Community advocates will soon ask the city of Oakland to approve a plan guiding Transit-Oriented Development, or TOD, along International Boulevard.

The TOD plan aims to define a community-driven vision of International Boulevard. If adopted by the city, the TOD plan will direct future development to occur in line with community-approved guidelines and will direct city agencies to adopt policies and undertake projects requested by the community. The plan will go before the city for adoption in a series of meetings starting Feb. 2.

The Fruitvale Transit Village presents an excellent example of a TOD and what it means to have a TOD plan. The village has a dense mixture of retail, affordable housing, a school and other community amenities, adjacent to Fruitvale BART and several AC Transit routes. The development is the result of a seven-year planning process that has won the city and its partners national praise. Through public involvement and the effective partnerships, the Fruitvale TOD plan guided the city, developers and neighborhood partners to create an attractive development that would support the needs of the community and in turn, the community would be drawn to support the business enterprises. Proponents of the International Boulevard TOD Plan are hoping to repeat and expand on that success.

The TOD planning process

The most recent BRT plan proposes 23 rapid bus stops on International Boulevard between 14th and Durant avenues. If this happens, BRT would bring at least $100 million in public transportation, crosswalks and bike lanes to the corridor, spurring additional businesses and housing near the new, more reliable and more frequent rapid bus route.

TransForm, Oakland Community Organizations and the city of Oakland recognized an opportunity to create a TOD corridor along BRT on International Boulevard. Over four years, these organizations reached out to stakeholders along the proposed BRT route, seeking to engage resident and organization participation similar to that behind the Fruitvale TOD success.

The planners designated six sub-areas to focus and guide new development along the route: San Antonio, Fruitvale, Havenscourt-Lockwood, Hegenberger/73rd, Elmhurst and Elmhurst South.  Through neighborhood outreach and public workshops, they documented the character, needs, and opportunities of each of these sub-areas. For example, San Antonio neighbors requested additional family, senior and affordable housing, among other things, while Havenscourt-Lockwood neighbors focused on their need for supermarkets, jobs and adult education opportunities. The planners highlighted specific opportunities for streetscape improvements, redevelopment, more strategically located parking and other improvements in each sub-area.

In addition to the sub-area plans, the planners drafted 19 recommendations to benefit all of International Boulevard. The majority of these recommendations are aimed at city agencies (#5 Create clear TOD standards and guidelines, #8 Improve the bicycle network, #11 Improve inter- and intra-agency coordination, etc.), but many require the cooperation of future developers (#3 Improve the Physical Appearance), business owners (#15 Enhance Job Access/Training) and neighborhood organizations (#12 Work with the Community).

If BRT brings development in the next five years, or if investment comes more slowly over 20 years without BRT, the TOD plan would be ensure that any development adheres to the wishes of the communities along International Boulevard.

Adopting and implementing the TOD Plan

After the final public workshops earlier this month, project planners are now finalizing the sub-area plans and recommendations. To become official, three city committees must approve the plan. Each committee will discuss the plan and vote in a public meeting in Oakland City Hall.

• Planning Commission, 6 p.m. Feb. 2
• City Council Community and Economic Development Committee, 2 p.m. Feb. 22
• The full City Council, 6:30 p.m. March 1

If the plan is adopted, the city will begin directing public agencies and police to implement the recommendations. Any future development would be required to adhere to the rules and policies created as a result of the TOD plan.

Joel Ramos, community planner with TransForm and one of the project’s early leaders, cautions that the real challenges will begin after the plan is adopted.

“This area has been neglected for so long, it’s easy to get people to agree that they need change… but when you start getting into the details, and discussing specific developments, that’s when we’ll see the old tensions,” he said.

Anticipating the plan’s adoption by the Council, Ramos and others are preparing to identify specific parcels, projects and funding sources to begin realizing the TOD’s vision.

The planning team hopes that their efforts to recruit community support will convince the committees to adopt the plan, but encourage supporters to email their feedback and attend the meetings to express their opinions and their own visions and priorities for the corridor.