Even though the new Safeway store proposed for College and Claremont Avenues is in Oakland, the project will have significant impacts on Berkeley. To assess how the new supermarket will affect the Rockridge area, the Berkeley City Council will hold a special work session Tuesday night at 5:30 pm.
The city of Oakland sent a draft Environmental Impact Report about the store to Berkeley in July when the council was on recess. Berkeley is holding the special session to gather comments as part of its response to Oakland about the project.
Safeway wants to tear down the 1950s building and build a new structure that is double the size. The proposed project would be two to three stories high with an underground garage, and would have a set of retail shops facing College Avenue.
Berkeley’s Transportation Manager, Farid Javandal, reviewed the DEIR and expressed concern about the adequacy of the traffic report. Javandal noted that the developer only conducted a parking survey on one weekday and a Saturday, which he thought was insufficient. (Read his memo here.)
The special meeting is open to the public and starts at 5:30pm in Council Chambers.
