Spring 2020 Orinda Way Newsletter

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Spring 2020

A Publication of the City of Orinda

Orinda named one of America’s best cities to live!

Orinda, already well-known for its excellent schools, and has made it on 24/7 Wall St.’s “America’s 50 Best Cities to Live” for 2020.

The financial news and opinion website ranked Orinda No. 28 on its list, which is based on an index of 25 measures across four main categories: affordability, economy, quality of life and community.

It took into account such things as low crime, short commute times, walkability, reliable transit, overall community health and access to places like hospitals and grocery stores. It also looked at the availability of Orinda’s Fourth of July Parade cultural and entertainment amenities including movie theaters, libraries, nature parks and similar facilities, restaurants, bars, museums and theater companies. Other factors included income vs. cost of living.

While many of the attributes one may look for in a community are subjective and not quantifiable, “This list favors areas with conditions that have almost universal appeal,” 24/7 Wall St. said.

The nearby city of Piedmont ranked No. 5, while the Bay Area city of Burlingame ranked No. 11; Palo Alto, No. 21; and San Francisco, No. 45. Top ranking went to Manhattan Ranking: 28 Beach, CA, followed by Winnetka, IL and Hanover, NH. Population: 19,431 5 yr. population change: +7.3 Median household income: $210,288 5 yr. avg. unemployment: 3.6%

Meanwhile, Orinda schools have ranked in various other surveys as among the best in California based on school testing scores and other measures — a reason why many residents say they live here.

ConnectOrinda:

Bringing Together Downtown Orinda Big things are happening when it comes to efforts to enhance Downtown Orinda. After a year-long process involving substantial community engagement, the ConnectOrinda Downtown Streetscape Master Plan has been adopted by the City Council, marking a giant step toward beautifying Downtown’s public spaces and better unifying the Village, Theatre District and BART station area.

Meanwhile, a City effort to update development standards for the downtown, also involving significant public input, is now underway in the 18-month Downtown Precise Plan process. Community workshops will be held in coming months.

ConnectOrinda, which will become the public-realm chapter of the Precise Plan, re-envisions the use of public space within the downtown to serve as a catalyst for increased public use and private investment. The City (Continued on page 2) 22 Orinda Way, Orinda, CA 94563

• (925) 253-4200

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Repaving Our Way to Better Roads The condition of pavement on the City of Orinda’s public roadways has shown significant improvement in recent years thanks to an aggressive repaving program, according to a recent report from the City’s Citizens Infrastructure Oversight Commission.

In 2006, the overall average Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of Orinda’s public roads had a score of 46 (in the “poor” category), the report notes. But it said by the end of 2019, it reached 85, the “very good” category, with only a few roads having a PCI of less than 50.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment!” the report says.

That finding was echoed in a report last fall from the Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which said the City of Orinda showed the biggest improvement of all Bay Area cities in the condition of its road pavement between 2014 and 2018. “Orinda is just a real rising star,” a spokesman for the MTC said at the time.

When Orinda’s road repair program started to really ramp up in 2014, about 35% of its public road system was in Good to Very Good condition, with another 10% in Fair condition. However, more than 30% of the system was in Very Poor condition. As shown here, the condition of the vast majority of the City’s public roads improved to Good or Very Good by the end of the 2019 paving project, the number of roads in Very Poor condition fell to zero, and only about 6% of the roads were still in Poor condition.

Between 2012 and 2019, 65.5 miles of public residential streets and 11.2 miles of arterials and collectors were rehabilitated. The Infrastructure Oversight Commission said that by the end of 2021, all of Orinda’s public residential roads will have been repaired, and added that by the end of 2024, all of the City’s arterial and collector roads are slated to have been completed as well. “However, the roads will not stay in good condition without routine maintenance” needed to avoid more costly repairs of badly deteriorated roads in the future,” it cautions.

Road pavement funding came from three different sources approved by local voters – a half-cent sales tax that passed in 2012 and that will expire in 2023, a $20 million general obligation bond measure approved in 2014, and a $25 million general obligation bond approved in 2016. Some of these voter-approved funds were also earmarked for storm drain improvements that were completed in conjunction with the paving projects. The City is working to identify adequate funding levels for ongoing maintenance of its public roadways to help prevent a more costly process of repairing badly deteriorated roads in the future. It is also exploring ways to fund additional storm drain repairs identified as critical in a report developed with help from the citizens’ commission.

