AGENDA REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor, the
City Council and Public
FROM: Councilmember At-Large
Rebecca Kaplan
SUBJECT: Resolution
Adopting a City of Oakland
Safety Facilities Plan
DATE: 5/2/2024
RECOMMENDATION:
RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE OAKLAND SAFETY FACILITIES
PLAN, IDENTIFYING SITES FOR ACQUISITION, DEVELOPMENT
AND/OR IMPROVEMENTS, AUTHORIZING THE CITY
ADMINISTRATOR TO ENTER INTO NEGOTIATIONS FOR
SPECIFIED IMPROVEMENTS TO EXISTING SAFETY FACILITIES
AND ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SAFETY
FACILITIES, AND ADOPTING FINDINGS UNDER THE CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Multiple requests have been made over the years to improve outdated safety facilities in Oakland. These requests have come from numerous sources, including administrative memoranda, the workforce, community stakeholders, and Council resolutions. Recently, an Administrative Memo evaluated options and provided recommendations, including to pursue new options to finance and deliver such facilities. This Resolution builds on the recommendations from that report, and provides next steps toward implementation.
The City Council finds it urgent and expeditious to expand, update, relocate, and improve Oakland's safety facilities. Such action will improve the responsiveness and effectiveness of police, fire, and other essential functions. In addition to a quicker response time, investing in crime lab improvements, 911 dispatch, multi-departmental crisis safety training, fire prevention, driver safety training, accident prevention, and disaster preparedness, developing and revitalizing public facilities in the City will enhance community safety and public services. This will also allow us to improve conditions for the public and the workforce and the better use of public resources.
For example, the Police Department Administration Building (PAB), currently located on the block bounded by 7th Street, Broadway, Washington Street, and 6th Street, is in poor condition
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for the current functions but is an ideal location for mixed-use, transit-oriented development that could complement and connect the Broadway corridor, waterfront, Old Oakland, Chinatown and beyond and better serve community needs.
The Safety Facilities resolution is not limited to the PAB. The resolution identifies strategies for multiple needs through the use of several sites throughout the City. This plan includes recommending a new state-of-the-art crime lab near the West Oakland BART station as a new site to develop. By investing in new crime-solving technology, Oakland can better analyze evidence and solve crimes. The West Oakland BART Project includes developing a multi- departmental communication dispatch facility that can house Police, Fire, 911, and 311. With the presence of high-speed data connections and power from uninterrupted power supply, the use of this location can help ensure power failures never impact public responsibilities and more effective data access. This would also enable being a part of a broader, mixed-use transit- oriented development, spark revitalization, and improve conditions for the workforce and the public.
Investing in developing and revitalizing Oakland’s old and outdated facilities can boost the public and private sectors. Upgrading the hardware, software, and infrastructure necessary to address present public safety challenges will enhance public safety and ultimately deliver a safer City. These facilities will be constructed in underdeveloped areas near mass transit, improving public access to municipal services and more.
The Oakland administration researched the issues related to Oakland’s needs for improved facilities for public safety and related functions and produced a report containing recommended next steps for the development of such facilities, including pursuing multiple facilities for different functions and pursuing public-private partnerships.
The City’s Economic and Workforce Development Department provided a memorandum dated March 21, 2023 (the PAB Memo) to the City Council regarding replacing the existing PAB and safety facilities in the City.
1 (Click here for memo). The PAB Memo recommended locating some PAB functions at separate locations rather than a single site. Furthermore, it acknowledged that there are existing separate sites that should be considered for the future. Subsequent to the publication of the 2017 Report, the OPD also identified the need for a police driver training facility, and other City departments have also experienced the need for driver training, and problems that happen when drivers are not adequately trained. Thus, the City should pursue the inclusion of delivery of a driver training course (separate from buildings).
