THE COUNCIL OF INDUSTRIES
P.O. BOX 70088
Pt. Richmond, CA 94807
(510)215-9325 office (510)215-9029 fax
www.councilofindustries.org
May 27, 2014
BY EMAIL:
Members of the Richmond City Council
450 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, CA 94804
May 27, 2104 City Council Agenda Item #I-1 Study Session –
Recommended Land Use Map for Draft South Shoreline Specific Plan and
preparation of Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR); AND, Item
#I-3 Study and consider separating the Zeneca property from the broader
South Shoreline Specific Plan Study to allow the Zeneca cleanup to
proceed.
Madame Mayor and Members of the Richmond City Council:
As Executive Director of the Council of Industries, I would like to thank the
City Councilmembers and Staff for meeting with the businesses located in the
South Shoreline Specific Plan over the last several weeks. These meetings
provided opportunities for the businesses to clearly articulate their concerns
about the effects and impacts that the draft South Shoreline Specific Plan - being
presented tonight - will have on their businesses.
We recommend the following:
1) Designate existing industrial areas as Light Industrial in the Plan;
2) Include all existing industrial businesses in the Specific Plan area as
permitted uses in the Light Industrial District;
3) Designate the Zeneca site as a prime waterfront area for residential;
4) Designate appropriate Buffer Zones – between So 48th and So 47th
Streets, to separate existing light industrial areas residential on Zeneca
site, as well as in Sub Area 1; and
5) Strengthen the place-based identity of existing light industrial areas in the
Specific Plan area.
The draft South Shoreline Specific Plan presented tonight will change the
zoning of properties in sub area 1 and 4 from industrial/light industrial to
residential/commercial/research and development, making the businesses nonconforming uses. In fact, the Specific Plan proposes to erase the entire business
community in in the area. The result will be the light industrial/industrial
businesses will have to close or relocate, at great cost and harm to them –
eliminating jobs, property/employment/ and use taxes to the City.
This is contrary to the General Plan, which calls for light industrial in the
area, and in fact calls for it four times. 1 However, the Specific Plan’s latest
Recommended Land Use Map shows that there is no light industrial anywhere in
the Specific Plan area.
The General Plan calls for the City to “work with the University of
California and other stakeholders to articulate a vision” for the Specific Plan
area.2 As stakeholders, the businesses in the area could be potential suppliers
to the Richmond Bay Campus and Zeneca development. In addition the City’s
General Plan provides support of the Arts – many artisans are located in sub
area 1 and 4 and their work and businesses should be protected under the
Specific Plan.
The Specific Plan says that it may take up to 40 years for the development
shown on its land use map to occur. In the meantime, the Plan designates all the
light industrial businesses in the area as Non-Conforming Uses. The City’s
Zoning Ordinance allows Non-Conforming uses to continue to operate but makes
it difficult or impossible for them to do so. These businesses would be prohibited
from:





Enlarging, altering, or moving existing buildings and facilities;
Adding new buildings and facilities or new uses similar to existing
ones;
Replacing buildings and facilities that are 75% or more damaged or
destroyed;
Continuing operations if buildings and facilities are 75% or more
damaged or destroyed, and;
Continuing operations if the property or buildings are vacant for one
year or more.
1
See General Plan, Land Use Element, p. 341 and Action LU3.E, p. 3.61;
Economic Development Element, Action ED8.A, p.1.41.
2
General Plan, Land Use Element, Action LU3.E, p. 3.61.
A Non-Conforming Use designation also imposes severe economic hardships
on businesses. A business designated Non-Conforming often cannot obtain
financing for facilities and operations, find long-term lessees of buildings and
facilities, find buyers for the business and facilities, obtain business or joint
venture partners, hire and retain high-value employees, or secure and retain
long-term customers. In short, the Specific Plan places these business under
severe economic stress now in the hope that the development called for in the
Specific Plan can be built sometime in the next 40 years. 3
This is unacceptable and unnecessary. The General Plan calls for Light
Industrial in the Specific Plan area, and the businesses and their neighbors
already provide light industrial services. The Specific Plan should retain the light
industrial areas, and businesses should be encouraged to serve the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory and develop in size and prosperity as the Specific
Plan area develops.
Given these concerns, and in support of the businesses in the designated
land-use change area we do not support residential in the industrial area, nor do
we support a change from the light industrial designation, but support reenvisioning of the area to complement the current light industrial businesses that
reside there.
We strongly urge you to reject planning staff’s proposed General Plan
Amendment that would eliminate all Light Industrial from the Specific Plan Area
and to direct staff to include our recommended changes to the Specific Plan:
Thank you for supporting the continued viability of our businesses and other
light industrial businesses in the Specific Plan area.
Sincerely yours,
Katrinka Ruk
Executive Director
Cc:
3
Bill Lindsay, City Manager
Richard Mitchell, Planning Director
Hector Rojas, Senior Planner
Diane Holmes, City Clerk
Ruth Jones, Richmond Chamber of Commerce
Richmond Zoning Ordinance, Section 15.04.940.