‘ConnectOrinda’ & Other Downtown Planning (continued from page 1)

has begun to identify grant funding to implement some of the initial ConnectOrinda projects, such as enhancing uses of the existing shaded terrace area near the Library by installing string lighting, permanent outdoor games (such as concrete foosball), outdoor furnishings, and improved ground surface. It is also looking to provide seed money that could set the stage for further community fundraising for Downtown murals, including along the pedestrian bridges between the two sides of Downtown and BART, and on Vashell Way (along the southeast wall of the Casa Orinda building in the Theatre District) to create a pedestrian alley.

The ConnectOrinda plan includes: 1) six sets of projects, three in the Village and three in the Theatre District, that could be achieved in the next five years; 2) streetscape design guidelines (i.e. for gateways, landscaping, public art, sidewalks) that can be utilized throughout downtown; and 3) the basis for a future comprehensive transportation study to further evaluate eight infrastructure upgrades that, if deemed feasible, could make walking and bicycling between the two sides of downtown and the BART area safer and more convenient.

Stay updated on both ConnectOrinda and Downtown Orinda Precise Plan efforts at cityoforinda.org/272/DowntownPlanning

Visit us on the Web www.cityoforinda.org

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Neighbors Join Forces to Become Firewise Several neighborhoods and homeowners associations in Orinda have become officially designated “Firewise USA” sites, under a National Fire Protection Association program that encourages neighbors to collaborate in protecting their communities against wildfire threats.

www.firewise.org

For example, a group of residents within Orinda’s 63-home Via Farallon/ La Cuesta Road area qualified for the Firewise USA designation after going through the required steps of forming a committee, having the Moraga Orinda Fire District conduct a fire-risk assessment, developing an action plan, and conducting neighborhood outreach about the need for such measures as reducing fire-prone vegetation.

“It’s really a new way of thinking about fire protection,” said Melanie Light, one of the neighborhood’s six Firewise USA board members.

When it comes to safeguarding against wildfires, “This is asking people to acknowledge the fact that we are interdependent and have to protect each other. If I’m not safe and don’t do the work, then you’re not safe, and if you don’t do the work, then I’m not safe.”

Doreen Rau and Kathleen Bain, residents of the Via Farallon/La Cuesta Firewise area, help clear vegetation during a community workday.

Last year, the newly formed group sent out emails and distributed fliers urging residents to take the annual hazard abatement measures required by MOFD, and then held a Firewise community meeting/potluck.

“We talked about fire safety and what we need to do, and the neighborhood started responding,” Light said. “You started hearing chainsaws and saw people doing work. We did other educational things too.” Many individual homeowners had the fire department conduct more detailed assessments of their properties, and followed up on recommendations by removing dry brush and dead pine trees, creating air gaps in oleander to reduce fire fuel, and tearing out patches of highly flammable juniper, bamboo and Scotch broom. Other neighbors, impressed by what they were seeing, joined in. The committee pooled money to buy an “uprooter” tool that’s good at removing particularly gnarly vegetation.

“It’s really a new way of thinking about fire protection”

MOFD Fire Marshal Jeff Isaacs said that so far, nearly a dozen Orinda neighborhoods have gotten a Firewise USA designation or are in the process of doing so. Others interested can call Isaacs at 925-258-4513.

“We’re working with neighborhoods to become Firewise communities, helping citizens work through the process where we go out and do the written assessment, identifying risks and the things to do that could mitigate them,” Isaacs said. The 250-home Orindawoods HOA has applied and Susan Anacker, one of the organizers, said it’s among several groups, including Via Farallon/La Cuesta, talking about forming a citywide network of Firewise groups to bring in speakers and share other educational resources.

Some insurance companies offer reduced fire insurance premiums to homeowners participating in Firewise USA. Firewise sites must have at least eight and no more than 2,500 dwelling units. Once established, maintaining the designation requires a site to spend a minimum amount of time or money annually to make/keep the neighborhood firewise and safe.

Meanwhile, although a Firewise designation wasn’t required, measures taken by several Orinda neighborhoods and HOAs have separately qualified for grants of up to $5,000 from the local Diablo Firesafe Council in a cost-sharing program to abate fire hazards. For example, Via Farallon/La Cuesta homeowners used grant money to hire a tree contractor to remove dry brush and tree limbs from an evacuation route. The grant leveraged other help, with MOFD doing the tree-chipping and chip hauling. For information about Firesafe, go to www.diablofiresafe.org.

