How will the expansion project affect Emeryville and the neighborhoods around Pixar?

Pixar's planned expansion could have a major impact on Emeryville, both positive and negative.  Potential environmental impacts include increased traffic congestion and worsened air quality due to the increased number of auto trips made to and from Pixar.  The construction of a six story parking garage, demolition of the historic building at the corner of Hollis and 45th (Semifreddi's Bakery) and expansion of Pixar's fence could significantly alter the character of the neighborhood.   

Overall Environmental Impact

In early March 2004, the City of Emeryville released an environmental assessment of the Pixar expansion which found that, after mitigations, the Pixar expansion project would not have any significant impacts on the community or region.  On April 22nd, 2004, the City Planning Commission voted to accept the conclusions of this environmental assessment.  However, not everyone agrees with this conclusion and many neighborhood residents are very concerned about what the Pixar expansion may mean for their quality of life.  To read more about the City's proposed findings on the environmental impacts, as presented in a "mitigated negative declaration" (MND), and some public comments submitted in response to the study, go to the Pixar MND page of this web site.

Traffic Impacts

The City prepared a separate analysis of traffic impacts of the proposed project as a technical appendix to the MND.  The information in this document forms the basis of the City Planning Commission's opinion that there will be no significant environmental impacts resulting from the expansion.  Download this document here:  Pixar MND Transportation Study (3.4 mb).

Some basic transportation estimations and opinions from City documents include:

Despite the extensive study by the City's consultants, however, it appears that traffic impacts could be understated and that surrounding neighborhoods will be negatively impacted by Pixar's expansion. 

For example, AC Transit submitted a letter to the Planning Commission on April 22nd that critiqued the City's assessment of traffic congestion on San Pablo Avenue.  The letter, submitted by Nancy Skowbo, Acting General Manager for Service Development, stated:

"However, the analysis makes the unbelievable claim that the Pixar project, which would add almost 1,000 employees, would add only one car on San Pablo north of Park northbound, and two cars on southbound San Pablo south of Park (Table 11, comparison of "Without Project" and "With General Plan Amendments").  It is hard to understand how such a figure could have been derived."

EBASE worked with an independent traffic engineer to assess the findings of the City's traffic consultants. Our traffic engineer determined that the in many instance the City's findings of insignificance were unwarranted and unsubstantiated.  He writes:

"Many critical traffic issues have not been adequately or properly addressed in the Initial Study and the transportation analysis for the Pixar Expansion Porject.  Significant errors have been made in the traffic analysis regarding comparison with the previously approved Pixar project, trip generation factors for the expansion, and various capacity calculations."  

Download the traffic expert's letter here: Brohard Memo on Traffic Impacts (320k).

Air Quality and Noise

Two major components of an environmental impact review that can affect a community are air quality and noise.  This includes dust and toxins that can be dispersed into the air and the heavy boom of pile drivers during construction, as well as auto-caused air pollution in nearby neighborhoods over the long-term.

In the MND, the City asserts that the Pixar project will not have significant adverse affects in either the short term (during construction) or long term (during operations) after certain mitigation measures are followed.  Again, details on these findings can be found in the City's MND report which is available on our Downloads page.

Again, it appears that more negative air quality and noise impacts may occur than are reported in the MND.  In order to independently assess noise and air quality impacts, EBASE also worked with a specialist to assess the adequacy of the City's findings.  She found that the MND failed to assess a host of negative noise and air quality impacts on the environment both in the short-term and long-term.  For details of her findings, download her response letter:  Fox Letter on Noise and Air Quality (770k).