Archive for April, 2008
by John M. Zukoski on April 29, 2008 | 
No Comments | Topics: Things To Do
Great news for Dublin’s residents – the Dublin Senior Center (located at 7600 Amador Valley Blvd.) will be hosting the “Come to Life” event on May 17th from 10am to 2pm. The keynote speaker will be the host of Bay Area Backroads’ Doug McConnell. There will be many activities planned for this fantastic event. Here are just a few:
- Mayor’s Welcome – 10am
- Doug McConnell – 11am
- Stagebridge Improv – 12:45pm
- Raffle, Bocce, and Games – 12pm – 2pm
Here’s more great news – folks of all ages are welcome to attend, the food will be free, and the event is 100% free.
Please call the Information line at 925-556-4511 if you’d like more information regarding this event. Please click here to view the flyer. I hope to see many of Around Dublin’s readers at this event.
by John M. Zukoski on April 27, 2008 | 2 Comments | Topics: Sustainability
Safeway’s first-ever solar powered store is located right here in Dublin, CA. Safeway installed solar panels on top of their Dublin Blvd. store to promote energy sustainability and remove 487,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air – an amount equivalent to 50 passenger cars in a year.
Please click here for an article with more information on Safeway’s solar initiative that started right here in Dublin.
It makes perfect sense for Safeway to have opened their first solar powered store in Dublin given that Dublin has been a pioneer in “green” development in the Tri-Valley area and Alameda County. Examples of this philosophy in action can be found in Dublin’s “green” private development building standards and in the construction of public buildings (e.g., Dublin Senior Center and Shannon Community Center) where Dublin has required that contractors use a spectrum of recycled building materials and environmentally-friendly building and waste management practices.
by John M. Zukoski on April 26, 2008 | 6 Comments | Topics: Development
The City of Dublin hosted an environmental impact scoping meeting this past Wednesday night. Participants were provided with copies of the initial environmental impact study and an opportunity to comment on what environmental impacts should be considered in the forthcoming full Environmental Impact Report. Diagrams (including the picture above) were also posted to illustrate the current Grafton Plaza proposal that’s on the table.
Please click on the picture above to get a larger illustration of the high-level overview. As you can see, the developer currently envisions that Grafton Plaza will have four buildings. All 4 buildings will be up to 150 feet tall (10 stories):
- Buildings A and C will have about 450 residential units.
- 160,000 sq. ft. of retail space and 21 shopkeeper units will be spread across all four buildings.
- Building B will provide about 300,000 sq. ft. of campus office space.
- Building D will be home to a 100,000 sq. ft. hotel and an 11,000 sq. ft. spa.
It’s important to note that while this is the current proposal, there will also be other options for the Dublin City Council to consider for Grafton Plaza. Here are a few possible alternative proposals:
- Postpone development and leave land undeveloped.
- Leave existing campus office land use designation as-is.
- Re-balance mix of office, retail, and residential.
This was the first of many future opportunities for Dublin residents to provide their feedback on Grafton Plaza. Here are the upcoming milestones in the Grafton Plaza planning and approval process. Please note that most of these dates are approximations and could be pushed back:
- May 12, 2008: Additional comments due from stakeholders on scope of environmental impact report.
- Summer 2008 – The Environmental Impact Report will be published.
- Late Summer / Early Fall 2008 – Additional comments accepted on Environmental Impact Report.
- Fall / Winter 2008-2009: Planning Commission Vote
- Early 2009: City Council Vote – the City Council could opt to not approve the Grafton Plaza plans as currently proposed and instruct City Staff and Charter Properties (the land owner) to go with an another development option.
It’s important to note two main take-aways from Wednesday night’s meeting. First, the City of Dublin believes in engaging residents and providing a transparent and accessible planning process. Every stakeholder has a voice in the planning process. This is one reason that so many residents choose Dublin as their home.
