Great comment by resident Phil Simmons. In the interest of transparency, I too would like to see a different structure allowing the Council both community input and it's ability to report out everything but what is strictly required by the Briwn Act.

It is absolutely essential that the public weigh in on the design proposals for this Safeway deal. I fear that Sycamore Crossing is in danger of getting the "Szabo plan" treatment. Arguments will be made that the city needs to be pragmatic and swallow the bitter pill of poor design in the name of chasing revenue, but we would be shooting ourselves in the foot if we sell out our future in exchange for short term, short-sighted goals.

Perhaps I am wrong, and the designs that will be submitted by Property Development Centers will be a grand departure from the Safeway template of a large, obtrusive big box store with tacky post-modern ornamentation to make it somewhat less ugly, surrounded by a moat of asphalt parking...but something tells me that is beyond their scope of abilities. I think this might turn into a contentious fight among those in Hercules who only see (projected) dollar signs from this project and will take any deal they can get, and those who care more about long term sustainability, quality of life, and aesthetic values.

RE: Sycamore Crossing. To encourage walkability, how about placing the buildings (grocery store, restaurants, homes) on the outer edges of the parcel and then put parking in the center--courtyard style? Maybe some parking could even go underground, as the new Berkeley Bowl has done.

I share Douglsd's concern especially since it was stated they were not planning on following the City designs. However, there will be public input meetings and it must go through the Plannimg Commission It will be vital the community show up for those meetings and speak up.

Can't it go where Market Hall is now?

Kim ,
No, it can 't. The City no longer owns that property. In another of its previous wasteful moves it gave the property to Red Barn who promptly mortgaged it. Even if Safeway liked the site, it's negotiations would be with Red Barn It was stated they considered all possible sites including Parcel C and Sycamore Crossing is the ideal site for them. The concern is to get them to build something that conforms to the City's plan which apparently is not their intention.

I agree that Market Hall would've been a better location, though I doubt Safeway could fit the mammoth proportions of their store, plus surface parking, on that lot. I wonder how it was decided that the original vision plan for Sycamore Crossing (IPDP) was not economically feasible. I heard this from the city manager & from Safeway. Obviously, Safeway has a biased opinion – they are not in the business of building attractive new urbanist shopping/residential areas – but where is the city manager getting this idea from? Perhaps someone from the city staff could to explain the source of this opinion to the public. The numbers I'm reading from the National Association of Realtors & the East Bay Economic Development Alliance show commercial property vacancy rates falling – and expected to trend downward throughout the year. Of course, there is always a market for residential properties in this area, albeit rentals at the moment. So I am curious as to what aspect of the IPDP is deemed economically unfeasible and on what authority. I would expect the market for dense mixed use developments to be positive this year.

There is certainly a large pent-up demand for local retail in the neighborhoods along Sycamore, west of San Pablo Ave. The Waterfront development is dense, mixed use too, just like the IPDP envisions. The city does not seem to have a problem with the economic feasibility of that project – why is the Waterfront vision okay, but the Sycamore Crossing vision not?

EXCITING NEWS! As a resident here for 7+ years I am thrilled to see that Safeway is coming to town. Like Mayor Romero stated we need another place to food shop and maybe this will make Lucky upgrade/update itself.

To the naysayers what are you looking for to happen in this town? We need the tax money and having retail here will bring that ... Safeway is a great way to add income to our city's coffers .... have you been to the latest store in El Cerrito? It is worth a trip to see what the store in Hercules might be like ... what a wonderful food shopping experience! I am all for the plans to add this food shopping retailer with what it has planned to bring including restaurants and other small shops.

I am thankful there are still big businesses that see the possiblity of working in Hercules and what that will mean to us as residents.

Congratulations to our city council and city manager for working to help make this a reality...

@ Stauffer,
I actually agree with your statements. Dan Romero is correct it is good to have competition. My concern is with the appearance of the building. We definitely need the tax revenues estimated at $500k a year. The building design, however, should conform to the City's plan. I hope Safeway will be respectful of that plan and of the concerns of the residents.

