March 21, 2004. A huge mound of dirt is piled on the culverted portion of the creek at 1301 Oxford.

February 27, 2004. Photos of erosion & slides on Codornices Creek at 1301 Oxford.

January, 2004. Photos of erosion and slide action on Codornices Creek at 1301 Oxford.

Demolition begins (May 2003; photos); Creek rehabilition work to start in summer 2003.

Conditional Water Quality Certification and Waiver of Waste Discharge Requirements for Temple Beth-El/Cordonices Creek Project (by California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Feb 25, 2003)

Site Plan (Approved by City Council in Fall 2001)

Sep 4, 2002, US Army Corps of Engineers PUBLIC NOTICE on Beth El's Creek Rehabilitation Plan

• Tree Removal Plan (Site Map---PRELIMINARY)
• Tree Removal Chart
• Tree Removal and Protection Notes
• Tree Planting Plan (Site Map--PRELIMINARY)

Construction Plans for 1301 Oxford Street

Agreement Between LOCCNA and Beth El (HTML) submitted at City Council meeting 9/13/01

• • Use Permit Conditions of Approval--HTML (Oct 2001)
  • Use Permit Conditions of Approval--PDF (Oct 2001)
  • Council Resolution Approving EIR and Use Permits--HTML (Oct 2001)
  • Council Resolution Approving EIR and Use Permits--PDF (Oct 2001)
  • Mitigation Monitoring Program--HTML (Oct 2001)
  • Mitigation Monitoring Program--PDF (Oct 2001)
  • Council Resolution to Overturn LPC Decision--HTML (Oct 2001)
  • Council Resolution to Overturn LPC Decision--PDF (Oct 2001)
• Joint Statement of the Coalition and Beth El—July 24, 2001
• Notice of Decision from ZAB meeting of March 8, 2001. [Distributed in April, 2001]
• Transcript of Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) Meeting, March 5, 2001 at which Alteration Permit for 1301 Oxford Street Project was denied.

• Documents on the Use Permit
• Issues for City Council and other interested parties to consider
• Documents on the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and Draft EIR (DEIR)
• Cartoon by Khalil Bendib (Published in Berkeley Daily Planet 6/4/01)
• In-Depth Article by Gina Covina in the Eastbay Express (11/10/00 )
• Core Values statement by neighbors (given to Beth El before they purchased the site).
• Joint Watershed Goals Agreement between Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, the East Bay Regional Park District, and the University of California, Berkeley, in which they agree to promote creek preservation and restoration.
• Berkeley's Creek Ordinance (HTML version) encouraging removal of culverts. PDF version.
• Background and research by Jon Nackerud
• Response from LOCCNA to "Frequently Asked Questions" from Congregation Beth El (January, 2000) and "An Open Letter from Congregation Beth El to our Neighbors" (April 2000)
• June 1999 statement by Community Environmental Advisory Commission
• Early letters from concerned organizations
• Petitions

Documents on the Use Permit

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• Permit Conditions for Beth El, 1301 Oxford (draft: 9/25/01)
• Mitigation Monitoring Program for Beth El, 1301 Oxford (draft: 9/25/01)
• 3rd Addendum to the EIR Sep 2001
• Press Release for Press Conference held on 4/17/01 at 1301 Oxford Street
• Letter from Carl Anthony and Karl Linn--April 15, 2001
• Key Elements of the Appeal of the Zoning Adjustments Board Decision of 3/8/01
• Statement from David Blake, Zoning Adjustments Boardmember, on the Use Permit approval for 1301 Oxford, March 8, 2001.
• Mar 10, 2001 Letter from Berkeley Path Wanderers to ZAB Excerpt:
  "Berkeley Path Wanderers Association urges that you not adopt either of the two alternate parking schemes offered at your last meeting. ... Both place parking very close to Berryman Path. Buffering would be almost impossible. ... "
• Feb 22, 2001 -- Revised plans and memo from Congregation Beth El to City of Berkeley (for ZAB).
• Jan 11, 2001 Letter from Berkeley Art Center Excerpt:
  "We at the Berkeley Art Center are concerned about the effect on parking availability around Live Oak Park and the impact that the proposed new construction of Temple Beth El will have on our operations...When our programs coincide with Beth El's events or other events in Live Oak Park, parking will be impossible! ...Furthermore, our constituents are very concerned about the health and viability of Cordonices Creek. They believe that creeks should be daylighted, not covered...."
• Dec 14, 2000 Letter from National Marine Fisheries Service to LOCCNA regarding steelhead habitat in Codornices Creek. . Excerpt:
  "... a site visit by NMFS and the California Department of Fish and Game on November 28, 2000, did identify some potential steelhead habitat upstream and downstream of the 1301 Oxford Street project site. The NMFS is interested in evaluating the restoration of steelhead in Codomices, Creek, as well as other tributaries to San Francisco Bay."
• Oct. 23, 2000 Sierra Club Resolution "...be it resolved, the Sierra Club opposes any project proposed for 1301 Oxford Street that does not include restoration* of Codornices Creek as it crosses the site..."

