Two months ago, the Rockridge Voice published my article arguing that Ellis Partners and Spirit Living Group were asking for more units than they are entitled to for their proposed senior care facility at 6230 Claremont Avenue.
A few weeks later, though, Oakland Planning Department staff informed attendees at a June 18 community meeting at the Rockridge Branch Library that the developers were entitled to 304 units even though they’re only proposing a building with 203 units. In my opinion, staff is dead wrong.
As a senior housing development, the 6230 Claremont project is entitled to a 20% density bonus under the State Density Bonus Law. The application of this bonus to any proposal should be straightforward: first, calculate the maximum number of units allowed under the local zoning codes, and then add another 20% of the units (the density bonus.)
But Planning Department staff has interpreted the State Density Bonus Law (DBL) to authorize not just a 20% density bonus, but a bonus of more than 112%. In so doing, staff misinterprets the local zoning code, ignores its intent, and will be establishing a dangerous precedent for all of Oakland.
Staff awards a 33% bonus by allowing the project to use Neighborhood Center Mixed Use (NCMU) densities when calculating the number of units allowed.
So, let’s understand what the NCMU classification is all about. NCMU is specified on page 149 of the Land Use and Transportation Element of Oakland’s General Plan, which says:
“Intent: The Neighborhood Center Mixed Use classification is intended to identify, create, maintain and enhance mixed use neighborhood commercial centers. These centers are typically characterized by smaller scale pedestrian-oriented, continuous street frontage with a mix of retail, housing, office, active open space, eating and drinking places, personal and business services, and smaller scale educational, cultural, or entertainment uses.”
and…
“Desired Character and Uses: Future development within this classification should be commercial or mixed uses that are pedestrian-oriented and serve nearby neighborhoods, or urban residential with ground-floor commercial.”
The facility proposed for 6230 Claremont is not commercial, has no ground-floor retail, is not pedestrian oriented (and surely not “smaller scale”!). It’s a purely residential facility. Its amenities are reserved for residents only. It’s the opposite of pedestrian oriented.
The proposal does not meet the criteria established for the Neighborhood Center Mixed Use classification. The NCMU densities should not be used in calculating maximum allowable units for 6230 Claremont.
Staff awards another 33% bonus, citing the DBL to apply a gross-to-net area conversion factor. In support, staff cites the city’s Zoning Code Bulletin (as amended March 20, 2024.) But the Bulletin does not support staff’s conclusion.
Here’s a link to that Bulletin:
https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/planning-amp-building/documents/zo/zoning-code-bulletins/zoning-code-bulletin-density-rev-3-20-24-final.pdf
The section discussing gross-to-net conversion is on pages 4 and 5 of the bulletin. It explains that gross-to-net conversion should only be done for those districts whose land maps and densities were not previously updated in the General Plan implementation that began in 2011. It lists several districts for which zoning regulations were updated, among them the CN-1 districts (the zoning for 6230 Claremont.)
In a nutshell, the Bulletin outlines a specific differentiation among zoning areas:
- The Rule: When a property's zoning has already been updated to implement the General Plan, use the density parameters explicitly written into that zone's code. The gross-to-net square footage conversion factor does not apply to these districts.
- The Exception (the Gross-to-Net Factor): The Bulletin explicitly states :"Some of the City has not been updated to implement the General Plan, such as areas with an M-10, M-20, M-30, M-40, C-40, C-45, R-80, S-1, or S-2 Zoning.” It is to these — and only these — old outdated zoning districts that the gross-to-net square footage conversion factor is to be applied.
Gross-to-net conversion should not be used in calculating the maximum allowable units for 6230 Claremont.
When Planning Department staff’s calculation of 304 allowable units for 6230 Claremont is corrected by removing the 33% bonus from applying the NCMU densities and by removing the 33% bonus from applying gross to net conversion, the result is a calculation of only 172 allowable units, even after applying the 20% state density bonus.
I want to emphasize that, by Planning Department staff’s reasoning, the gross-to-net conversion factor can be applied to all projects that fall under the State Density Bonus Law. This would apply to any proposal for senior housing or affordable housing, anywhere in the city, awarding density bonuses far greater than those based on a straightforward calculation of local base densities plus added state density bonuses. It would invite staggeringly massive proposals, even in residential areas, ominously foreshadowing a future of urban canyons and the closure of small shops throughout Oakland (as is already happening in Berkeley.)
It’s time to let city and (especially) state legislators and planners know: Enough is enough, and this is way too much.
