WUDO...Where on Earth Have You Been??

Truth??

Like so many of you… we’ve spent the better part of this hot mess otherwise known as 2020 Doomscrolling, drinking through the obscure bottles of specialty booze in our liquor cabinets and re-learning 5th grade math.  Here now,  we find ourselves well into a Pandemic summer that has put the brakes on oh so many plans. Except that is, plans for renewal in Downtown Orinda, which has seen a LOT of momentum in the past several months! Given this exciting fact, we realized it was time to put down the wine glass and get back to work. This is a critical time for us as Orinda citizens, and an exciting opportunity to get our valuable opinions voiced and heard. 

Here’s a quick update on What’s Up in Downtown Orinda lately…

The Orinda Downtown Precise Plan (DPP) is moving forward.  The City of Orinda has been slowly plugging away at a revised Downtown Precise Plan (DPP) that will address at long last a decades old conversation about how to thoughtfully modernize Orinda’s Downtown district.  Much work has been done to identify ‘existing conditions’ including current zoning, land usage and structures and Orinda’s DPP would update the City’s downtown development standards and create objective design standards for multi-family residential and mixed-use projects. If adopted, the plan will allow Orinda to meet California state housing mandates while laying groundwork for amenities we want Downtown—everything from retail and pathways, to parking and permitting.   To accomplish this monumental and long overdue task, they need our support! 

WUDO Action Items: 

‘Attend’ a Zoom meeting of the Council's Subcommittee on Downtown Planning. Info on the Downtown Precise Plan (DPP) process can be found here and the link for an upcoming Community Workshop on July 28th can be found here. Announcements for these meetings are in Orinda Outlook.  You can sign up for Orinda Outlook here.

 If Zoom meetings aren’t your thing, why not write a letter to a local paper showing your support of the Downtown Precise Plan (DPP)?  The more letters of support, the better. A sample letter that you can edit to your liking can be found here. Letters can be submitted to the Orinda News (Deadline 8/8) here and Lamorinda Weekly (Deadline 7/31) here. 

While you’re at it, send a quick email expressing your support of the DPP to City Clerk Sheri Smith. City Council needs to hear from Orinda residents who support the development of the Downtown Precise Plan (DPP). Even a short note saying YES this is a good idea will suffice! Sheri can be reached at ssmith@cityoforinda.org 

And...after much ado, coming soon to the lot at 25A Orinda Way...The Station!   Where Food, Family and Fun Converge (their words, not ours but we are here for all of it).  The Station has been approved as a multi-use retail + commercial plaza featuring restaurants, shops, offices and other lifestyle experiences.  We could not be more excited with the final iteration of the project, which checks many of the boxes on our wishlist for Downtown.

WUDO Action Item: 

Sign on to become a supporter. The developers need to hear from us to show our support of this project.  Simply click on the ‘Support the Movement’ button on the website to sign up to be notified of developments and upcoming City planning meetings where the project will be discussed.

Wow...a lot of progress happening right now.  As always, our mission is to inform, educate and inspire you to get involved in helping to make Orinda’s Downtown a place we all want to be.  Stay tuned for more info to come shortly on how Orinda businesses are coming up with innovative ways to survive during the pandemic.  

~WUDO Steering Committee 

An Updated Plan for Downtown? Sounds Good to Us.

The City of Orinda is considering RFPs for the revision of our downtown plan. Revisions would provide clear direction to individuals and entities interested in improving or developing (e.g.: the vacant lot at 25A Orinda Way) in the downtown commercial district. Clear direction means a streamlined approval process and demonstrates the city’s interest in an improved downtown, which will attracted experienced developers and spark interest in our downtown. This is a good thing. Orinda needs this.

In many states cities are required to review and updated their general plans every 10 years at an expense that would equal or surpass the expense that the city is considering taking on. In many states, every ten years every city reviews, assesses and revises. Orinda is proposing that we consider only one portion of our plan, the downtown portion.

