www.orindacreeks.org
Friends of Orinda Creeks
PO Box 883
Orinda, CA 94563
January 20, 2026
Re; 11 Orinda Way (Chevron) Application. APN 265-170-029 Honorable Mayor and Councilors:
As in 2023, Friends of Orinda Creeks again urges your prompt approval of this proposal.
The application provides tangible benefits to the community, benefits that far outweigh the speculative objections raised by a vocal minority. We are grateful that this Council is showing the resolve to move forward on this proposal immediately.
The many benefits of the application include the following:
• To improve private property in the Village the applicant proposes to transform an empty eyesore to attractive and productive use. The Downtown Precise Plan and other planning efforts by the City promote this objective. • To enhance San Pablo Creek and provide public access to a long-neglected natural amenity, the applicant proposes to donate in fee a substantial portion of its property to the City. This proposal is consistent with the DPP, with Friends of Orinda Creeks’s restoration vision, and, most importantly, with the community’s robust majority desire to support the restoration and enhancement of the creek corridor.
• To expand pedestrian-safe opportunities in the Village, the applicant offers a significant cash donation to the City. Friends of Orinda Creeks believes this is an unparalleled opportunity to advance the goal of a pedestrian crosswalk linking the Creek/Village Path with the regionally significant deLaVeaga Trailhead across Camino Pablo. This concept, first proposed by the Planning Department, provides an unparalleled opportunity to link the Village to our beautiful watershed lands with regionally significant trails.
• To facilitate the transition towards a clean energy future, the applicant proposes to install a charging station, an important asset in a community where many have invested in clean EVs.
Chevron is the first commercial permit applicant in Orinda’s history to have actively supported creek restoration downtown. In contrast to other recent development proposals, Chevron welcomes public access to the creek on their property. Chevron then goes well beyond that support by now offering land of significant conservation and restoration www.orindacreeks.org
value for free in support of that mission. Their offer is akin to helping establish a public park, and the Council should embrace this offer in fee soon, rather than postponing it until the offer is forgotten by future Councils. Incidentally, Friends of Orinda Creeks has identified this parcel as a promising site for Phase II of San Pablo Creek public access enhancement, and has already raised funds for this purpose.
Friends of Orinda Creeks applauds the Council’s thoughtful and efficient consideration of this matter at its last meeting. We urge quick acceptance of the property in fee. Fears of liability are misinformed: CA Government Code §831 provides immunity against liability originating on public trails.
The precedent of a commercial property owner in Orinda donating valuable real property in support of an important municipal goal is remarkable and unprecedented. No such offer was made at the “CreekHaus” property. Indeed, for all intents and purposes, public access there has been foreclosed, with no improvement on the horizon. We urge the Commission and the City to accept Chevron’s offer long before the perplexingly long ten-year option agreement expires. Doing so will help Orindans enjoy an expanded municipal pathway/park along San Pablo Creek, as represented in the DPP and elsewhere. The DPP reflects that in survey after City survey, the community reiterates its desire for access to a restored San Pablo Creek. This applicant offers to advance this municipal goal in a substantial and tangible way.
The Council’s approval and resolution will demonstrate both high expectations for proposed development downtown, and supportive and equitable treatment of a private property owner whose proposal advances a municipal goal while promoting economic growth in the Village.
Thank you for your consideration of this recommendation.
Sincerely,
Michael Bowen, President
Friends of Orinda Creeks