What We Heard From You
“The Charette process invited my neighbors
and me to share our opinions and
suggestions in designing a positive addition
to our community . . . The Charette process
has developed a plan that no one group
of people could have achieved alone – it
has drawn the best from those who
participated.”
STEVE POTTER Charette participant
he design process that created that showcased the proposed look, the Pleasant Hill BART Station function and character of the BART TCommunity Plan was based on station. the principle that “the best plans are The high level of citizen turnout made by many hands.” More than 500 was tremendously valuable to the people participated in the Charrette process. Many dropped in during the and offered up a wealth of ideas, sug- more than 80 hours of “open door gestions and perspectives about what studio time.” The Pleasant Hill BART they wanted for their community. Station owes a great deal to these While these citizen planners have committed citizens who spent their blazed the trail for the new BART time, energy and talents helping to transit village, there still is much work Charrette participants were encouraged create an innovative, thoughtful to be done, with plenty more opportu- to generate their own ideas, helping Community Plan for the new transit nities for public input from neighbors the designers better understand the village. and others during the land use review community’s needs and desires. and approval process (see Next Steps that need to be protected. In addition, below). the team conducted market and trans- A Charrette is an inclusive public planning process undertaken by How the Charrette process portation background research that was used to help test various scenarios a inter-disciplinary design team, worked created during the charrette. 4 to 7 days in duration. The term The first step was to listen and gather During the six-day Charrette, the meaning "little cart" refers to the information. The consultant team met designers generated a set of prelimi- final intense work effort expended one-on-one and in groups with mem- nary concepts based on the citizen by architecture students to meet a bers of the community. More ideas Iterative Design Process input and feasibility analysis. The con- project deadline. At the Ecole des were gathered at an evening “kick-off” During the Charrette, a multitude of cepts were developed during a series Beaux Arts in Paris proctors circulated meeting attended by over 150 people. design iterations occurred on many scales – of informal meetings where partici- carts to collect final drawings, and Concurrently, the consultant team generating ideas, testing them with an pants could drop by, attend scheduled students would jump on the charrette conducted an “opportunities and interdisciplinary group of experts. Shown meetings, see daily “pin-up” reviews, frantically putting finishing touches constraints” analysis, which identified above are two early alternatives (top and and participate in large public meet- on their drawings. potential development constraints middle) and a plan proposed by a citizen ings at night. Those early concepts such as existing trees and key views (bottom) that played an important role in then led to a “preferred alternative” shaping the station square.
Next Steps Dates are best estimates
October 30, 2001, 7:00 pm Workshop to present: Embassy Suites Summary Report 1345 Treat Blvd. Regulating Plan & Codes Walnut Creek, California Contra Costa County Redevelopment 651 Pine Street, 4th Floor North Wing December, 2001 Presentation of Charrette Summary Martinez, California. 94553 Report to Board of Supervisors
January, 2002 Submittal of Preliminary Development Plan (PDP) by developer
February-March, 2002 Review Period of PDP
April, 2002 CEQA Determination
May-June, 2002 Planning Commission Hearings
July-August, 2002 Finalize business arrangements between BART and Redevelopment Agency; Approve Ground Lease
July-August, 2002 Board of Supervisors Hearing / Approval
For more information, call 925.335.1275 or visit www.cocoplans.org