This recommendation identifies site improvements for each function, including interim locations during the construction of new facilities, locations to add new facilities, and locations to improve and expand existing facilities as follows:
1 https://cao-94612.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/Combined-Info-Memo-PAB-3.2023_2023-03-21- 182855_nskk.pdf
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• New sites to develop:
o New state-of-the-art Crime lab, and multi-departmental communications dispatch facility (including OPD, Fire, 911, 311) with high speed data access, uninterruptable power supply, by West Oakland BART (Mandela).
o New multi-agency Training facilities, including driver training course, 360-degree state of the art training range, education and meeting facilities, records, CORE, academy, public permits and information, and related public functions, in the Coliseum area.
• Existing Sites to improve and expand:
o City Hall Plaza (improve use and space of existing OPD office in City Hall Plaza) o Eastmont (improve existing Eastmont police facility, expand capacity, add command/operations functions, add community-serving space, and add multi- departmental functions).
• Existing Sites to become available for new uses:
o Existing Oakland PAB
o Existing 911 dispatch center
• Interim site:
o Arena center (aka Zhone technology site) on Oakport, to use in the interim during construction.
As we seek to develop needed facilities, according to the administrative memo, a new financing approach "could, for example, yield a lease-back financing structure under which a facility could be built and financed by a private party to the City’s specifications, with the financing secured by the City’s long-term lease of that facility. This would allow the City to avoid taking on the large up-front debt required by traditional public financing strategies. There are several examples of public entities pursuing this approach in and beyond California." Thus, we also advance that recommendation to incorporate public-private partnerships and lease options to enable a fiscally responsible and viable strategy.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The Oakland Police Department (OPD) has occupied the existing PAB at 7th Street and Broadway as its main facility since the early 1960s. In the intervening years, space constraints have led to the relocation of significant components to other locations, including satellite patrol operations and supporting functions at the Eastmont Substation, 911 communications, and the Internal Affairs Division. The PAB will have essential programming needs that are critical to the delivery of public safety services. It will also require programming for non-essential services. To evaluate the viability of alternative sites, the 2017 Report (the 2017 Report) sought to understand which programmed functions had to be co-located and which could be housed in secondary structures on the same site or even at other alternative sites. Three-component groupings were developed to define the co-housing of key departmental functions.
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The existing PAB, consisting of three structures collocated in downtown Oakland, is over 50 years old and, like any older structure, has building components that are outdated.
The 2017 report also determined that the existing PAB did not meet functional needs and space requirements. For example, the tower portion of the PAB building has small floor plates. As a result, departments are distributed vertically and connected by three elevators that are well beyond their service life. Small floor plates also do not offer the flexibility for departments to expand or easily share amenities such as break rooms, conference rooms, and copy/storage areas.
Essential services buildings need to withstand the strongest anticipated forces generated by winds and major earthquakes at the building site without catastrophic collapse and shall remain functional to provide critical services to the public after a disaster. The existing PAB falls short of meeting the requirements of contemporary Essential Services standards.
Furthermore, the space limitations are impeding crime solving. The Crime Lab needs additional space to operate effectively and fully staff it with an adequate number of technicians. The spaces for records and property evidence are also facing capacity challenges.
The study recommended replacing the current PAB with new facilities that meet the public's current and future needs and contemporary safety standards. Additionally, we have identified the benefits and needs of revitalizing the location currently occupied by the PAB, on a major commercial corridor (Broadway) which could be better used. Furthermore, City Council Resolution No. 89037 authorized the relocation of PAB functions from its current site to new locations that meet modern standards and provide improved public service. The Council authorized issuing a Notice of Development Opportunity for a mixed-use development project meeting specific requirements on the current PAB site.
Redeveloping the PAB and other public facilities will enhance municipal services for the wider public and promote Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in the vicinity. For instance, the West
Oakland BART Project w ill include modern public facilities and construct mixed -use buildings for commercial and residential purposes, on a major transit hub at the heart of the region.
Another example is the Coliseum area, which has been approved by the City Council for revitalization and development, including housing, sports, hospitality, retail, and more, and which could house new multi-agency training facilities, including a driver training course, education, and meeting facilities, records, CORE academy, public permits and information, and related public functions.