I hope that when Safeway is complete that the sales they have are on alternating days with Lucky. Since no grocery store puts everything on sale at the same time it would be great to go to Lucky to buy our dairy products and bread products and on the same day go over to Safeway to get the veggies and canned goods. Of course that still leaves Trader Joe's and Costco for all the other items. But at least that could cut the shopping down from 3 days to 2 days.

they (Safeway) never gave a good reason why parcel c wasn't good for them. Just from a traffic perspective there is a 4 lane road on John Muir to access the site the road at Sycamore is narrow and at SN is really just two lanes I fear traffic congestion at Sycamore and San Pablo. Also on parcel C there are more parking opportunities then at Sycamore Crossing. I would like a better answer as to why parcel c isn't good. Aslo a gas station is a problem next to the residential it isn't good planning and should not be allowed. Again I ask the question what is the cost to the city to remove the deed restriction on Sycamore Crossing? There isn't any deed restriction on parcel C.

Toni,
What do we know re the deed restriction? Was it from Lucky's?

I'm confused about the design review aspect of the project-will there be anything submitted to the Planning Commission for critique and approval/disapproval or is this lining up as a "fast-track" vote (rubber stamp) by the City Council? I will be very disappointed if it's the latter given this type of behavior from the previous Council.

The El Cerrito store sold me too - it's like heaven! I'm wondering if Safeway will close Pinole or Rodeo?

Would everyone feel differently if Whole Foods had approached the city?

I'd like to see what's being proposed before declaring the project morally and ethically irresponsible. I've sen some of Safeway's new, "lifestyle" markets on the peninsula. They're basically Whole Foods clones. I wouldn't mind having one here.

Depending on the design: parking and filling station in the back of the property with a relevant facade facing Sycamore North: appropriate architectural design elements and an emphasis on creating street-side pedestrian environments and visually balancing the mass of Sycamore North across the street.

I agree with Toni about parcel C too.

FYI - there are many ugly looking safeways in neighborhoods with million dollar homes

There will be public meetings and it does have to go to the Planning Commission. We will have opportunities for input. I think an upscale Safeway would benefit Hercules but I feel it must comply with the City's master plan.

Great places are not created by chance but by choice. We have to demand the design we deserve to live in. If Safeway wants to toss aside the design guidelines of 2010, then they better have something better in mind.

I'm heartened by what you said, Susan, and agree with Douglas.

Having worked for the "losing" side of a building design debate in Rockridge in the late 80's/early 90's (ironically across the street from the current Safeway proposed for a major overhaul), I can say that community involvement was a HUGE factor that ended up with a far more palatable exterior design.

I also agree with Glenn that the current traffic circulation along San Pablo, Sycamore and even Willow will only be exacerbated by a Safeway of this proportion. I'll be curious if our Planning department, as required under CEQA, will classify the environmental effects of this development as a "negative declaration", meaning no significant environmental effects.

At the very least, Safeway should be required to do an EIR that requires a full traffic study. If a negative dec is declared and no EIR is required, we'll know the fix is in.

I agree with Eric, let's see Safeway's proposal first and keep an open mind.

In my view, the most important design criterion is that there cannot be a sea of parking on the corner of Sycamore and San Pablo. That would influence the character of that corner in a way that would destroy any possibility for an urban-style development on what is now the defunct Market Hall and severely degrade the area of Sycamore Crossing that would be behind the store.

We need to attend the meetings when they come up and speak up. It seems the citizens iHercules must remain vigilant for a long time to come. I'm so looking forward to the time I can go back to watching Council meetings on TV and being bored.

is Safeway the only interested party wanting to setup shop in Hercules? I would have preferred Winco's (closest one is in pittsburg/antioch area)

We need to know why this proposal includes a gas station. Why, why, why!
Other than that my main objection to this location is that Safeway does not a town center make. So, I guess Hercules will not have a town center. That's cool. We will wait for the waterfront and walk there instead.
I agree with Toni that Parcel C would have been better as far for traffic flow. But, the views are great there so its better for a nice restaurant and residential or hotel with views of the bay, if any are left, after the waterfront is built. I would have preferred a Wholefoods on SC for all the reasons I previously stated. Service, organics, sourced products, fair trade, excellent and inspiring deli food. Though, I think a "main street" with small shops, a bakery, butcher, green grocer, farmers market etc in a town center with cafes and other shops, as was planned is better for the quality of life in Hercules.
I think the stalled Rockridge store is an example of Safeway's inability to accommodate design alternatives. Those are very educated, vocal and activist folks there and if they cant get the design changed what chance is there for Hercules.