The downtown district of Orinda should be seen as part of our community’s infrastructure; updating and maintaining this infrastructure should be a high priority. Our lack of attention to this matter suggests to investors, businesses and developers that we as a community just don’t care what happens downtown ... it’s exhausting, but we care.

If you care, too, please take a minute to write an email to the city letting them know that you support the city council exploring this effort and expense. This issue is currently up for discussion and the city has heard from many of residents, some for and some against revising our downtown plan. Please speak up and let your views be heard.

Vote for your Favorite Downtown Projects by Feb 15th

Last Tuesday night, roughly 150 enthusiastic Orindans showed up for a ConnectOrinda community workshop to weigh in on 19 potential Downtown projects in consideration. The event was full of positive energy and excitement for many of these concepts. 

Potential projects ranged in scope from bigger infrastructure changes to cosmetic improvements, such as,

• Moving the Eastbound 24 on ramp out of the Theater District

• Planning for more creek access in the future

• Improved bike paths, walkways and lighting around downtown and BART

• Beautifying Vashell Way, the alley across from Theater Square to add outdoor dining

• Rain proofing the casual carpool waiting line

• Adding parklets and more artwork around town 
   

Here's where you come in...

Knowing many would not be able to attend, the planning team has created an online portal for you to read up and weigh in. Please take a few minutes to click here, browse and "Like" your favorite projects. Note there are two tabs - projects and infrastructure. The ConnectOrinda team is requesting as much community feedback as possible before next Friday, Feb 15th at 5:00 PM. 

You can also read the more detailed staff report or view the physical boards from the event at the Community Center outside the founder's auditorium. Questions can also be directed to Adam Foster at afoster@cityoforinda.org or call 925-726-1749.

After the votes are tallied, the ConnectOrinda team will compile the data to present back to city council on March 5th. 

ConnectOrinda Needs You!

Tomorrow night Orinda' City Council will hold a special workshop for interested parties to weigh in on the plans for “ConnectOrinda” - the City’s current initiative to improve our downtown areas. Care about the creek? Want more bike paths? Curious about signage improvements or how we can make Orinda more walkable?

Please show up to listen, learn and provide feedback on various projects. See you there!

The Final Countdown: Dennis, Nick and Amy for City Council

Post-Election Update: WUDO’s picks for city council won by a wide margin! Congrats to Amy, Nick and Dennis. We look forward to working with you to make Orinda better for future generations!

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Local Elections: The End Game = A Better Downtown

We are off to the races! The race for Orinda City Council that is. The deadline is tomorrow for Orinda to cast its votes for three candidates to fill three seats for the next three years.  Yes three is the magic number.

As a reminder, WUDO is endorsing three candidates for City Council: Dennis Fay, Nick Kosla and incumbent, Amy Worth.  We believe each of these candidates has the combination of experience and motivation to get our downtown moving in the right direction.  If you choose to read no further, please get out there and VOTE for Dennis, Nick and Amy.

Now the Why...

Here at WUDO, it’s obvious that we’ve been following this race  closely. Heck, we’ve been following every step of the downtown conversation closely…for years.  We’ve dedicated hundreds of hours to gathering information, studying the facts, learning the history, speaking to business owners, building owners and the city, organizing events and most importantly attending city council meetings to try to move things along.

Throughout this process, we have concluded that incumbent candidate Eve Phillips is not a candidate who will move downtown forward. Although her PR message is “pro downtown” Phillips has clearly demonstrated the opposite position, time and again, vote after vote.

Back in July 2015, Phillips voted against even starting the conversation about downtown revitalization (Orinda City Council Meeting held July 21st, 2015). In 2016, Phillips voted against bringing in thought leaders from outside agencies. And earlier this year, Phillips voted against a plan to improve downtown Orinda’s streetscape. The list goes on and on. Again and again at council meeting after council meeting, Phillips is predictably a “no” on nearly every downtown related issue.

