Last night East Oakland stood up for all of Oakland! Communities for a Better Environment is delighted to announce excellent news for East and West Oakland residents. On Wednesday evening the Planning Commissioners made the right decision in support of our health. The power of an organized community, equipped with facts and passion for environmental justice guided this decision. The Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of what we all wanted since the beginning.
For the past two and a half years, the community of East Oakland has expressed its strong opposition to the Stewart Enterprises crematorium proposal. The community has communicated a clear message to all Oakland elected officials, staff and Commissioners- that new policy changes governing crematoriums must protect the most impacted communities of East and West Oakland. We also have a strong business ally standing with us, widening our strategy and enabling to reach a final victory!
We want to thank the Commissioners for choosing the best options offered by the City Planning Department staff. In fact, they gave us what we were asking for all along. Of the three options presented, they agreed to:
1. Amend the planning code to insert the word “crematorium” into Extensive Impact Civic Activityi , which means we would get a Conditional Use Permit.
2. Create a separate section in the planning code for crematoriums that says all new and expanding crematoriums must perform a CUP and a Health Risk Assessment.
We have won an important victory but the fight is still on!
We still need to keep up the good fight and continue working to a final and complete victory (Keep Stewart out of Oakland!). This permanent ordinance language approved last night will help our fight, but the Stewart lawsuit against the City is still pending (remember Judge Grillo’s ruling in 2013- that said Stewart’s permit was vested). The judge’s order is not final until the whole case is over.