The Oakland City Council, in 2022, authorized the City Administrator to issue a Notice of Development Opportunity (NODO) seeking private developers to develop mixed-use buildings and infrastructure at the PAB site. The legislation cited the necessity to develop and revitalize the PAB site. As noted in the legislation, the area is in the perfect position to “ activate downtown
Oakland”2. By activating the site with mixed-unit development, the public will benefit from increased activity, new ongoing jobs, and new housing.
2 https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5361862&GUID=3BAB1CC5- 39EF-43F2-9247- 3115D205D39F&Options=ID|Text|&Search=6th+street
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ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
When considering how to effectively implement the recommendations made over the years regarding the condition of safety facilities in the City, particularly the studies mentioned above, the most practical and efficient approach is to authorize the City Administrator to execute the methods and procedures outlined in the Resolution for the improvement and growth of safety facilities. This will enable the Administration to take the next steps to pursue negotiation for the development of identified new facilities and improvements to identified existing facilities promptly and efficiently. By incorporating private-public partnerships and multi-departmental facilities in accessible locations, we can better serve our public and workforce more efficiently.
If we delay action, it will take longer to redevelop needed facilities that have been recommended reducing our ability to better utilize public resources. Failing to act will negatively impact public services due to ineffective facilities. Furthermore, continuing to maintain aging facilities causes additional expenditures and, thus, inefficient resource use.
Adopting this resolution will authorize the City Administrator to negotiate for the development and revitalization of public facilities, improve training, crime solving, firefighting, and 911 response, better utilize resources, and promote important mixed-use developments.
FISCAL IMPACT
Redevelopment and new development of the proposed sites mentioned will create new jobs and services for the City’s population and spur new sales tax, business tax, etc., and the development of new housing and commercial development, which support the City’s needs and the City’s General Fund.
By advancing action toward the recommended projects, we enable action toward more efficient public services, thus expediting and executing the public's needs. These investments will spur mixed-use projects, including affordable transit-oriented housing and community health centers.
It will also reduce the harms and costs of maintaining outdated facilities.
PUBLIC OUTREACH/INTEREST
This proposal was based on extensive research of multiple safety facilities reports and studies, including prior adopted Council actions, stakeholder input, and public comments regarding public safety facilities.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic:
The projects supported by this resolution can boost the local economy by creating job opportunities and constructing new buildings. These projects will create ongoing jobs, generate new property tax revenues, stimulate economic activity, and boost the City’s General Fund revenue. Funds saved from maintaining older facilities can support these actions.
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Environmental:
Projects identified in this resolution can improve infrastructure to meet new environmental standards conscious of climate change and health concerns. By promoting transit-oriented development, the identified sites also reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.
Social Equity:
Investing in developing and revitalizing public facilities throughout the City can significantly improve essential needs and services, including by providing services in parts of the city that have historically been under-served. Improved crime lab and communications dispatch facilities can improve conditions for the workforce while also helping to resolve the disparate impact which hard-hit communities face when such services are inadequate, and create job opportunities in underutilized areas. This new facility can facilitate better services to the public by investing in power sources that are resilient to power outages caused by natural disasters and other unpredictable events.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE OAKLAND SAFETY FACILITIES
PLAN, IDENTIFYING SITES FOR ACQUISITION, DEVELOPMENT
AND/OR IMPROVEMENTS, AUTHORIZING THE CITY
ADMINISTRATOR TO ENTER INTO NEGOTIATIONS FOR
SPECIFIED IMPROVEMENTS TO EXISTING SAFETY FACILITIES
AND ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SAFETY
FACILITIES, AND ADOPTING FINDINGS UNDER THE CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT
For questions regarding this report, please get in touch with Michael Alvarenga, Legislative Analyst, at [email protected]
Respectfully submitted,
Councilmember Kaplan
At-Large District
Prepared by:
Michael Alvarenga, Legislative Analyst
Office of Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan