Neighbors Pack Church to Push Back on Eight-Story Safeway Tower at Ocean Beach
A proposed 562-unit housing development above the Outer Richmond's La Playa Safeway has ignited a community firestorm, with residents arguing state streamlining laws have stripped them of any real say.
Due to state law, the proposed housing development to replace the Safeway on La Playa Street with a new store and 562 units of housing has been "streamlined," restricting the input to city officials from the residents of that neighborhood. That legal reality did not stop neighbors from showing up. The Planning Association for the Richmond (PAR) gave local residents the opportunity to voice either their opposition or support for the proposal by hosting a meeting at St. John's Presbyterian Church on Lake Street at the end of September. About 60 people heard speakers discuss the proposed eight-story Safeway redevelopment project at 850 La Playa St. near Ocean Beach.