Mayor Anderson, who was reportedly upset that a majority of planning commissioners appointed by her rejected the EIR for Point Richmond Shores appears to now be joining critics of the project. In a letter dated October 5, 2006, to the Coalition of Concerned Citizens of Point Richmond, Mayor Anderson writes: “However, I also agree with you that the project currently proposed by Toll Brothers doesn’t yet fit expectations of the potential for that site. It does not appear to take full advantage of the shoreline and clearly, Toll Brothers has not been able to find a middle ground with your community.”

 

The mayor’s solution is to hold a facilitated design charette as a way of trying to reach an accommodation between Toll Brothers and the community. Although Toll Brothers has gotten and rejected plenty of design advice from the Design Review Board as well as professionals brought in by the Coalition of Concerned Citizens of Point Richmond, the design charette is certainly worth trying.

 

Unfortunately, incumbent candidates will not have to actually vote on the Point Richmond Shores EIR certification appeal until after the election. As I wrote in Planning Commission Rejects Point Richmond Shores EIR, September 08, 2006, “…I believe staff and some City Council members will conspire to keep this off the City Council agenda until the November election is over so that candidates will not have to commit. The appeal has to be filed by September 18, but that leaves only about six weeks for the City Council to schedule and hold a hearing, plenty of time to delay it until after the election.

 

As it has come to pass, there is almost no way that this appeal can happen before the election, even if the hearing date is set at the next City Council meeting on October 17, as I have requested.