Walnut Creek Design Review Commission Gives Final Unanimous Approval to the B’nai Shalom Renovation Project.

Now the real excitement begins.

Three public hearings....three unanimous approvals!

WOW!

On October 17th the Walnut Creek Design Review Commission gave unanimous final approval for the issuance of B’nai Shalom’s Land Use Permit. We were praised by the Commissioners and planning staff for making it through the public hearing process “in record time,” and for having a “beautifully designed” and “well conceived” project.

This third and final hearing gave the Design Review Commission one last opportunity to comment upon the design details of the project. Yes, they asked for a few more trees here and there, that the lights in the parking lot not interfere with our neighbors, that the basket ball court have greater vertical coverage with taller trees to give our property a softer look, and similar details. They asked questions about the building colors. As with the other hearings, each Commissioner was prepared with technical questions about the “floating pinwheel design” of the social hall roof structure, and traffic flow around the synagogue. They covered every detail down to the placement of two bicycle racks on the property. One area of special discussion involved traffic flow and the queuing of cars in the red zone on Eckley Lane. We reviewed our plan that the 31 added parking spaces on site should alleviate the traffic concerns raised by our neighbors. Following the Planning Commission meeting three weeks ago, four alternate contingent traffic flow plans were proposed by us and approved by the City traffic engineer. One part of the plan has already been put into practice: On Wednesday evenings, parents coming to pick up their students are being asked to wait in the Unitarian parking lot until classes let out and they receive a cell call from their student. This simple change has eliminated the standing cars along the red zone. Because we have adequately addressed the concerns of the neighbors, not a single neighbor attended this meeting!!!

Our architects were praised for their creativity and thoroughness in the design. Rayna Arnold and I were complimented for continuing to reach out to the neighbors and working with the planning staff to ensure that every detail has been addressed and that everything was submitted on time. Our project application was termed “the perfect application process” by one of the Commissioners, and “a model for success” by another.

So, we now proceed to the preparation of the construction drawings. We have given the approval to our architect team to proceed with engineering and construction drawings. It is still our plan to be ready to break ground just as soon as we receive the pledges to finance construction. We have already met with one of the banks interested in making our construction loan. The prospects are terrific to obtain the proper financing when we are ready to build, but it will still take a generous financial commitment from every member.

We will now plan a Sunday morning congregation meeting to review the details of the project and to activate the design committees. It is time for the membership to provide detailed input on the interior aspects of the design such as kitchen flow and layout, social hall decoration, lobby details, general accessibility, and the like. Watch for future announcements of this important meeting.

May we continue to go from strength to strength as we move forward with this exciting project.