Orinda Seeks to Focus Divergent Opinion on Downtown Plan

A consultant’s report is the next step in seeing the future of Orinda’s downtown.

The report by MIG Inc., titled “Orinda Visioning,” with analysis of comments from the public in last year’s downtown workshops, is due for a look from the Orinda City Council, meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Orinda Library Auditorium.

— including talk of ambitious development plans such as downtown condominiums and a transit village near BART — has been a topic of invective and political accusations in Orinda for the last couple of years.

Tuesday’s meeting could point out the next step. One option, in the memo by City Manager Janet S. Keeter covering the MIG report, would be to update the city’s General Plan with a focus on design guidelines for downtown.

Should the council opt to avoid a General Plan revision, it could create separate design guidelines and implement those recommendations made by the Planning Process Review Task Force several years ago that have “strong community consensus,” Keeter said.

Another option would be additional community workshops. The consultant also mentioned the possibility of “visualization analysis” using before and after photo simulations to illustrate the pros and cons to building height limits, which have been a hot-button issue in community forums.

The MIG report points out areas with a lack of consensus from the public comments:

• How to best support and enhance retail development;
• Ways to better connect or overcome the barrier of the freeway and BART station; and
• Building heights and densities.

The report analyzes public comments from community workshops on Oct. 18 and Dec. 9, 2010, as well as comments from a Government class at Miramonte High School that received a presentation from City Councilmember Sue Severson.