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| Realm Charter School opened this Fall a half block from BPC |
Nov 6th: Realm has a great Facebook page with active participation by the parent body. It'll give you a window into what they're about...
Sept 29th: Realm has posted a traffic coordinator on 8th street (the gentleman in the white hat). Some of the neighbors are still very agitated about how the traffic is impacting them.
Sept 7th: Realm Director Victor Diaz came to the Parents' Circle Mtg to address concerns and pledge a cooperative relationship. They are looking to us for ideas of how to be a good neighbor and practice safe drop-offs... One big plus to come out of their arrival is a 4-way stop at Addison and 8th- that finally addresses the high-speed traffic coming down Addison. Meanwhile, he and the neighbors are preparing to meet with a mediator.
Sept 2nd: Black Pine Circle Admin and Realm are talking about ways to smooth the morning traffic. Do your part and drive safely, skip the U-turns on 8th, etc...
Aug 25: The neighbors, upset about likely impacts on parking, traffic, and noise, tried to file a cease & desist order against Realm, based on irregularities in the permitting/zoning process, but have failed (due to 'ad hoc' nature of neighborhood group).
Early August: Among the neighbors, there seems to be a recognition that the moment to stop the project has passed. Construction has been proceeding full steam ahead, and a fire-engine red paint job, too! We can expect to have lots more kids and cars in the neighborhood come September.
July 3rd: Construction has been underway in the building for several weeks. The neighbors have not been able to raise the money to hire counsel, and seem to have given up.
June 20th: The neighbors are mobilizing this week, meeting with their council member, and trying to raise money to get the city attorney to stop REALM one way or another.
June 7th: AECOM has completed their traffic study for Realm Charter School and it suggests that there will be no significant impacts on safety or traffic flows. It recommends a signal at University and 8th, which would be an improvement for all of us hoping to make the left towards the freeway.
See the riveting 11 page traffic report here.
In this diagram (from the report), we can see that the greatest impact will be on westbound and eastbound flows on Addison. They will have 10 of the hotel parking lot spots off 8th street, but it doesn't take a consultant to know that there will be heightened demand for metered, unmetered and hotel parking spots.
Several neighbors have written to the city questioning BUSD's decision and deliberative process, calling it capricious and arbitrary. There is also some question arising about whether the City or the State Architect actually has jurisdiction over the building process, under California's policies for Charter Schools. Stay tuned.
May 30th update:
Realm School's Board meeting minutes suggest that they are still pursuing a construction timeline.
May 21st update:
Some of the neighbor have organized a mailing list and are trying to stop the project through legal injunction. Meanwhile, no signs of construction and the "for lease" sign is still up. Hard to believe it will be ready for kids Sept 1st!
Here are some links to articles about this topic:
Just some recent facts
Bay Area Newsgroup, 5/5/11 <view>
Willard School considered and rejected for site of Realm Charter School (March 2011)
As recently as mid-Feb, Realm was intend to move into portables on the West Campus, despite the possibility of hazardous materials and construction noise & disruptionRealm Charter School's letter to the Berkeley Unified School District (Feb 2011)
<view>
Critical opinion piece (Dec 2010)
on a non-mainstream website about an earlier phase of Realm Charter School's search for a site <view>
Realm Charter School Endorsed by BOCA (Dec 2009)
in the Berkeley Daily Planet <view> Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action (BOCA) represents 18 faith congregations in Berkeley and over 10,000 diverse families.
