?

A detailed summary of the small group breakout discussions is presented below.

Based on the close relationship between the questions, there is some overlap in the

responses. The overlap reinforces the synergy between the needs, solutions and

opportunities identified by community members.


During the small group report-outs and following the earlier presentations, MIG staff

graphically recorded comments of participants. These wallgraphics (visual

representations of the discussion points raised during the workshop) are displayed in

Figures 1 and 2 of this summary. Full transcriptions the wallgraphics are available in

Appendix D.

1. What is your vision for the Adeline/ South Shattuck Corridor in 30 years? A Walkable, Bikable Corridor

Create protected and/or separated bicycle lanes on Adeline Street

Design and maintain inviting environments for pedestrians and cyclists

o Safer, narrower street crossings

o Slower traffic

Establish welcoming and well-maintained public spaces

o Use public art that reflects neighborhood history

o Well maintained greenery on streets and sidewalks

Design Destinations accessible by pedestrians and cyclists

o Make median/greenway on Adeline accessible and attractive to both

cyclists and pedestrians

o Increase density of retail and restaurant locations

Diversity and Neighborhood Character

Increase supply of housing, especially at low-income levels

Convert vacant, underdeveloped parcels to develop affordable housing

Maintain historic African-American community of South Berkeley

Involve and engage community members in planning decisions

Prevent displacement of current residents

Design spaces and streets for all ages – from children to seniors

Ensure that design of new buildings is consistent with community character

(there were varying opinions about the what building type/height was

consistent with community character)

Vibrant Neighborhood Business District

Make Adeline a recognizable, unique commercial district

Improve density of local retail and restaurant amenities


o Support development of 4-5 story, mixed-use buildings with ground-

floor commercial and residential units above

Increase job opportunities in the area to reduce amount of commuters to San

Francisco

Support ongoing events such as Ashby Flea Market and South Berkeley

Farmer’s Market

Less Auto-Centric Streetscape

Reduce vehicular travel lanes along Adeline Street

Use excess right-of-way for community benefits

Parks and open space

Affordable housing

Separated pedestrian and bicycle paths

Enhanced Transportation Options

Improve frequency and reliability of public transit

Create greater transit accessibility to reach social services in the planning area

Develop car sharing and bicycle sharing programs

Install electric vehicle charging stations

Design neighborhood shuttle routes (e.g., Emery-go-Round)

Social Services

Locate homeless support services that are accessible by transit

Enhance and support cluster of services for low-income community members

o Medical and health care services

o Job training

o Drop-In center

2. What improvements, opportunities and/or solutions would you propose to

achieve your vision for each of the categories below? Where do you see these improvements happening?

o Housing

o Jobs

o Community life

o Transportation


Affordable Housing

Enforce strict rent control

Create affordable housing for families

Use minimum wage to define affordable housing standards

Identify opportunity sites to build affordable housing (e.g., Ashby BART

station)

Promote and support non-profit, affordable housing organizations

Coordinate with UC Berkeley to provide student housing

Provide shelter/overnight places for homeless population, including SRO

housing

Increase density to increase housing supply

Build additional fixed-income housing for seniors

Local Job Opportunities

Establish community center with job resource center

o Skills training

o Vocational training

Create local hire programs for development and construction projects

Support and promote local businesses – healthy local retail will create jobs

Business and Economic Development

Create more ground-floor retail storefronts

Provide technical assistance and programs for new, local businesses

o Grants and microloans for start-ups

o Subsidized rents for new businesses

o Simplified/ streamlined zoning and code requirements for new

businesses

Include affordable commercial space, especially for non-profit sector

Increase retail and commercial density on Adeline Street

Limit franchise and chain store in the community

Community Life

Create public gathering spaces for intergenerational community interaction


o Provide job training and youth mentor programs

Support community-based social services

o Health services

o Youth and recreational programs

o Homeless prevention services

Inform and educate community about public financing and planning process

Support block parties and street fairs with local businesses

Ensure that new developments provide community benefits

Public Spaces

Create public pocket parks on Adeline Street median

Better maintain public spaces

o Provide more trash cans in parks/ sidewalks

o Provide public restrooms

Develop and activate vacant/ underused spaces

o BART Parking lot

o Space at MLK and Adeline in front of BART

o Plaza at Berkeley Design Center

Design and install way-finding signs

Install public art that celebrates neighborhood history

Multi-modal Transportation

Reduce width of lanes and speed of vehicular traffic along Adeline Street

o Use extra space for bicycle and pedestrian greenway

Develop shuttle and public transit service to connect neighborhoods to Ashby

BART

Dedicate protected and separated bike lanes on Adeline Street

Promote car share incentives for new residential developments

Remove vehicular travel lanes on Adeline Street

o Make the corridor safer for bicycles and pedestrians to cross the street

Improve public transit (e.g., more bus stops, additional Bus Rapid Transit

lanes)

Install electric vehicle charging stations


3. Which of the issues, improvements and/or opportunities that we just discussed can be addressed in the short-term/ near future?

Moratorium on future development until Plan is finalized

Create affordable housing plan

o Appoint community task force for affordable housing

Educate residents on public financing and planning process

Enhance pedestrian infrastructure

o Crossing signals at difficult intersections

o Funding for crossing guards at schools

Place more public trash cans along the corridor

Install parklets and community gardens along the corridor

Promote and support neighborhood events (e.g., Art Murmur, First Friday,

Crop Swap, etc.)

Relocate Honda dealership at Shattuck and Carleton

IV. Next Steps The visioning workshop presented members of the community with an opportunity to

review and discuss public input received by the Planning Team and key findings from

the Existing Conditions Report. The workshop also provided a large-scale forum for

residents and community members to work collectively to develop a clear vision for

the character of the corridor. The Planning Team will incorporate the community input

gathered during this workshop into the ongoing development of the Adeline Corridor

Plan.


Figure 1: Discussion Notes Recorded during the Workshop (“Wallgraphic” #1)


Figure 2. Discussion Notes Recorded during the Workshop (“Wallgraphic” #2)

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