Safeway held a community meeting Wednesday night at Northbrae Community Church to describe its plans for an updated store on Solano Avenue. Read about the project here on Albany Patch.  Click the "Keep me posted" button below this story for updates when we cover this topic.

A new Safeway on Solano Avenue may be one step closer to reality after a community meeting Wednesday night with store officials, architects and members of the public.  Store officials said the new design put a premium on keeping delivery trucks off neighborhood streets, with a ramp directly from Solano into a two-story parking garage with an underground loading area. (The development includes two stories above grade at Solano, with a third level underground.) The new store, Safeway reps said, will bring an additional $304,400 to city coffers, with increased property and sales tax revenue.  …

The memo below went out Friday as a reminder about this week's Safeway meeting with store representatives.  The project for a new Safeway on Solano has been in development since 2008, and has been through several iterations. It last appeared before the city's Planning & Zoning Commission in March 2011.  Store reps canceled a meeting set for June 2011 that was slated to focus on environmental impacts associated with the project. Safeway hopes to update and rebuild its Solano Avenue facility, which many community members have said desperately needs improvement. (Scroll down to take our poll …

After months of silence, Safeway could be back before the community in April with a new design for its Solano Avenue store.  (Read about past plans for the business on Albany Patch here.) The company recently told Albany city staff that it is finishing up work on a new design, and would like to have a public outreach meeting in the spring.  The date has been tentatively set for April 18.  The business last appeared before the city Planning & Zoning Commission in March 2011. Its design, which has at times inspired much concern from neighbors, met with relative approval from many in the room. …

[Editor's Note: Albany resident Eric Chou, a site and facilities planner, shared these thoughts as Safeway prepared for a study session Tuesday before the Planning & Zoning Commission. The session has been postponed, but Safeway remains on the agenda as per common city practice. Chou has created several PDFs as illustrations for his column. They are attached at right.] I should state from the get-go that I fully support the desire for a newer, better Safeway on Solano.  The current Safeway is outdated, unattractive and, frankly, not a very pleasant place to shop. However, upon seeing the …

[Editor's Note: A notice from the Planning & Zoning Department is followed here by some background from Albany Patch.] Safeway has requested that the discussion of the CEQA review of their project that was planned for the June 14 Planning & Zoning Commission meeting be rescheduled to a future meeting (exact date tbd). The City and Safeway apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause. (For your information, because the public notice had already been sent out, it is standard City practice to keep the item on the agenda as a courtesy to members of the public that may attend the meeting…

[Editor's Note: This meeting will be rescheduled, but a new date has not yet been set.] The Planning & Zoning Commission will hold a study session on June 14 regarding the application to build a new Safeway store at 1500 Solano Ave. The session, set for 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, will include a design review and discussion of the "Planned Unit Development" designation, but will not include any final decisions about the project, according to a city notice released Monday. (The notice is attached here as a PDF.) The application involves a 63,411 square foot grocery store and retail shop …

Safeway unveiled new designs Tuesday night, with many elements redrawn to address neighborhood concerns about truck loading and auto access, for a "lifestyle" store planned for construction on Solano Avenue. The plans, viewable in the PDF to the right, include a row of retail shops along Solano and garage access, for customers and delivery trucks, designed to minimize impacts on neighbors. Garage and loading zone access is closer to Solano than plans presented in December, which seems to have made construction more palatable for many who live nearby.  A two-story garage would increase parking…

Safeway hopes to construct a new grocery store and retail shops totaling approximately 63,411 square feet.  If you would like more information about this application, please contact the Albany Community Development Department, 1000 San Pablo Avenue, 510-528-5760. Plans are available for review at the Community Development Department at 1000 San Pablo Ave. MARCH 2011 Public Hearing Notice for Planning & Zoning Study Session 3/22/2011 Safeway Site Plan 2011-03-09 Staff Report from Planning & Zoning Commission 3/22/2011 Correspondences from Planning & Zoning Commission 3/22/2011…

Albany Patch recently posed nine questions, about challenges faced by the city, to the four City Council candidates up for election Nov. 2. See our full election guide here. Click each candidate's name to view a general Q&A completed in August. What are the biggest issues the city needs to consider in approving the Safeway redevelopment project? MARGE ATKINSON The on-going issues are parking, access and size of the proposed new store.  The Planning and Zoning Commission, neighborhood groups and Safeway have been working diligently to come up with compromises and plans that address some of the…

Neighbor after neighbor spoke out Tuesday night against aspects of Safeway's new proposals for development of its Solano Avenue store, though there was agreement that the plans are an improvement over earlier attempts. Planning & Zoning commissioners said the plans show promise, but that the grocery store needs to continue thinking about how to address traffic and circulation concerns. Safeway presented the plans to the Traffic & Safety Commission last week. A plan entitled "Site Plan Option A," which seemed to garner the most support, includes a large opening for big rig trucks on Neilson …

Safeway presented three new plans to Albany officials and residents Thursday night to respond to concerns about parking and traffic around its proposed grocery store expansion efforts on Solano Avenue. Store officials will offer a similar presentation Tuesday night before the Planning & Zoning Commission. Many residents said the plans, or at least one of them, seemed to be a marked improvement from former concepts offered for consideration. Planning & Zoning asked Safeway in June to go before the Traffic & Safety Commission with ideas that would address how to limit the negative impact …

When Joseph Pieri bought a three-bedroom house next to Safeway on Solano Avenue in 2004, he thought he'd found his dream home. "My wife said, 'I could die in this house.' She didn't have to drive anywhere," said 61-year-old Pieri, of their tidy Neilson Street property. Now, with Safeway's massive expansion plan looming, what seemed to be a great convenience has turned into a major headache. "I didn't know Safeway had a plan to tear down the existing store and build a new one," said Pieri, a former developer. "If I had known, I would have had second thoughts about purchasing the house." Since …