CITY OF HERCULES WATERFRONT BLOCKS ABCD COMMUNITY OUTREACH: VIRTUAL WORKSHOP SUMMARY| 1
City of Hercules Waterfront Blocks ABCD Community Outreach
COMMUNITY WORKSHOP SUMMARY
Workshop #1: Virtual Community Workshop
Date/Time of Meeting: Tuesday, June 7, 2022, 6:30‐8:00 pm Format: Virtual (Zoom)
MEETING PURPOSE
The City of Hercules is seeking community input on the future development of Blocks ABCD of the Waterfront District Master Plan (WDMP). A developer, Ledcor Group, has submitted an initial development proposal for Blocks ABCD of the WDMP area that does not align with the design and development regulations from the form‐based code of the WDMP . Feedback from this virtual workshop, an in‐person workshop, and an online survey will help inform decision‐making of City officials for development of Blocks ABCD.
OVERVIEW
The first community workshop for the City of Hercules Waterfront Blocks ABCD Community Outreach was attended by approximately 48 community members. 99 people registered for the meeting on Eventbrite.
Project team members from the City, PlaceWorks, Ledcor Group, and WHA were also present. It took place in an online format via Zoom.
The meeting began with a welcome greeting from Tim
Rood, the City’s new Community Development Director .
At the beginning of the meeting, the project team
launched a Zoom icebreaker poll to get a sense of who
was joining the meeting. Most of the participants live
near the Hercules Waterfront. There were also several
people in attendance who live in another part of
Hercules, not near the Waterfront. Few people in
attendance live outside of Hercules.
Tim Rood and Bruce Brubaker, Principal of PlaceWorks,
gave a presentation on the Waterfront District Master Plan (WDMP). Tim Rood provided information on the background and previous planning efforts about the WDMP and the vision of the WDMP . Bruce Brubaker presented on the various standards required by the WDMP’s form‐based code, including block configuration and regulating zones, building heights, circulation, street design, civic spaces, public view corridors, and development potential.
The Development Director of Ledcor, Marni‐Lyn Fox, then presented an overview of the Ledcor proposal for Blocks ABCD that included an overview of the site plan and constraints with construction. Denise Ashton from WHA presented more detail on the Ledcor Proposal, showing images of renderings of the potential project at different viewpoints and providing a comparison of views from existing townhomes. A brief Q&A session followed the presentation.
CITY OF HERCULES WATERFRONT BLOCKS ABCD COMMUNITY OUTREACH: VIRTUAL WORKSHOP SUMMARY| 2
Attendees participated in a breakout room discussions in four randomized groups of 10‐12 community members each. Each group had a PlaceWorks staff facilitator and a member of the Ledcor development team. Facilitators shared their screen and used Google Jamboard to present and compare the WDMP and Ledcor development schemes to help guide discussion, while taking notes in the form of “sticky notes” to record open‐ended questions, comments, and/or concerns made by the community members. Each group had the opportunity to discuss various topics that were described in the presentation, including the vision, block configuration and regulating zones, building heights, circulation, pedestrian circulation, street designs of Neighborhood Street II and Access Alleys, civic spaces, public view corridors, development potential, and bird’s eye view perspectives. The topics and key takeaways are described in the next section of this summary.
At the end of the meeting, PlaceWorks described the project’s next steps and encouraged everyone to take the online survey to give further input. The link to the online survey at https://arcg.is/1bjT4n was shared on the screen for people to access during the following report back (the survey will remain open until 6/29/22). Contact information for Hercules’ Community Development Director, Timothy Rood, was also provided at [email protected] or (510) 799‐8251.
Following the focus group discussions, facilitators for each group reported back to the entire group, highlighting key discussion items and themes from their group.
CITY OF HERCULES WATERFRONT BLOCKS ABCD COMMUNITY OUTREACH: VIRTUAL WORKSHOP SUMMARY| 3
BREAKOUT ROOM DISCUSSIONS – KEY TAKEAWAYS
This section summarizes the key themes and commonly stated comments from the breakout room discussions. A sample of the Google Jamboard slides is attached at the end of this summary.
Vision
Ledcor’s Proposal is a departure from the WDMP and the character of Hercules should follow the WDMP .
Ledcor Proposal should consider for‐sale instead of rental of residential units to avoid saturating the market.
Hercules should not be solely a bedroom community.
Some like the Ledcor Proposal or prefer it over the WDMP because they do not want more retail in the City.
WDMP maintains the character of Hercules, while the Ledcor Proposal has standard “run‐of‐the‐mill” townhomes.
Ledcor Proposal lacks a town center .
The alley type streets in the Ledcor Proposal are mostly garage doors. Ledcor Proposal is lacking a lot of the amenities that the WDMP offers. People do not want to dismiss the possibility of a transit station in the WDMP and would like to see this factored into the design of Blocks ABCD.
Building Heights
Building heights of buildings directly adjacent to the bayfront should be zero to maintain access to the bay.
Circulation
Concern about traffic, access points for transit and ferries, along with vehicular access to the bayfront. Incorporate designated bike lanes into the street design.
Pedestrian Circulation
WDMP circulation scheme is desired because it puts a greater emphasis on the pedestrian environment and walkability, which is very important to the Hercules community. Concern that there is not enough parking on the site. The direct connection from the Administration Building to the bayfront was a favorable addition in the Ledcor Proposal. Ledcor Proposal does not seem very walkable; there are not many places to walk to in this layout, even with the proposed layout of open spaces.
Civic Spaces
Larger parks are desired over pocket parks. Suggestion to remove more homes to create space for larger park.
CITY OF HERCULES WATERFRONT BLOCKS ABCD COMMUNITY OUTREACH: VIRTUAL WORKSHOP SUMMARY| 4
Civic space is lacking to create a walkable environment for the community, especially for adjacent residents.
Public View Corridors
Concern that views will be blocked in Block D in the Ledcor Proposal. One comment about highlighting view to Mount Tam.
Development Potential
Desire for more retail and office in this area of the waterfront rather than “privatization of the bayfront edge” with the building of primarily residential homes. With there being no retail and office space in Ledcor’s Proposal, this type of development should be at least reallocated to other parts of the WDMP instead of not building at all. Desire for economic development and opportunity.
Some felt Blocks ABCD was never a good location for retail. Historic building should be used as a community clubhouse, like the Brazil Room. Character and architecture of new residential should be consistent with the existing historic charm of the city.