OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Oakland Planning Commission Meeting: June 18, 2025

City Council — Wednesday, June 18, 2025
BodyOakland, California
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, June 18, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
2:00

I can deal with the ninety because you want to get into the Vegas type.

2:07

Okay.

2:13

I'll just present this.

2:20

So I'll just take that.

2:22

We can see that you get the other.

2:28

I don't know if there's a word.

2:30

I mean either those things.

2:31

Oh, that's a crazy.

2:34

I mean, yeah, but it really needs like I think I spent eight years in this school.

2:41

Because there were four years of card.

2:51

And the other thing is there is that buttons don't overlap very much.

2:55

So I used to do the cross town.

3:05

Good afternoon.

3:06

This will be the June eighteenth, twenty twenty-five planning commission.

3:11

We need a few minutes to get started.

3:14

And once we are ready, you will know we are ready.

3:16

The chair will announce the start of the meeting.

3:19

Meanwhile, if you'd like to speak on an item today on the agenda or on open forum, you can pick up speaker cards where I am pointing at the front of the room and complete those and give them to Hanifa or put them in the the bin right next to where you pick those up.

3:37

And if you parked at uh on seventeenth street, am I say is that 17th?

3:45

Sixteenth street, I apologize.

3:48

At the garage at uh Dalzeel or two fifty Franco Gawa Plaza, we do have promotional parking.

3:55

Please scan the QR code at the front to and use the promotional code provided here at the front on the clipboard.

4:03

And we'll let you know when we're ready to start.

4:05

Thank you.

4:49

Here.

4:49

Commissioner Maurice Robb.

4:51

Commissioner Josie Ahrens.

4:53

Here.

4:53

Commissioner Owen Lee.

4:55

Here.

4:57

Here.

4:57

You have a quorum.

4:59

Thank you.

5:00

Okay, we'll go into Commission Business.

5:02

Is there any agenda discussion?

5:05

Not from the Secretary.

5:07

Okay.

5:10

No director's report today.

5:13

Okay.

5:13

And so we'll be entertaining an informational report today on the 2024 annual progress report.

5:25

Hello, good afternoon.

5:27

If I could have KTOP pull up the presentation.

5:32

So today we're presenting on the 2024 General Plan and Housing Element Annual Progress Reports.

5:38

I'm Timothy Green of Planner 3 from Planning and Building Department.

5:42

We also have Emily Weinstein, the Director of Housing and Community Development, who will be presenting for certain portions of this very in-depth presentation.

5:55

So just a little to start with a little background.

5:59

APRs were submitted to the California Office of Land Use and Climate Climate Innovation and to State HCD on April 1st.

6:07

This is the second year of reporting on the 2023 to 2031 Oakland Housing Element.

6:13

In accordance with Action 5.2.11 of the adopted housing element, the city is bringing this informational report before the planning commission today.

6:23

Public hearings to review and consider the APR have been conducted before the CED Committee and City Council, and a final study session will be committed conducted at the Zoning Update Committee next week.

6:36

First, we will provide an overview of the content reported in the 2024 General Plan APR.

6:43

The general plan establishes a legal basis for development and conservation.

6:47

It also establishes a citywide vision in supporting goals, policies, and implementation measures.

6:53

The 2024 General Plan APR includes updates from staff regarding general plan implementation and update activity that occurred during the calendar year.

7:02

In 2024, the city launched phase two of the general plan update.

7:06

This includes updating the land use and transportation element, open space conservation and recreation element, and noise element, and the creation of a new infrastructure and capital facilities element.

7:19

In 2024, staff also continued working on major long-range planning initiatives in order to implement the Oakland General Plan.

7:26

While many of the uh efforts listed on the slide implement multiple general plan elements, they have been placed under a single heading.

7:33

And you can see you can see those on this slide.

7:42

Um plans and projects were approved or ongoing in 2024 and propose amending the general plan and our general plan land use maps.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing████████████████████████████████████████████44%
Land Use and Zoning██████████████████████████████30%
Public Engagement█████████████13%
Procedural███████7%
Zoning and Land Use███3%
Homelessness█1%
Parks and Recreation█1%
Historic Preservation█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Oakland Planning Commission Meeting Summary: June 18, 2025

The Oakland Planning Commission convened on June 18, 2025, to receive an informational report on the 2024 General Plan and Housing Element Annual Progress Reports (APRs), discuss and adopt Objective Design Standards (ODS) for 1-4 family dwellings and 1-3 story multifamily developments, and hear public comments on various development and policy topics.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Janine Girard and Naomi Schiff (Measure DD Community Coalitions / Estuary Park Task Force / Oakland Heritage Alliance): Opposed the inclusion of Brooklyn Basin Parcel N in the General Plan update for potential housing, stating it was previously approved unanimously as the expansion site for Estuary Park.
  • James Van (Measure DD Coalition): During open forum, reiterated concerns about Parcel N, urging the commission to uphold its previous Estuary Park Master Plan decision. He also inquired about the status of the inclusionary housing study (Action 3.3.7) during the APR discussion.
  • Jeff Levin (East Bay Housing Organizations): Requested future APRs include more detailed data and maps to evaluate the city's progress on affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH) and the outcomes of recent zoning changes. He also noted state bills that would allow credits for preservation units.
  • Naomi Schiff (Oakland Heritage Alliance): During the ODS hearing, urged the commission to incorporate window muntin and alignment standards from the existing 4-8 story ODS into the new standards for historic areas.

