Oak to Ninth Avenue Health Impact Assessment
Authors: UC Berkeley Health Impact Group
Location: Oakland, California, United States
Completion Date: May 2006
HIA Report: Oak to Ninth Avenue Health Impact Assessment
Summary of the HIA
Proposed Policy or Project
Owned by the Port of Oakland, Oak to Ninth is a proposed development project consisting of approximately 64 acres including 3,100 residential units, 200,000 square feet of commercial space, 3,500 structured parking spaces, 29.9 acres of public open space, two renovated marinas, and a wetlands restoration area.
Background and Policy Context
The Oak to Ninth development project was proposed by a private developer to build a mixed use neighborhood on underutilized waterfront industrial site. The Oakland Planning Commission and Oakland City Council were the decision-making organizations involved in this project. The HIA was conducted separately from the environmental impact assessment by students in a health impact assessment course at UC Berkeley. The HIA results were communicated prior to and at the public hearings conducted by the Planning Commission and the City Council in March 2006. A final decision by the City Council was made in July 2006.
Scope and Methods
This HIA examines the project’s likely impacts on the following five areas : parks and open space, pedestrian injury, housing, air quality, and noise. This entailed: a review of the development proposal, use of EIS data, and literature searching. Public input and interviews with key stakeholders were also conducted. Data were used for GIS mapping and quantitative forecasting.
Summary of Findings
The project would affect 411,000 existing and 7,500 future neighborhood residents, in an impoverished area and high housing costs. Quantitative modeling suggests a loss of 15 acres of open space, pedestrian injuries, sleep disturbances due to ambient noise, unmet housing and school needs, and health effects of particulate matter. Key recommendations from the analysis were to: incorporate new public routes to waterfront park, add traffic calming, lower speed limits, and other pedestrian safety measures, and notify potential buyers of air quality risks.
Background Reports
Contact
Rajiv Bhatia, MD, MPH
1390 Market Street, Ste. 822
San Francisco
,
California
94102
(415) 252-3982