BART Parking
BART is proposing to build high density housing on its property at the El Cerrito Plaza Station. BART’s proposed plan calls for replacing the existing parking lots at the station with multi-storied housing containing a combination of affordable and market priced units as part of the Agency’s Transit-Oriented Development Program (TOD) for mixed-use, higher density development on or adjacent to BART property. A similar TOD plan is proposed for BART’s North Berkeley Station.
In November, 2020, BART selected a developer team to work on a development concept. BART has indicated that before the developer can finalize its proposal, BART and the City of El Cerrito will need to make decisions about the quantity of BART patron replacement parking and whether to include a new library in the project.
KPOA held a public meeting with Rebecca Saltzman, BART director who represents the district covering the El Cerrito Plaza station, along with BART staff to discuss the proposed plan. KPOA expressed the concern that potential elimination of parking at the station would have a negative impact on Kensington residents particularly those residents who use the station to commute to and from work. KPOA urged that adequate parking be retained and the BART work with AC Transit to improve public transportation options serving Kensington to and from the station. The following link provides more information about the project: https://www.bart.gov/about/business/tod/el-cerrito-plaza