CED Committee
November 18, 2025
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin Johnson FROM: William A. Gilchrist
City Administrator Director, PBD
SUBJECT: Memorandum of Agreement for 30
Blair Place
DATE: October 17, 2025
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Enter Into A Memorandum Of Agreement With The City Of Piedmont Establishing That The City Of Piedmont Will Process Planning Entitlements And Building Permits For A 551 Square- foot Addition and Remodel Of An Existing Single -Family Dwelling At 30 Blair Place, A Property Located Within Both Jurisdictions; And Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the proposed resolution to authorize the City Administrator to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (“MOA”) with the City of Piedmont for the construction of a 551 square-foot addition containing the expansion of a bedroom, bathroom, and family room, as well as an interior remodel of a single-family dwelling (“Project”) at 30 Blair Place (“Property”). The Property is located within both jurisdictions and the MOA will allow the City of Piedmont to act as the lead agency for the issuance of planning and building permits for the proposed development.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Property Description
The Property consists of one lot, but two tax parcels (Assessor Parcel Numbers 051 471001300 and 051 471001400 ), and an existing single- family home. The lot straddles the Piedmont/Oakland border. A legal description and assessor parcel map for the Property is provided as Attachment A. The lot is bisected by the jurisdiction line at an angle resulting in the majority of the lot, 4,665 square-feet, being located in Piedmont and the remaining 3,788 square- feet located in Oakland. Of the existing 3,284 square-foot residence, approximately 1,729 square- feet is located in the City of Oakland and 1,555 square feet is located in the City of Piedmont. The Property is located at the end of a dead-end street and is bounded by single-family properties.
When considering properties bisected by the border between the City of Piedmont and the City of Oakland, by long-standing arrangement between the cities, certain properties are considered Jestin Johnson (Oct 30, 2025 10:02:56 PDT)
Oct 30, 2025
Jestin Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Memorandum of Agreement for 30 Blair Place
Date: October 17, 2025 Page 2
CED Committee
November 18, 2025
Piedmont properties for the purposes of providing 911 emergency and other municipal services, and certain properties are considered Oakland properties for the purposes of providing 911 emergency and other municipal services. The Property is considered a Piedmont property eligible for Piedmont 911 emergency services, municipal waste removal services, access to the Piedmont Unified School District schools, and other municipal services. The neighboring residences which have vehicular and pedestrian access to Blair Place are also considered Piedmont properties for these same services except for the property located directly across the street which is accessed off Harbord Drive in the City of Oakland.
On February 26, 2019, the Oakland City Council and Piedmont City Council each adopted resolutions to allow for the demolition of the existing house on this lot and the construction of a new 4,084 square -foot single- family home. Both jurisdictions had also entered into a Memorandum of Agreement, through which both cities agreed that all required permits for land use and building inspections be processed by the City of Piedmont (Attachment B). This project was not pursued; therefore, the prior MOA is no longer applicable.
The Oakland City Council has adopted several resolutions in the past allowing another jurisdiction to act as the lead agency for the issuance of planning and building permits including an Accessory Dwelling Unit at 1086 Annerley, the remodel of a single- family residence and conversion of an existing garage to an Accessory Dwelling Unit at 571 Crofton, and an addition to a single- family dwelling at both 513 Boulevard Way and 183 Somerset Road, all in the City of Piedmont with the City of Piedmont taking permitting authority.
Project
The development applicant seeks to remodel the existing home and construct a 473 square-foot addition under the existing rear deck on the lower level to expand a bedroom and family home and construct a 78 square-foot addition on the right-side to expand the bedrooms and bathrooms (Attachment C). The total addition is 551 square-feet, of which 226 feet (less than half) is in the City of Oakland.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
City of Oakland Zoning
The portion of the Property located in the City of Oakland is within the Hillside Residential Zone - 4 (RH-4) Zone per the Oakland Planning Code. Staff has reviewed the proposal and found that that Project complies with all the zoning requirements. Further, if the Project were to be processed by the City of Oakland, it would be processed as a Small Project Design Review permit as the proposed additions are over 10% of the existing floor area. Small Project Design Review permits which meet the Small Project Design Review criteria and Objective Design Standards are not subject to public notice and are not appealable.
Analysis
The applicant has requested that all required permits for land use and building inspections be processed by the City of Piedmont. Staff supports this request for the following reasons:
Jestin Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Memorandum of Agreement for 30 Blair Place
Date: October 17, 2025 Page 3
CED Committee
November 18, 2025
• The City of Piedmont has historically dealt with permitting at this Property;
• The orientation of the existing home is on a street served exclusively by the City of Piedmont;
• The City of Piedmont will provide the residence with 911 emergency services, municipal waste removal services, access to Piedmont Unified School District schools, and other municipal services.
• The majority of the proposed addition will be within the City of Piedmont.
In order to efficiently consider the Project, the Cities of Oakland and Piedmont desire to enter into an MOA to memorialize the designation of Piedmont as the lead agency for the purposes of both land use approvals and building inspection of the Project, including but not limited to issuance of building and occupancy permits, and the provision of 911 and other municipal services to the Project, consistent with the terms and conditions contained in the draft MOA (Attachment D) and to ensure that the City of Oakland will not be negatively impacted by the proposal:
• The City of Piedmont will be the lead agency for all land use approvals regarding the Project;
• The City of Piedmont will be responsible for building permit issuance, plan check, issuance of certificates of occupancy, building inspections and similar activities for the entire Project consistent with the appropriate procedures, fees, and standards of Piedmont;
• The Piedmont Fire Department will be responsible for the provision of emergency and public safety services to the Property, including those portions located in the City of Oakland; and
• The City of Piedmont will continue to provide municipal waste removal services, access to the Piedmont Unified School District schools, and other municipal services to the Property.
