Presumably — and hopefully — for the sake of establishing an alternative to the long-approved plan for the Intermodal Station, the ill-fated and disastrous Szabo plan is presented as Alternative 2 (east of Refugio Creek) in the recently-released Draft EIR, albeit without the Szabo moniker (who is no longer a consultant to the City). A [...]

A scoping meeting for the Intermodal Station’s EIR will be held today at 5:30pm at the Hercules Library. The Intermodal Station is part of the Hercules Bayfront mixed-use New Urbanism project. Bayfront is a pedestrian-oriented development, and one big aspect has been the reduced number of lanes on John Muir Parkway, which was originally slated [...]

It wasn’t just a Saturday evening Halloween that came and went without incident (at least publicized incident), it was also the end of George Szabo’s reign as town planner for the Waterfront. Last November, the City Council mindlessly signed a one-year contract extension with the oft-maligned designer of the ill-fated Szabo plan. A follow-on contract [...]

Two current road improvement projects in the city (and featured on the same press release even) highlight the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly of public works projects.1 First, the good. The City will be reducing the number of lanes — from four to two (plus a median) — on a stretch of Sycamore [...]

There are two train station-related discussions that never took place — with the public, at the Planning Commission, or even at the City Council level — and that is unfortunate. They are… the decision to build a plaza-based minimalist station instead of a singular signature multi-use building; and the decision for a more modern (or [...]

The City Council and Planning Commission are both in recess; night is falling sooner. So it goes. There are a lot of people talking about the coming Waterfront Workshop — the one that does deal with the train station shed design and, er, the light tower — and how it parallels the plot of Rocky [...]

The July 20th meeting was the only Planning Commission meeting we’ve had in three months. April 20th was the last meeting and June 1st was the station unveiling. Needless to say, there was a lot to be said. I probed the Commission about the direction and lack of public involvement with the process of developing our transit station. They [...]

The fire district in disarray… “Some First Amendment experts say the board of the Rodeo-Hercules Fire District exceeded its authority when it excluded one of its members from meetings for saying publicly that 5-foot-2 women are unfit to be firefighters. [...] [Bill] Prather made his comment during a Feb. 18 open-session discussion of the Pack [...]

The following email was sent same day (June 12th) to our city leaders in response to their four-page memo regarding Safeway Station… Dear Lisa Hammon, City Manager, Mayor & City Council, Planning Commission, Planning Department, Redevelopment Agency, and City Staff: Regarding the June 12 Memorandum, here are five questions. Most importantly is the last question, [...]

The following email was sent today to our city leaders in my best attempt to respond to the Safeway Station presentation… Dear City Manager, Mayor & City Council, Planning Commission, Planning Department, Redevelopment Agency, and City Staff: I am writing all of you today in a search for accountability and design leadership with the City’s [...]

The Contra Costa Times has (safely) endorsed the two incumbents and Council-endorsed Don Kuehne for City Council this November. Oddly, the editorial cites Walmart as a reason to stay the course — and not elect the lone true challenger, John Delgado — despite the fact that Walmart was welcomed into the City with open arms [...]

Another packed agenda is on tap for Tuesday’s City Council meeting, 7pm at City Hall. The lengthy consent calendar includes… Merging Sycamore Crossing and the fast-tracked Hilltown into “Redevelopment Area 2″ instead of creating a new “Redevelopment Area 3.” Cost: $147k. (Did I say “fast-tracked”?) Signing a contract with architect for Sycamore Crossing. Cost: $50k. [...]

The meetings in August will be canceled so this last City Council meeting of the summer — 7pm @ City Hall — is a bit beefy. – First and foremost, the Waterfront Now initiative is being presented to the Council, and staff is recommending that the Council adopt the plan on receipt, sweeping the election [...]

It is easy to understand why many residents want to see Sala Thai move-in to the restored Civic Arts Building on Railroad Avenue. We have waited a long time for development to flourish along the Waterfront, and because of misguided actions by the City Council and City Manager, as well as market forces, we have [...]

Councilmember Charleen Raines pulled an item out of the consent calendar for discussion at last night’s City Council meeting. This action should be commended — too many items go through with nary a hint of thought it seems, and sometimes to detrimental effect (see Szabo plan funding) — but what was more alarming than an [...]

The City Council — acting as the Redevelopment Agency at the City Council meeting on Tuesday — 7pm @ City Hall — will execute an agreement to furnish geotechnical recommendations for the proposed inter-modal transit center and parking structure. The language in the proposal from the engineering firm references the Szabo plan, however, from what [...]

The Friends of Hercules, a “community-based quality of life group,” has announced their support for the Waterfront Now initiative. In a statement posted on their website, the group says that they have “investigated [the initiative] and verified that both the developer and the City would appreciate your signature and your support. [...] Feel free to [...]

During then-Mayor Ed Balico’s farewell remarks this past December, he stated — unequivocally — that the Amtrak station would break ground this summer. Although such an idea was long considered a near-impossibility by anyone with competent knowledge of the situation, the outgoing mayor made yet another promise that will ultimately go unfulfilled… The earliest the [...]

Enough said. Hercules dumps plans for parking garage near waterfront By Tom Lochner Hercules has dropped the idea of a large commuter parking garage near the Hercules Waterfront that was much-hated by residents who prefer a more pedestrian-friendly ambiance. The city and developer AndersonPacific LLC have reached consensus on all significant issues related to development [...]

