Talk of the Point

Lucretia Edward died last Wednesday night after months of failing health. I knew her name better than I knew her face, having heard her name often and seen her in person rarely. In particular, I remember the last time I saw her as she sat toward the front at one Neighborhood Council meeting. There she was, the actual person. Seeing her was as good as sighting a famous politician or movie star. Maybe better, because she was one of our own.

I never got to talk to her, but I thought of her in the same basket as other great women I knew who’d moved mountains–or prevented them from being moved.

I understand she was responsible for opening so much of Richmond’s shoreline to ordinary people. She and husband Tom also managed to snatch Nicholl Knob away from developers’ claws and, more recently, cleared the telecommunications boxes that once infested it. That fine hill, now relatively uncluttered, will always stand for me as a fitting monument to her.

Everything was going along so smoothly for Point Richmond Gateway, LLC, and now this. Correspondent Walter Connolly was up late one night, thinking…

I drew up an alternative location for the Trainmaster Building that keeps Cutting Blvd open and has parking for the Plunge…I was thinking about 3 a.m. one morning and thought why not draw up some plans that has everything for everyone…the Plunge parking, open Cutting Blvd, and the Trainmaster Building and a nice entry into the Point, so the next morning that what I did.

You’ve just got to feel sorry for those who say “trust me” when you’ve got people like Walter around. This guy wants to think for himself.

OK, so what if the idea is a little late to the party? A good idea can have a life of its own. A good idea throws its own party.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s Business Association meeting.

Twenty years ago: the Point hosted swarms of choppers. Today: tall bikes and the Tall Bike Posse–possibly California’s first organized group.

You may have seen Rosamaria’s Cafe owner Mike Nova riding around town. He’s been joined recently by Andrew Butt and Jack (whose last name we don’t yet know; he’s the tall guy with a leather hat and the dog following 50 feet behind). The Posse also has a chapter in San Luis Obispo.

What’s a tall bike? Just what is sounds like: a bicycle made taller than normal. For example, the seat on Mike’s bike hits his chin. When he’s on board, his head is about eight feet off the ground.

Mike says tall bikes took root out here at Burning Man, but they’re far more popular in Holland. There they actually have organized tall-bike jousting.

Sallie DeWitt has a vision I think is worth a look.

She imagines the Point’s center triangle cleared out. The fire station and community center have moved to a new site close by. In their place is a well-planned space that–thanks to the good design and other forces–is dominated by people most people would be happy to sit next to.

My interest is in creating a town center. I see the center triangle—all of it—as a park complete with a bandstand, lawns, gardens and park benches—a beautiful gathering space for our community, space for our art and music fairs, a farmers’ market and the like.

On ordinary days, you may also imagine a free wi-fi hotspot where laptop-equipped office workers are scattered among locals on a lunch break, tourists, and others referred here by the Richmond Chamber of Commerce.

Just as important will be the fact that we will be able to stand on one side of the triangle and actually see to the other side. This will be very unifying for our community. Not being able to make visual contact across our little town center—the present situation—fragments our community. We now have to literally walk around the triangle to put on our events.

In addition to the center-triangle town center, I also see a new community center, library and fire department located outside the center triangle but close by. We need these, of course, and the plan to create a town center will include these—in addition to parking. It’s a question of where these fit into the picture.

Once the ball starts to roll, I believe answers to these questions will be found. Nothing is impossible, in my view. It’s a matter of money and attitude.

Naturally, skeptics like me have questions. “Great! Who’s going to pay for all of that?,” we might ask, followed by, “Who’s going to persuade the city to sell the library?”

Yes, those are good questions, and I think Sallie might have an answer or two. But for now let’s take another moment to shut up and dream. After all, her dream isn’t even on any ballot yet. And if you ask me, the Vision Thing always comes first.

Simple correspondent Walter Connolly has filed this report from his bunker overlooking the Point Richmond Gateway project and the controversy surrounding it.

The planning design review approved a park, but the permit set of drawings has replaced the park with parking. The parking there would count toward the required parking for the for-profit project (the “plunge parcel” project)!

Tom Butt has gone after people who have changed their plans after review and how he is doing the same thing??

I have asked the planning department about this change from design review to the permit set and they have not reponded…yet!!! It takes about two minutes to see that it has changed.

Point Richmond Gateway, LLC and a non-profit subsidiary control the blocked-off section of Cutting and the vacant triangular lot across from the Plunge. The company has big plans.

It took a lot of work–much of it in volunteer time by the Point’s own Fred Arm–but the federally-mandated quiet zones may be here by early November.

See the Contra Costa Times story.

Paula Asmus, leader of the first attempt to establish a business improvement district in the Point, has announced a meeting to organize a second attempt. The meeting is to be held October 25 at 5:30, and the location hasn’t been set. Everyone’s welcome to attend.

Wherever it’s held, I plan to be there. As I’ve said before, I think the principle is good. But you know what they say about the details.

Watch for new hell fire rising over the Point Richmond Gateway plan. Walter Connolly posted this today as a comment to “Is Point Richmond Gateway, LLC a simple company?” He alleges the plan is illegal.

This lacks any study of the impact of the trainmaster’s building on Washington School, the Plunge, Cafe Altura, Pratum Books, the Point Bar and all the other business in that area. It is crazy…There should a environmental study: parking, traffic and other concerns…This project did not go to the Planning Commissiom, and therefore the neighbors did not get any notice of what was happening…This is illegal. Any structure needs to go to Planning…More info to come…Walter (This version of his comment was slightly edited for ease of reading.)

As if the recent news from New Orleans weren’t bad enough, on Saturday morning I thought all over again about disasters that will sooner or later fall upon us here.

I attended my first REACT class, taught by Sandi Genser-Maack. “Richmond Emergency Action Community Teams” training is all part of an ongoing program offered free by the city.

We thought all about personal preparedness. Hitting this point first reminds me of the instruction you hear before a flight: if the oxygen masks fall down and you’re with a kid, put the mask on yourself before you put a mask on the kid. In other words, you’re no good to anyone else if you’re a victim.

I’ve got five more sessions on my way to being what the trainers call a “CERT,” someone who responds to emergencies before the pros arrive. The delay could be hours, days, or weeks.

Walter Connolly, who reminds us he is not a “simple” architect, further wants to know what this means on the June 7 City Council agenda:

I-6. RESOLUTION - authorizing execution of a Disposition and Development Agreement and an assignment of the City’s option for the purchase of the Plunge parcel to Point Richmond Gateway, LLC - Staff Recommendation: Adopt the resolution - Community and Economic Development (Steve Duran 307-8121).

Plunge parcel? Does that involve the the Plunge itself? Or is this description simple shorthand for the indescribable parcel now reserved for the Trainmaster Building? Simple Architect Tom Butt could speak up and save us more work, but let’s not count on it. He’s probably still not in the mood.