|
To: Oakland City Councilmembers Jean Quan & Henry Chang; Raul Godinez, Director Public Works;
Claudia Cappio, Director, Planning & Zoning; Margaret Stanzione, Strategic Planning Coordinator
We, the undersigned residents of Oakland, hereby request that a natural open space park-recreation
path be formally established between 4206 and 4315 Rettig Avenue.
° This section of road along Peralta Creek is vacant of homes and has served the community as an open
space park since 1998. It is closed to traffic, yet accessible to emergency and utility vehicles.
° The community has greatly benefited for more than six years. Rettig Avenue provides an ADA friendly
“connection” from the Laurel and Redwood Heights Districts to the ONLY natural open space in the area, and
fulfills the objective of the Oakland General Plan (OSCAR, 5-33).
° Bicyclists and runners choose this scenic route. Children walk to and from school. Senior citizens
enjoy the beauty and sound of the creek throughout the day. Families push strollers and walk with small children.
Dog owners exercise their pets safely on the road. Neighbors walk together, and people with limited mobility
have access to the natural environment.
° Wildlife has also reclaimed Peralta Creek at Rettig Avenue. Owls and Red Tail Hawks have returned to
nest and raise their young in the past few years. Deer wander down the road. Even a colony of bats has found home,
again.
° Communities in Oakland have vacated streets to create parks and civic plazas and to calm traffic.
London Road, a street in the vicinity of Rettig Avenue, has remained closed since its landslide over thirty years ago.
The regional community benefits fully from the natural open space on Rettig Avenue.
We, therefore, request that an emergency and utility vehicle accessible, natural open space park-recreation path be
formally established between 4206 and 4315 Rettig.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
|