There are four more chances to catch the traveling Oliva and Szabo show — in person — and ask questions about the alternative transit center plan (plainly, a big-box solution) being pushed by the City… 03/10/2008 Monday 7:00 PM — TONIGHT Foxboro Community Center 1025 Canterbury Avenue 03/12/2008 Wednesday 7:00 PM Library (Main Meeting Room) [...]

Former mayor and councilmember Frank Batara spent more than six minutes in open communications (far exceeding the three-minute limit) at last Tuesday’s City Council meeting ripping the efforts of Waterfront residents to open up City communications on the issue of the development of the Waterfront. Less than three months ago, the “Szabo plan” did not [...]

There is really not much going on at tomorrow’s City Council meeting (7pm @ City Hall), but the agenda does reflect what is in store for the City and the Waterfront. Within the consent calendar, the Council will adopt a resolution in support of the completion of the San Francisco Bay Trail (which is a [...]

Since the Szabo plan has not been officially released by the City (something we actually should all be proud of), there are no images to reference. Being such, at this past Saturday’s traveling Oliva and Szabo show, I took a photo of the “conceptual” Szabo plan that was presented. This is an overall birds-eye view… [...]

The City’s surprise special tour through Livermore took many people by — you guessed it — surprise, and it was reported in the Contra Costa Times… Short notice of tour irks residents HERCULES: Council should have promoted public participation in midweek visit, some say By Tom Lochner Residents wary that Hercules may want to turn [...]

The Oliva and Szabo show includes several attempts by the City Manager (Nelson Oliva) to paint the AndersonPacific plan in negative light. AndersonPacific has since responded to all of the potentially false claims. Note: These are notes taken by a resident of Hercules during a meeting with a representative of AndersonPacific. AP has accepted the [...]

The City passed the resolution with Szabo-friendly language on Tuesday evening, and it was reported in the Contra Costa Times… Transit center language draws ire HERCULES: Some residents say city officials are being too specific too early about the design of a proposed terminal By Tom Lochner The Hercules City Council unanimously passed a resolution [...]

The Contra Costa Times continues to report on the Szabo plan… City’s growth plan in question HERCULES: Homeowners favor existing transit hub plan, say officials ignore them By Tom Lochner In a departure from the dynamics that often pit residents against out-of-town developers, a vocal group of Hercules waterfront homeowners is promoting a multimodal transit [...]

The consent calendar for tonight’s City Council meeting — 7pm at City Hall — includes Item IX-4… Adopt A Resolution Directing The City Manager To Submit Two Grant Applications To Congressman George Miller To Secure Grant Funding Assistance Through A Federal Appropriation For The Construction of the Hercules Rail Platform and Related Infrastructure As Well [...]

The same article from yesterday reappeared with a different headline this morning: “Hercules disputes ‘big-box’ transit theory; Official says speculation that community center will be an ‘ugly eyesore’ is false.” It’s probably worth it to respond to the article in close-read fashion… There is no “secret plan” to transform a pedestrian-friendly Hercules intermodal transit center [...]

The City Manager, Nelson Oliva, responds… Hercules plan not ‘secret,’ says city manager by Tom Lochner There is no “secret plan” to transform a pedestrian-friendly Hercules intermodal transit center into a big-box monstrosity to serve as a regional commuter Park-N-Ride lot, says Hercules City manager Nelson Oliva. Rather, scaling down a “Taj Mahal”-like train station, [...]

You may have received the following flier (download it here)…

There is a lot that can be said about Councilmember Ed Balico’s statement in the Times’ article on the Szabo plan today. Balico was quoted: “I’m not very familiar with [the Szabo plan]. I thought they (Szabo and Associates) were with AndersonPacific.” This could be an example of a few things: (1) Denial of his [...]

The Contra Costa Times ran the Szabo story on the front page of its West County local section today. Meeting will focus on transit center’s future HERCULES: Some fear cars, not pedestrians, will be target of urban renewal plan By Tom Lochner As Hercules prepares to move forward on a railroad station and ferry terminal, [...]

The Contra Costa Times has picked up on the story of the Szabo plan… Hercules to discuss transit center Development of a Hercules Multi-Modal Transit Center will be the subject of a community meeting at City Hall Monday night. The discussion will kick off a series of eight Hercules Redevelopment Agency-sponsored community meetings on the [...]

The City will be holding a series of meetings on the Transit Center in the next couple of months. Will the City finally present and explain the rationale for the Szabo plan? What is the status of the Anderson-Pacific plan? Construction of the rail station was supposed to begin this year. Will that change if [...]

The City will be effectively voting on the Szabo plan this Tuesday evening, and we would like to present to the Council, the opinions of the Waterfront community. Background Information The Anderson-Pacific plan is a new-urbanism walkable community approach. Some features include: Parking dispersed away from the Waterfront; A signature train station that will put [...]

For those who were unable to catch this past Tuesday’s City Council meeting on television, and for those who would rather not stream the video on the Hercules City website, I have included video of the parts I alluded to in my recap of the meeting. Waterfront resident comments… Councilmember Balico’s response…

A range of development issues will be discussed at tomorrow evening’s City Council meeting, including the issue of the intermodal transit center, which may or may not take shape as the Szabo plan we have spoken out against as a community. There will be a vote on a measure stating that the “transit facilities will [...]

The alternative transit center plan — currently being pushed by council-member Ed Balico — consists of a convention center on top of a parking garage. The designers of the plan (George Szabo and Associates) label it as a big box solution. Download Szabo Plan Overlay Szabo Plan and Elevation Szabo Transit Program Letter from Anderson-Pacific [...]