Note: The online Request to Speak window has expired.
The online Comment window has expired
Agenda Item
5.28 26-0264 Subject: Terms For An Exclusive Negotiating Agreement
From: Councilmember Fife
Recommendation: Adopt A Resolution (1) Authorizing The City Administrator To Negotiate Terms For An Exclusive Negotiating Agreement With Costco Wholesale Corporation And Deca Companies, LLC To Develop A Costco Wholesale And Retail General Merchandise Facility In The North Gateway Development Area Of The Former Oakland Army Base And (2) Declaring The Property Exempt Surplus Land
West Oakland (WO) residents have long wanted the gross polluter CASS out of the residential part of the neighborhood and onto the North Gateway property. Their types of industrial uses are incompatible with residential neighborhoods and are a legacy of the environmental injustice in WO.
We know the generations-old downtown playbook - WO gets the pollution & poison, and city hall gets the tax revenues.
The potential addtitional car & truck trips generated by a CostCo are a huge concern. We have the highest childhood asthma rates in CA, and life expectancies at birth 10 years less than the hills - some of this due to environmental factors such as poor air quality
Bottom line - the community engagement was, and is, being held in a way that many residents find dismissive & respectful for our concerns. The community meeting hasn't been held yet, and Council is prematurely sending this issue to staff without the information they need. The environmental section of the staff report was left out. There is no analysis of the environmental factors of a Costco!
Folks from outside the neighborhood were organized to show up to speak on behalf at committee, but our CM didn’t organize anyone to come speak on behalf of neighborhood environmental concerns.
Sometimes, its not what you do - its how u do it.
Please share the presentation materials & fact sheet, as well as the info the developer was distributing in chambers, ahead of the community meeting so we can prepare questions
West Oakland - one of Oakland's poorest communities - has severe air-quality challenges that cause some of highest childhood asthma rates in the country - as well increasing suffering of those with adult asthma; COPD, Cardiovascular and Lung diseases.
CASS, West Oakland's largest polluter, has CLEARLY stated a desire to move OUT of West Oakland to the former Army Base; this move would significantly INCREASE air quality and health and DECREASE health risks in West Oakland, also freeing up 5 square urban blocks for badly needed housing and commercial development. Let's move forward in ways that give West Oakland a double win instead of a double loss (i.e. having to live with increased pollution into perpetuity)?
Parents in West Oakland are very concerned about the health of their children. This is not about fighting COSTCO; it's about seeking ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE for an economically challenged mostly minority community; it's about public health and reducing dangerous environmental impacts - even West Oakland NON-smokers experience elevated rates respiratory illness.
We in District 3 have the live here and breathe the air here. Does Costco want to viewed as an organization that contributed to the childhood asthma rates in West Oakland worsening because of a site choice?
Are Oakland's leaders really going to elevate tax revenue increases; low/medium skill jobs; and retail sales over the health and well being of District 3's children and adults? We can do better.
West Oakland (WO) residents have long wanted the gross polluter CASS out of the residential part of the neighborhood and onto the North Gateway property. Their types of industrial uses are incompatible with residential neighborhoods and are a legacy of the environmental injustice in WO.
We know the generations-old downtown playbook - WO gets the pollution & poison, and city hall gets the tax revenues.
The potential addtitional car & truck trips generated by a CostCo are a huge concern. We have the highest childhood asthma rates in CA, and life expectancies at birth 10 years less than the hills - some of this due to environmental factors such as poor air quality
Bottom line - the community engagement was, and is, being held in a way that many residents find dismissive & respectful for our concerns. The community meeting hasn't been held yet, and Council is prematurely sending this issue to staff without the information they need. The environmental section of the staff report was left out. There is no analysis of the environmental factors of a Costco!
Folks from outside the neighborhood were organized to show up to speak on behalf at committee, but our CM didn’t organize anyone to come speak on behalf of neighborhood environmental concerns.
Sometimes, its not what you do - its how u do it.
Please share the presentation materials & fact sheet, as well as the info the developer was distributing in chambers, ahead of the community meeting so we can prepare questions
West Oakland - one of Oakland's poorest communities - has severe air-quality challenges that cause some of highest childhood asthma rates in the country - as well increasing suffering of those with adult asthma; COPD, Cardiovascular and Lung diseases.
CASS, West Oakland's largest polluter, has CLEARLY stated a desire to move OUT of West Oakland to the former Army Base; this move would significantly INCREASE air quality and health and DECREASE health risks in West Oakland, also freeing up 5 square urban blocks for badly needed housing and commercial development. Let's move forward in ways that give West Oakland a double win instead of a double loss (i.e. having to live with increased pollution into perpetuity)?
Parents in West Oakland are very concerned about the health of their children. This is not about fighting COSTCO; it's about seeking ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE for an economically challenged mostly minority community; it's about public health and reducing dangerous environmental impacts - even West Oakland NON-smokers experience elevated rates respiratory illness.
We in District 3 have the live here and breathe the air here. Does Costco want to viewed as an organization that contributed to the childhood asthma rates in West Oakland worsening because of a site choice?
Are Oakland's leaders really going to elevate tax revenue increases; low/medium skill jobs; and retail sales over the health and well being of District 3's children and adults? We can do better.