I too am not happy with a Safeway gas station added to this location (the new El Cerrito Safeway does not have one) and as a resident of Bayside, I'm concerned with people pushing shopping carts home & leaving them in the alleyways. Hopefully Safeway can install a device that 'lock' the shopping cart wheels if they get 100 yards from the store.

At this point, knowing there will be public meetings and the plans will be coming before the Planning Commission, I'm going to reserve any criticisms I have. I am not, unlike most others who have posted here, opposed to a gas station. I support competition and Shell has a monopoly here at this time. My concerns are for the aesthetics, parking and traffic flow, all of which will have to be addressed by an EIR. Is anyone happy with our current solitary supermarket? Let's wait to see what we learn at the meetings when they are announced.

I so hate Safeway and their quality. Why can we not get a grocery store that has great produce, clean environment, and wonderful interiors with bakery, meats, fish, specialty stuff. Safeway has never had a good reputation in any of these areas. What's the deal. No one else wants great food in this town? Not even a good restaurant?

It seems to me Mr Duran is pushing this through as quickly as possible tying to shore up the general fund bleed as quickly as possible at the expence of the Waterfront. Mr Duran we are not Richmond any and all development is not good it has to be within the neo-traditional master plan invisioned for the Waterfront and for Hercules. A Safeway and a gas station which will generate tax dollars is not good enough to forget the principals of neo-traditional town planning. Big Boxes and Gas Stations will not make Hercules unique or improve and move forward the waterfront.
Safeway was very clear that it is their way or the highway and that is an attitude I don't appriciate and I hope our council will think long and hard on this one I am disapointed that they went forward with a sales agreement without answers to many questions. Shame on them.

I agree with Toni and Glenn here. I am amazed that our city could abandon the master plan for Sycamore Crossing in favor of this in closed sessions without any opportunity for community input. Safeway should brace themselves for the public outcry against them. We killed Walmart, Franklin Canyon development, and the Szabo Plan. Safeway should conform to our new urbanism vision or get in that line for public resistance against them.

Must the public fight this city for every increment of development to conform to our city's own master plan?

Suburban towns are derided as places where people just sleep. If we can build a lot of big, generic, already-built-nearby chain stores like Safeway, we can dream of becoming a place where people shop, then sleep.

Everyone should just calm down. I am confident that Safeway's crack team of expert designers are already creating a monument of architectural beauty that they are known around the world for. In fact, I've come across a preliminary design that Safeway will propose shortly to the Planning Commission. I uploaded the pdf into the Patch Gallery

So, Douglas, do you actually know the architect, planners, and designers from Safeway? What is on paper and what is actually built can be two different things if we have no over sight or input. "Architectural beauty"? What dream world do you live in. Calm down? After what has just happened in this town. Wishful thinking at best.

PS. The Gallery pic is exactly what I mean.

I'm sorry, where do you live, oh yeah Hercules, you know that suburban town just East of Pinole and West of Rodeo...it's not BlackHawke or Beverly Hills right?

Having a Safeway will be a good addition to our town for the tax revenue it will bring. Not it may not fit the original design for a downtown but let's face it folks that train left the station with Sakamoto and Oliva and all their gang.

Let's be happy that we have developers coming to our city and bringing with them useful and needed stores. Have any of you nay sayers been to a new Safeway? Maybe you should go check it out before you go viral online.

Yes, I agree Safeway should follow design standards set by the Hercules Planning Commission. Yes they are not following the 2010 design since it is not the little cafe and shop set up it was once dreamed to be.

Let's not forget bringing tax revenue to our almost bankrupt city is a good thing ... remember city services including police and fire are paid through city budgets. Tax revenues help keep a city a float.

There is still questions regarding what the building would look like, have you been to Walnut Creek, Emeryville, Corte Madera, Dublin or Livermore ... all of these cities have a shopping center with the main tenant a Safeway ... they seem to do okay.

Lastly let's wait and see what they propose before we get all our panties in a wad.

What about the shops they plan to go alongside Sycamore North? Did you see that info?

Its really cynical to say that only folks in Blackhawk or Beverly hills should desire healthy, locally sourced, non-GMO products and options for shopping. Last time I checked, Hercules had a median income of ~$90K and was not a ghetto (yet).

call FRY's and see if they want to setup shop in hercules, they will bring tons of traffic and less from best buy (which is way overpriced and lack service), Frys would help put hercules on the "map"