The second take-away is that residents must take advantage of this open planning process and communicate their opinions to the members of the Planning Commission and City Council. Here are the corresponding email addresses:
Planning Department and Commission:
planning.mgr@ci.dublin.ca.us
City Council:
Mayor: Janet Lockhart janet.lockhart@ci.dublin.ca.us
Vice-Mayor: Tim Sbranti tim.sbranti@ci.dublin.ca.us
Councilman: Tony Oravetz tony.oravetz@ci.dublin.ca.us
Councilwoman: Kasie Hildenbrand kasie.hildenbrand@ci.dublin.ca.us
Councilwoman: Kate Ann Scholz kateann.scholz@ci.dublin.ca.us
Please keep checking back here at Around Dublin for more details related to Grafton Plaza. Please click here for more information on Grafton Plaza.
by John M. Zukoski on April 25, 2008 | No Comments | Topics: Opinions
Dublin’s home sales market held steady at 7 units sold this week. However, the average home sale price increased by 4%. Dublin enjoyed 2 more new home sales at Elan and 5 existing home sales. It’s great to see Dublin’s average home sale price holding its ground amidst some of the negative real estate market news that’s out there. It’s a testament to our strong community, plethora of services and amenities, and ideal location along I-580 and I-680.
by John M. Zukoski on April 22, 2008 | 3 Comments | Topics: Development
The City of Dublin will be hosting a “scoping” meeting to gain input from stakeholders and agencies regarding the potential environmental impact resulting from the proposed Grafton Plaza project. The meeting will be held on Wednesday April 23, 2008 (tomorrow night) from 6-8pm in the Dublin City Council Chambers (at 100 Civic Plaza). Please click here to see the meeting info posted on April 12th.
I hope to see all of the Around Dublin readers at the meeting tomorrow night.
by John M. Zukoski on April 20, 2008 | No Comments | Topics: Things To Do
You may have noticed all of the “Dublin Pride” banners hanging on the light posts along Dublin Blvd. the past few weeks. Dublin Pride Week will be held from Saturday April 26th to Saturday May 3rd. Dublin Pride Week provides residents with an opportunity to volunteer, learn about how we can make our city even more “green”, and demonstrate our civic pride in Dublin. This year’s events include:
If you have any questions about Dublin Pride Week 2008, please contact the City of Dublin at 925-833-6650.
by John M. Zukoski on April 18, 2008 | 2 Comments | Topics: Opinions
Dublin’s average home sale price dipped to $514K this past week compared to $603K last week. However, the number of homes sold increased to 7 this week vs. 4 last week. The dip in average price can primarily be attributed to the sale of 3 new townhomes (2 at Elan and 1 at Silvera Ranch).
On the whole, Dublin’s home prices have held up well considering how difficult it has been over the past few months to obtain financing from banks in the current housing market. While the conforming loan limit in the Bay Area has officially been bumped up to over $700K, many banks are still treating loans in the $500K-$600K range as jumbo loans and charging higher interest rates (compared to loans under the nationwide “conforming” cap of $417K). Once banks start lending a bit more freely, home prices should start to increase on a more consistent basis.
by John M. Zukoski on April 15, 2008 | No Comments | Topics: Schools
Murray Elementary School (8435 Davona Drive) in Dublin was named to the list of California Distinguished Schools for 2008 because they are one of the state’s most exemplary and inspiring public schools. Participation in the California Distinguished Schools program is voluntary, and elementary and secondary schools are recognized on alternate years. This year, the selection criteria for the Distinguished School program were more stringent than ever.
Schools submitted applications and were identified for eligibility on the basis of their Academic Performance Index and Adequate Yearly Progress results. All applicants underwent a rigorous selection process conducted by the California Department of Education, with the help of many local educators from across the state, and in partnership with the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association. Please check out the press release by clicking here.
Way to go, Cougars!
by John M. Zukoski on April 14, 2008 | No Comments | Topics: Development
The East Dublin BART station parking garage could possibly be open by later this month with a fresh coat of paint…however, it’s more likely that the parking garage will open sometime in May. The Alameda County Surplus Authority (the agency managing the parking garage construction) has selected the paint that will cover the new parking garage.
From what I understand, the paint still needs to be purchased and the contractor still needs to be selected. However, once these two steps are completed, the parking garage should be completed and opened in short order. I’m still researching how many permit parking spaces will be available in the new parking garage.
One other note – surface parking should be available (in addition to the parking garage) until Avalon Bay continues phase 2 of their luxury apartment development in the East Dublin BART station transit village.
Please check back here for more updates on the East Dublin BART parking structure.
