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Minutes - San Leandro City Council Meeting - March 19, 1990 Page - 6 - <br /> MISCELLANEOUS: <br /> a. Matter of Approval of Final Plans for East 14th Street and MacArthur <br /> Boulevard - North Area Street Improvements. <br /> Dick Randall , City Manager, gave background of the North Area Revitalization <br /> Program and said this program had been in existence for 2-1/2 years. He said <br /> the City Council had recently adopted a Revitalization Manual and <br /> implementation of the 3-year action plan called for design and construction <br /> of public improvements. He said the item on tonight's Agenda recommended <br /> improvements on East 14th Street and MacArthur Boulevard and included <br /> monuments and landscaping. <br /> Mike Oliver, Assistant City Manager, said in 1988 the City Council appointed <br /> two citizens committees to review the four major thoroughfares in the North <br /> Area -- San Leandro Boulevard, East 14th Street, Bancroft Avenue, and <br /> MacArthur Boulevard -- and determine what could be done to address the <br /> deterioration in the neighborhoods. The committees returned 96 <br /> recommendations; their recommendations included putting the high quality of <br /> the areas on display, creating clear entry ways, encouraging business <br /> investment, creating zoning to encourage business and create a useable <br /> parking plan. <br /> Mr. Oliver described all of the projects that have taken place through the <br /> public-private partnership that was developed, including street clean-ups, <br /> neighborhood preservation, creation of two business associations, and the <br /> work of Elena Koster with those business associations, the Veterans' Memorial <br /> Wall , Siempre Verde Park, rehabilitation, the specific plan and parking plan, <br /> as well as the many improvements made by private property owners to their <br /> properties in response to this program. He said the City Council also <br /> directed staff to develop street improvements and the final design included <br /> gateway features and street trees. He said now is the time for the City <br /> Council to take final action and to direct the preparation of plans and <br /> specifications. He said, as a result of concerns related to the East 14th <br /> Street improvements expressed at the last two community meetings on this <br /> matter, modifications had been made, including development of a prototype <br /> entry sign for use City-wide and modifications to the proposed median island <br /> on East 14th Street to permit northbound traffic on East 14th Street to make <br /> a left turn into Farrelly Drive. <br /> The City Clerk read into the record a letter from Douglas A. Scott, President <br /> and Chief Executive Officer of Vesper Society Group in favor of the East 14th <br /> Street project. <br /> Michael Freedman, Freedman, Tung and Bottomley, the consultant on the <br /> project, described all of the elements of the North Area and said they are <br /> for a single purpose, to re-establish the high-quality identity of the <br /> community and stem the process of disinvestment. He said the street <br /> improvements were the catalyst to touch off the revitalization in the area <br /> and to maintain the momentum that has been built. He described the concept <br /> of the entry wall on MacArthur Boulevard and the landscaping and monument <br /> features on East 14th Street. He also gave background on the various <br /> workshops and said that at the last community workshop the issue of no left <br /> turn into Farrelly Drive for northbound traffic on East 14th Street was <br /> raised and, as a result, the plans have been modified to allow a left turn. <br />