We the residents and businesses of the Piedmont Avenue neighborhood petition the City of Oakland, California to require the developer of 4185 Piedmont Avenue to redesign the proposal so as to provide onsite parking for the building’s residents, customers, and staff. 

The developer proposes to demolish the existing dental office at 4185 Piedmont and replace it with an oversized 5-story building, 58 feet tall, with 14 new dwelling units, ONLY TWO OF WHICH WOULD BE VERY LOW INCOME, plus 1,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. No parking would be provided for residents, customers or staff. In fact, the existing 7 parking spaces would be eliminated. Those new residents, customers, and staff will be forced to park on the surrounding streets, further exacerbating an already parking intensive neighborhood. This will not only negatively impact all the neighborhood residents, but it will impair the commercial viability of the businesses on Piedmont Avenue. This business district contributes significantly to Oakland’s economy and strength.

Oakland has an affordable housing and homelessness crisis. To address the problem, the California Legislature has enacted laws to relax the zoning requirements for new construction. The City of Oakland has proposed revisions to the Planning Code including reducing how far buildings must be set back from the street, increasing permitted heights in many cases, and importantly, reducing the minimum number of parking spaces developers have to include in their projects. For example, residences located within half a mile of a “major transit stop” would not need to include parking.

However, the problem with eliminating the parking requirement is clear to anyone who lives in the Piedmont Avenue area. Largely due to the robust commercial activity of Piedmont Avenue, we are short of parking space on all the adjacent streets. Over decades the evidence is clear that no major transit stop has changed that. New buildings must provide for parking in such a neighborhood as ours in order to sustain viability.

So please redesign the project, provide parking, and preserve the viability of a thriving neighborhood.