Please, if you are on the fence at the polls tomorrow, don’t let campaign rhetoric fool you. Eve Phillips is demonstrably not in favor of progress for Orinda’s downtown. Nick Kosla, Dennis Fay and Amy Worth are qualified and ready to move forward. Please spread the word and vote Dennis, Nick and Amy for City Council. They are our ticket to a better downtown.

Fay, Kosla and Worth: WUDO’s Picks for Orinda City Council.

This November, three open seats on Orinda’s City Council signal a potential turning point for progress with Orinda’s downtown.  Three candidates in particular, Dennis Fay and Nick Kosla and Amy Worth represent Orindans BEST prospect for momentum in the process of Downtown renewal.

Fay, Kosla and Worth each offer a wealth of experience on issues pertaining to Orinda’s Downtown.  Dennis Fay, a former chair of the Citizens’ Infrastructure and Oversight Committee (CIOC) was instrumental in the development of Orinda’s program to repair its roads. Nick Kosla’s experience as Chair of the Orinda Planning Commission will be invaluable in future Council discussions about land use and business development in Orinda’s Downtown.  Amy Worth is currently serving as Mayor in her 4th term on Orinda’s City Council and has a proven voting record on thoughtful Downtown revitalization including leveraging the input of two independent consulting firms (The Urban Land Institute and Main Street America) to provide options for downtown renewal, and most recently, the green lighting of the Master Streetscape Plan which kicks off October 13th.

The addition of these three highly qualified and forward-thinking candidates to Orinda’s City Council is exactly what we need to move forward with downtown.  We offer our endorsement and urge others to vote for Dennis Fay, Nick Kosla and Amy Worth for Orinda City Council on November 6th.

Want to Help? It’s Simple.

Beyond voting, we encourage you to take it a step further and help these candidates win on November 6th. Visit each candidates’ website to volunteer to spread the word, host a yard sign or donate. Forward this message to your friends and neighbors to let them know who you’ll be voting for on November 6th. Get out the word, then get out and vote!

www.koslaforcouncil.org

www.dennis4orinda.org

www.AmyWorthForOrinda.com (Coming soon!)

ConnectOrinda Event, Oct 13, 2018

Wouldn’t it be lovely if the walk from the Village side of downtown to the Theater side were seamless and pleasant? What if our sidewalks were widened, or the maze of parking spaces near Rite Aid were organized? What if the creek were unearthed and along side it there were a pleasant walking path? So many good ideas float around, and hopefully some will be put into action soon via the Orinda Streetscape Master Plan.

The city planning department is kicking off the Streetscape effort on Saturday, October 13th with a community event from 10 AM - 2 PM. Take a walking tour and share your ideas, compete in a scavenger hunt, and get in on the planning. It’s happening at Library Plaza and we hope to see you there! Learn more at http://www.cityoforinda.org/connectorinda.

Simple Math: Food Trucks + Friends = Fun

Its no secret that we at What's Up Downtown Orinda are fans of food trucks.  Who doesn't welcome the opportunity to get out of the house on Thursday evening and gather with friends and family for a little food and fun ... all conveniently located in our very own downtown.  Bonus: we don't have to do the cooking.

Since last Summer, we have been enjoying Orinda's Taste of the World Thursday Night Street Feast.  Our sense is that many of you have been, too.  Did you know that next Monday, May 14th at 7pm the City Council will be looking into making the weekly Thursday night food truck pilot program a permanent fixture on Orinda's event calendar?  After engaging in a formal RFP process, the council will be reviewing a proposal from Taste of the World Market and discussing what shape this event will take going forward.

We would love to know how you feel about the Thursday Night Street Feast.  Do you love it and want to see the event continue?  Can it be improved?  Haven't been yet?  Well, why not?  Want to see more events like it?  Please send your feedback to City Clerk Sheri Smith at ssmith@cityoforinda.org, or better yet, come to the City Council Meeting on Monday, May 14th at 7pm and be a part of the process.