Discussion Items: 2024 Annual Progress Reports

Planning staff Timothy Green and Housing Director Emily Weinstein presented the 2024 APRs.

Key Data:

  • In 2024, Oakland received applications for 2,665 units, entitled 2,666 units, issued building permits for 1,028 units, and issued certificates of occupancy for 2,249 units.
  • Over the first two years of the 2023-2031 RENA cycle, only 11% of the total RENA has been met. Low-income unit production reached 15% of its RENA goal, while moderate-income production lagged at 7%.
  • 2024 saw record levels of affordable housing production, with more deed-restricted affordable units permitted than market-rate units.
  • Two-thirds of permitted housing units were located in City Council Districts 1 and 2.
  • An ADU affordability survey (11% response rate) found that 81% of responding ADUs qualified as low or very low-income rentals.

Commissioner Discussion and Feedback:

  • Commissioner Ahrens: Expressed concern about prioritizing moderate-income deed-restricted rentals, providing her own analysis suggesting market rents are often below moderate-income rent caps. She questioned the framing of "essential workers" for moderate-income housing, providing examples of teacher and city worker salaries that fall into the low-income bracket. She requested vacancy data for deed-restricted moderate-income units and maps showing geographic distribution of projects.
  • Commissioner Lee: Asked staff to explore how other cities count non-deed-restricted moderate-income units towards RENA goals and requested a methodology to improve the ADU survey response rate.
  • Commissioner Randolph: Questioned ADU survey data on rent and vacancies.
  • Staff Response: Staff noted disagreements with state TCAC opportunity maps which designate much of Oakland as low-resource. They committed to exploring non-deed-restricted unit counting and developing a public mapping dashboard.

Discussion Items: Objective Design Standards (ODS) Adoption

Planner Ruslan Filipau presented the final draft of the ODS for 1-4 family dwellings and 1-3 story multifamily/mixed-use developments, continued from the June 4, 2025, meeting.

Amendments:

  • Staff proposed clarifications exempting exterior egress staircases and clarifying language for historic properties.
  • Commissioner Randolph moved an amendment to Standard 2.1.1 adding an option for a material change for at least 25% of the non-fenestrated street-facing facade as an alternative to structural articulation.

Vote:

  • The commission voted unanimously to adopt the ODS as amended and authorized staff to make future non-substantive clerical changes without returning to the commission.

Key Outcomes

  • Objective Design Standards Adopted: The new ODS were adopted unanimously with the material amendment. The effective date will align with the omnibus zoning code amendments.
  • Annual Progress Reports Acknowledged: The 2024 APRs were formally received. The commission directed staff to explore counting non-deed-restricted units towards RENA goals, create public mapping dashboards, and augment the ADU survey.
  • Minutes Approved: The minutes from the June 4, 2025, meeting were approved unanimously.

Meeting Transcript

I can deal with the ninety because you want to get into the Vegas type. Okay. I'll just present this. So I'll just take that. We can see that you get the other. I don't know if there's a word. I mean either those things. Oh, that's a crazy. I mean, yeah, but it really needs like I think I spent eight years in this school. Because there were four years of card. And the other thing is there is that buttons don't overlap very much. So I used to do the cross town. Good afternoon. This will be the June eighteenth, twenty twenty-five planning commission. We need a few minutes to get started. And once we are ready, you will know we are ready. The chair will announce the start of the meeting. Meanwhile, if you'd like to speak on an item today on the agenda or on open forum, you can pick up speaker cards where I am pointing at the front of the room and complete those and give them to Hanifa or put them in the the bin right next to where you pick those up. And if you parked at uh on seventeenth street, am I say is that 17th? Sixteenth street, I apologize. At the garage at uh Dalzeel or two fifty Franco Gawa Plaza, we do have promotional parking. Please scan the QR code at the front to and use the promotional code provided here at the front on the clipboard. And we'll let you know when we're ready to start. Thank you. Here. Commissioner Maurice Robb. Commissioner Josie Ahrens. Here. Commissioner Owen Lee. Here. Here. You have a quorum. Thank you. Okay, we'll go into Commission Business. Is there any agenda discussion? Not from the Secretary. Okay. No director's report today. Okay. And so we'll be entertaining an informational report today on the 2024 annual progress report. Hello, good afternoon. If I could have KTOP pull up the presentation. So today we're presenting on the 2024 General Plan and Housing Element Annual Progress Reports. I'm Timothy Green of Planner 3 from Planning and Building Department. We also have Emily Weinstein, the Director of Housing and Community Development, who will be presenting for certain portions of this very in-depth presentation. So just a little to start with a little background. APRs were submitted to the California Office of Land Use and Climate Climate Innovation and to State HCD on April 1st. This is the second year of reporting on the 2023 to 2031 Oakland Housing Element. In accordance with Action 5.2.11 of the adopted housing element, the city is bringing this informational report before the planning commission today. Public hearings to review and consider the APR have been conducted before the CED Committee and City Council, and a final study session will be committed conducted at the Zoning Update Committee next week.

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