Documents on the
Environmental Impact Report (EIR)
and Draft EIR (DEIR)

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• Flaws and Inadequacies in the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
• Flaws and Inadequacies in the Draft EIR--public comments submitted to the City by the Live Oak Codornices Creek Neighborhood Association (LOCCNA)
• Saturday Parking Data from the EIR
• The Draft EIR Online
• Sept 11, 2000 Letter from National Marine Fisheries Service to City of Berkeley regarding the Draft Environmental Impact Report. Excerpt:
  "...it is clear that the existing culvert is impediment to steelhead passage in Codornices Creek. A full or partial barrier to migration, this structure adversely impacts threatened steelhead and its continued operation may constitute "take" of a listed species as defined by section 3 of the ESA. The proposed project is flawed, by relying upon the continued operation of this existing culvert that impedes fish passage in Codornices Creek. In addition, the paving over of the culverted portion of Codornices Creek for the project's parking and traffic plan will have the effect of foreclosing upon future opportunities to restore this reach of stream."
• Letter from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board to City of Berkeley regarding the Draft Environmental Impact Report.
  "Staff strongly encourage the Congregation to daylight the culverted 200 feet of Codornices Creek on the project site, and include it in the project's streambank restoration plans. This action would have substantial benefits for aquatic life in the creek."
• Letter from State of California Department of Fish and Game to City of Berkeley regarding the Draft Environmental Impact Report. Excerpt:
  "The Department generally recommends a minimum 50-foot setback from top of bank to eliminate the need for rip rap, gabions, and other bank hardening structures; to provide habitat for fish and wildlife; and to reduce any potential impacts to structures. The Department discourages placement of structures close to a creek. We recommend setbacks that allow natural creek processes to occur and reduce the future potential need for bank stabilization techniques that reduce the value of the site for fish and wildlife and that may require mitigation to offset the loss of habitat. The Department recommends eliminating gabions, rip rap and other bank hardening materials, and favor more natural stabilization and restoration techniques that may include bank contouring, planting of vegetation, and other methods compatible with the circumstances of a particular creek. Placement of gabions and rip rap, as proposed in the project, will reduce creek habitat and will need to be mitigated."
• Report from Kier Associates on Codornices Creek Fish Habitat Issue
• September, 2000 California Oak Foundation
• September, 2000 Urban Creeks Council of California
• August, 2000Berkeley Path Wanderers about proposed seven foot stucco fence.
• August, 2000 Ecology Center
• July 27, 2000 Article in Chronicle
• Notice of Availability of a Draft EIR (August, 2000)
  
• Notice Of Preparation of Draft EIR (Feb. 11, 2000)

Early Letters of Concern

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• August, 1999 Berkeley Partners for Parks that calls for maintaining the green corridor along Codornices creek.
• April, 1999 Berkeley Path Wanderers about impacts to Berryman Path, which runs beside the site.
• Friends of Five Creeks
• Friends of Gateway Valley -- See also their website at http://gateway.baeforum.org/ to find out about how developers are going to be destroying a huge tract of land in Gateway Valley--just on the Eastern side of the Caldecott Tunnel near Orinda. The Beth El design problems, serious as they are, are peanuts compared to this one: Farllon Investments want to put up a 225-home residential and recreational development, complete with country club, golf course and a swim and tennis club. This development will cause massive damage to the entire ecological system of the valley.
• Friends of Strawberry Creek: Statement Opposing Beth El Construction Plans
  Excerpt:

  "We are deeply concerned about Beth El's plans to build a parking lot that effectively kills any future opportunities to open up Codornices Creek on the site. This site presents a terrific opportunity to daylight Codornices Creek and further connect city residents with their natural environment. We believe that the plan violates the spirit, if not the letter of Berkeley's creek ordinance. We also believe that if the city allows Beth El to build over Codornices Creek, it sets a dangerous precedent for all of Berkeley's 14 creeks, most of which are culverted and hidden underground."

  Friends of Strawberry Creek website: http://www.strawberrycreek.org

Background and Research by Jon Nackerud

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• 12/28/00 1301 Oxford in Context--A History by Jon Nackerud
• Crises on Codornices Creek (March, 1999, after the presentation of the Creek Report commissioned by CBE from Waterways Restoration Institute)
• A History of the Culvert at 1301 Oxford by Jon Nackerud

Petitions

[No longer circulating]

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