Staff Recommendation
Staff’s analysis of the site and of the proposed development located within both city jurisdictions supports the creation of an MOA between the City of Oakland and the City of Piedmont to allow the City of Piedmont to process the Planning and Building Entitlements at 30 Blair Place and adopting appropriate California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) findings.
Jestin Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Memorandum of Agreement for 30 Blair Place
Date: October 17, 2025 Page 4
CED Committee
November 18, 2025
Policy Alternatives
Alternative # 1 The City Council declines staff’s recommendation and requires split jurisdiction during the permitting process for the Project, i.e., the portion of the addition in Oakland would be processed in Oakland for planning and building permits and the portion in Piedmont would be processed in Piedmont for planning and building permits, or Piedmont would process planning
entitlements and Oakland would process building permits or vice versa.
Pros The City of Oakland would retain partial jurisdiction.
Cons The applicant would not be supportive of this proposal as this would require them to process the application and pay permit fees to both jurisdictions for the same Project, which is a small addition. The applicant would consider this onerous. Splitting permitting requirements between cities has typically only been done for larger, multi -family or commercial projects which would generate significant revenue in both cities.
Reason for not recommending The portion of the Project in Oakland is only 220 sq. ft. of floor area and 80 sq. ft. of building footprint. Going through a dual or bifurcated permitting process would be confusing for the applicant, and also for staff where regulatory conflicts across jurisdictions may also be problematic in terms of permit authority, plan-check, and inspections especially for the lower floor addition which is split between the cities.
Neighbors to the side and rear within the City of Oakland will not be adversely affected by the Project due to the distance between buildings, the intervening mature vegetation, and the fact that most of the addition is located under an existing deck.
This option would require a more complicated MOA,
inconsistent with the overall minor scope of the Project and the City’s goal of expediting housing related projects.
Finally, the City Council previously adopted a Resolution ceding jurisdiction to the City of Piedmont for a much larger demolition and new construction project on this same lot.
The proposed resolution follows the staff recommendation and meets Citywide priorities for Housing and Responsive Government by helping to facilitate the construction of housing projects while minimizing the amount of government review by limiting the reviewing agency to include only the City of Piedmont, instead of requiring permitting through both Piedmont and Oakland.
Jestin Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Memorandum of Agreement for 30 Blair Place
Date: October 17, 2025 Page 5
CED Committee
November 18, 2025
FISCAL IMPACT
Adoption of this resolution is expected to be revenue neutral. While both planning and building fees would not be paid to the City of Oakland, there would also be no cost to the City of Oakland because Planning and Building Department staff would not work on the Project. Furthermore, there would be no ongoing impact on the City of Oakland’s municipal services for the Property.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
This item did not require any additional public outreach other than the required posting on the City of Oakland’s website.
COORDINATION
The City of Oakland’s Attorney’s Office and the City of Piedmont have worked closely with staff on the preparation of the MOA and have reviewed this staff report and resolution, as has the City’s Budget Bureau.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: There are minimal economic opportunities associated with this Project. The Project is not anticipated to provide a significant number of construction jobs, and these may or may not be for Oakland workers.
Environmental: The Project will be required to meet modern standards for energy efficiency and green building.
Race & Equity: There are no race and equity opportunities associated with this Project. The current use of the Property is as a single- family home. The Project will result in a remodel and addition.
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA)
CEQA Guidelines exempt specific types of projects from environmental review. The following is an analysis citing the CEQA exemption that apply to this Project, both of which provide a separate and independent basis for CEQA clearance.
• Section 15301(e)(1)– Existing Facilities: Section 15301(e)(1) of the CEQA Guidelines states that additions to existing structures that will not result in an increase of more than 50 percent of the floor area, or 2,500 square-feet, whichever is less, are exempt.
• Section 15268 - Ministerial Projects: Section 15268(b) of the CEQA Guidelines states that ministerial projects such as the issuance of building permits are exempt from CEQA.
Jestin Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Memorandum of Agreement for 30 Blair Place
Date: October 17, 2025 Page 6
CED Committee
November 18, 2025
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
S
taff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Enter Into A Memorandum Of Agreement With The City Of Piedmont Establishing That The City Of Piedmont Will Process Planning Entitlements And Building Permits For A 551 Square-foot Addition and Remodel Of An Existing Single- Family Dwelling At 30 Blair Place, A Property Located Within Both Jurisdictions; And Adopting Appropriate California Environmental Quality Act Findings.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Heather Klein, Planner IV at (510) 238-3659.
R
espectfully submitted,
William Gilchrist (Oct 28, 2025 18:57:55 PDT)
W
ILLIAM A. GILCHRIST
Director, Planning and Building Department
P
repared by:
Attachments (4):
H eather Klein, Planner IV
Bureau of Planning
A. P
roperty Legal Description and Assessor Parcel Map
B. Previous February 26, 2019 City Council staff report, MOA and Resolution for demolition and new
construction at the Property
C. 2025 Project Plans
D. Memorandum of Agreement