Re: Zoning Update Committee of the Oakland Planning Commission: Rezoning the Central Business District at Lake Merritt.

We, the undersigned, represent many Oakland residents who oppose high-rise zoning designations for the "Lakeside Apartment District", or the "Lake Merritt Historic District (a.k.a. the "Gold Coast"). The Gold Coast extends from Lake Merritt at 14th Street, east along Lakeside Drive, and north to Snow Park at 20th Street and Lakeside Drive. The Gold Coast is a diverse, stable, densely populated urban community with an abundance of prime historic resources and culturally significant buildings that average in height three- to six-stories. The Gold Coast should be preserved. Additional high-rise buildings, particularly in close proximity to the Lake, will have severe and damaging impacts on the visual character, social cohesion, and environmental health of this community. Lake Merritt, the oldest bird sanctuary in the United States, and its surrounding park lands, will be seriously degraded by the accumulation of shadows, increased traffic, elimination of open space, deterioration in water quality, and blocked view corridors.

Therefore, we urge the City Council to adopt zoning regulations that limit building heights to no more than five (5)-stories, within 300 feet of Lakeside Drive (measured from the curbside), on the downtown side of the Lake Merritt District. We further urge that heights be limited to eleven (11)-stories in the sub-area known as the "Lakeside Historic Apartment Neighborhood District", as defined in the early 1980's by the City of Oakland's Cultural Heritage Survey. It is bounded by 14th Street, Harrison Street, 17th Street, and Lakeshore Drive.