Building Boom Hitting Tiny Orinda Hard

Orinda City Government on a Building Tear

You have expressed to us your love of Orinda as it is, so I must ask you why you are promoting so much high-density development and change - from the senior center, to Orinda Grove, to Phairs and other projects? Loading Orinda with apartment buildings transforms and degrades the city in countless ways - there seems to be an empire-building mentality at work.

Alas, I just got wind of plans for more condo development around the Phairs property.

Like many Orindans, I am profoundly concerned that such multi-unit condo ventures are being approved without proper diligence to prevent traffic and parking pileups. Maddening car congestion cannot be stopped after development is approved, especially in a town that has no room to add streets. I am already sitting in traffic shuttling my son to and from Wagner Ranch School in the morning.

Hundreds of other parents are enduring the same traffic jam along our educational corridor, Moraga Way. Even before this development around Phairs goes into effect, Orinda will be adding 1,900 new residents over the next nine years from current construction that is underway. Meanwhile, parking is already maxed out at Orinda's Community Center, around Theater Square, at the BART parking lot in the am.

What am I missing? This building booom is systematically eroding our quality of life and ruining our ease of travel, yet you have told us that you have no interest in changing Orinda. I am writing again to ask to see a meaningful, comprehensive traffic impact study that does not just accounts for the traffic impact of one building project, but the combined effect of all - anything short of that is meaningless, right? I would also like to see what the plan is to provide adequate parking at the Community Center and Theater Squre.

I have to believe that if you are increasing the city's population by 12 - 15% in a decade that there are significant allowances to accommodate thousands of more cars moving along the eroding streets of our tiny community.