Community Weights Quarry Future

by Toni Locke

The Leona Quarry has been paving the streets of Oakland and the Bay Area for a hundred years. Now, quarrying has wound down, leaving the ugly gash that defaces the Oakland Hills where Edwards Avenue winds up to Route 580. Gallagher & Burke Gravel Co., for 50 years quarry owners, never began the reclamation process mandated by city and state environmental laws. Instead, three years ago they turned over their control to the Oliver DeSilva Group, developers out of Dublin.

The current DeSilva plan is for 600 to 700 units of dense housing legally permissible under Oakland zoning on 25 of the quarry's 130 acres along Hwy 580. These are watershed acres, rising abruptly from 300 to 1,000 feet above sea level, prone to floods and slides, the terrain being only one of many serious concerns about the plan.

Fortunately, an organized community is fully engaged in dialogue with the developers in a series of public meetings. DeSilva Project managers Aidan Barry and David Chapman had tried to contrive small house meetings to win allies, but an aroused public demanded legally noticed public discourse. The first two meetings in May filled St. Cuthbert's Church at Keller and Mountain. Hundreds of concerned residents poured out to study and question the DeSilva plan. Councilmembers Reid and Mayne came with staff, as did Supervisor Nate Miley, and others.

Leadership came from Nancy Sidebotham, president of the Millsmont Homeowners Association (and recent City Council candidate for District 6), who helped organize the united action that defeated the previous DeSilva plan for big-box retail for the same site in 1997. Community spokespersons had done their homework. A barrage of questions covered drainage, earthquake, schools, traffic, the fate of Edwards Avenue, all issues demanding an Environmental Impact Report yet to be prepared.

The public has been invited by DeSilva representatives to continue in the discussions at an open house at the quarry on June 2 at 10 a.m., and at gatherings on June 7 and June 21 respectively, at the Merritt College Cafeteria, Building R, at 7 p.m. The developers are looking for a return on their investment and have put together a professional group of experts to do the job. Oakland residents are being urged by neighborhood leaders to stay the course and keep all issues public.

People don't forget that Ed DeSilva engineered the return of the Raiders and got out of that back door deal free and clear while taxpayers are saddled with $100 million of debt.

Oakland residents are wary and want sunshine on all negotiations. They seem willing to use the democratic process to fight for a decent quality of life for all for now and the future, rather than settling for a quick fix for shrinking city coffers, and overfilling already well-stuffed pockets. A good compromise deal could bring needed housing plus amenities and green space expansion too.

Some kind of project will take place at the quarry site. What that is and how the community pulls together in this situation will affect the quality of life and the future development of the Central East Oakland Hill area. For more information, e-mail Nancy Sidebotham at nannystu\@pacbell.net, or call her at 635-2678, or fax 635-2678. Or contact David Chapman, Project Manager for the DeSilva Group, at (925) 828-7999.