The Omni/Challenges

Zoning issues

Sources:

• The Oakland Planning Code
• The Oakland Citywide Zoning Map as PDF (warning: big and slow to load).
• Oakland Interactive Zoning Map (warning: requires silverlight plugin).

Group assembly

The main concern is that group assembly is only conditionally permitted. It takes 2-4 months and (I think, need to double-check exact amount) $1000-$2000 dollars to get the permit. You'd have to begin renting the property immediately. (Juul (talk))

The conditional use permit for group assembly has the following criteria:

Any Conditional Use Permit (CUP) required in the above table or its associated limitations shall
conform to the CUP criteria contained in Section 17.134.050 and to each of the following additional
criteria:
1. That the proposal will not detract from the character desired for the area;
2. That the proposal will not impair a generally continuous wall of building facades;
3. That the proposal will not weaken the concentration and continuity of retail facilities at ground
level, and will not impair the retention or creation of an important shopping frontage;
4. That the proposal will not interfere with the movement of people along an important pedestrian
street; and
5. That the proposal will conform in all significant respects with any applicable district plan which
has been adopted by the City Council.

Here's more info on Section 17.134.050 requirements.

Noise

The part of the omni where sudo room is supposed to reside shares a wall with a residential property streetview link.

The metal club that previously inhabited The Omni was apparently shut down by the surrounding community, apparently due to noise. We have no sources other than word of mouth.

We should talk to the neighbors and do a noise test

Misc

Is public school willing to become incorporated? If not, then co-ownership of UmbrellaCorp by public school becomes problematic.

A co-op with shares owned by investors and each of the four groups (which are incorporated as public benefit non-profits) wants to get a mortgage. If the investors are on the board of directors, will we be able to get a mortgage? If the investors are not on the board of directors? (SELC says it's definitely problematic but not impossible, we just have to structure things right).

How can we ensure that the investors feel safe in the case of:

• One group cannot pay its rent
• The whole thing collapses (e.g. no groups can pay rent)

Can we put in a provision that allows the main investors to sell the property in cases where we're getting close to defaulting on mortgage?

Will we have to get liability insurance for the co-op even if all groups renting space have liability insurance?

Can the co-op be a non-profit if the investors are looking to get a return on their investment over time? (SELC says yes, if we have them lend the money instead of investing).