22 Orinda Way, Orinda, CA 94563

• (925) 253-4200

MOFD Prepares Revised Fire Code At the time of this article’s preparation, the Moraga Orinda Fire District (MOFD) had prepared draft changes to the fire code. For more information, please contact MOFD or go to: www.mofd.org

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City Council Darlene Gee, Mayor Amy Worth, Vice Mayor Dennis Fay, Council Member Nick Kosla, Council Member Inga Miller, Council Member

Administrative Staff CITY MANAGER Steve Salomon CITY ATTORNEY Osa Wolff CITY CLERK Sheri Smith FINANCE Paul Rankin, Director POLICE David Cook, Chief of Police PARKS & RECREATION Todd Trimble, Director PLANNING Drummond Buckley, Director PUBLIC WORKS & ENGINEERING SERVICES Larry Theis, Director HUMAN RESOURCES Ginger Staton, Manager

Directory Administration 253-4220 City Clerk 253-4221 Parks & Recreation 254-2445 Public Works & Engineering 253-4231 Planning 253-4210 Police Offices 254-6820 Police Dispatch 284-5010

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From Police Chief David Cook:

Protect Yourself Against Theft from Vehicles As we analyze crime statistics for 2019, it’s clear that Orinda is a wonderful community to live in.

That being said, the most commonly occurring crime our city, by far, is the theft of personal property from vehicles. During 2019, the Orinda Police Department took 85 reports for theft from a vehicle, up from 64 the previous year. Due to various factors including measures that have eased charging/sentencing guidelines in California, this increase in property crime is not unique to our community. However, there are ways that each of us can help reduce these kinds of crimes.

First and foremost, ensure your car is locked any time you are not with it, and be sure to never leave loose items within plain view in your vehicle. A simple envelope sitting in your car may seem unlikely to attract thieves. However, to a criminal, that envelope possibly contains cash, checks, personal information, or something else of value and your expensive window could get broken for a 3-cent piece of paper.

If you need to store expensive items in your trunk, you should place those items in the trunk before arriving at your destination. Thieves may watch for people who put items in their trunk, then break into their cars and use the trunk release to access belongings. When making a brief stop for coffee, it may seem like you won’t be gone long enough to be victimized. But a thief will watch a potential victim go into a shop, knowing they probably have 6-10 minutes to check out your car. They will walk by and, if they see anything that looks valuable, be gone with your property in seconds.

Your Orinda Police Department is working hard to keep our community safe. Our officers have made several arrests of suspected thieves in recent months. However, we need your help. Please call us if you see anything suspicious. For emergency calls, please dial 911; for non-emergency calls, contact our dispatch center at (925) 6462441. If you would like to submit a tip, email the department at orindatip@cityoforinda.org.

Curtain Rises on Starlight Village Players Season The amphitheater at Orinda Community Park will again host summer theater as the Orinda Starlight Village Players produce their 37th consecutive season of plays.

“We do this for the love of community theater and for your enjoyment!” says Geotty Chapple, president of the allvolunteer group of actors, directors, set builders, sound and lighting technicians, costume people, etc.

“I think it’s a hidden cultural jewel in Orinda,” said Steve Anderson, a season ticket holder. “There are generations of Orindans who as children acted in some of the plays and are still acting there, or who have moved on to professional venues.”

Agatha Christie’s Towards Zero June 5 thru July 4 Fridays & Saturdays, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday June 28, 4 p.m.

Thursday July 2, 8 p.m George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion July 24 - Aug. 15 Fridays & Saturdays, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday Aug. 9, 4 p.m.

Thursday Aug. 13, 8 p.m.

Malcolm Cowler's adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Marvelous Land of Oz Ticket prices: $20 regular admission; $10 for seniors and children; free Sept. 11 thru Oct. 3 for those living in Orinda Senior Village next to the park. Season tickets: Fridays & Saturdays, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday Sept. 20 & 27, 4 p.m. $50 general admission; $25 for seniors and children. For more Thursday Oct. 1, 8p.m. information, check the website at www.orsvp.org or call 925-528-9225.

Visit us on the Web www.cityoforinda.org