Drizzt
March 27, 2003, 06:30 PM
Oakland trying to avoid that 'war zone' look
Ban on metal bars, roll-down doors considered
Janine DeFao, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, March 26, 2003
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Barbed wire and metal bars make Oakland's business districts look like war zones, say city officials who want to outlaw exterior security devices that they claim are not only ugly but ineffective.
"It gives a sense that our community is not a very safe city," said City Manager Robert Bobb, who has made fighting blight a top priority. "We believe there are alternatives for securing their businesses."
A City Council committee backed a plan Tuesday to prohibit barbed wire fences in commercial districts but stopped short of supporting a more far- reaching proposal to eliminate burglar bars, roll-down doors and retractable security gates, common fixtures throughout the city.
City officials said they believe Oakland is the first city in the Bay Area to consider such a law, although Santa Monica has banned barbed wire.
Such devices "tend to exaggerate the perception of an unsafe area or war zone," said city building services director Calvin Wong.
Some council members questioned whether the city can afford to launch a new program when it faces a projected $30 million deficit for the coming fiscal year. And small business owners say crime is not merely a perception but a reality in many neighborhoods.
"There is a lot of crime in Oakland. Who's trying to kid who?" Josefina Lopez, owner of Corazon Del Pueblo, said at her Mexican imports store and art gallery on International Boulevard, near High Street.
"Come out here at 10 o'clock at night, you're going to find another planet. The prostitutes come out, the pimps come out, the street people come out."
When riots broke out after the Super Bowl in January, Lopez watched from her store as vandals and looters broke nearly every window of the Kelly-Moore Paint store across the street. Her shop, with a wrought-iron gate in front of its doors and metal roll-down doors over the windows, escaped unharmed.
"Had I not had those roll-down windows, I would have been as vulnerable," said Lopez, who spent $85,000 last year, including a $32,000 city grant, to fix up her storefront.
Dan Tran, owner of Thien Loi Hoa Supermarket in the Eastlake district near Lake Merritt, told the council that he had been burglarized three times in three months before installing a roll-down door.
"It saved me thousands of dollars," he said. "I feel safe with a roll-up gate door."
Several council members said they understand the concerns of small-business owners. They said they won't consider a ban on such security devices before knowing how much financial assistance the city could provide to merchants to make changes and whether more aesthetically pleasing security measures, such as break-resistant glass, are effective. Under the proposal, store owners could mount bars and grilles inside their windows.
Chuong Khac Nguyen, an organizer with the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation who works with Eastlake merchants, said he agrees that some of the security devices are ugly and could be moved inside.
But "it already cost them a lot to put them outside," he said. "We should not do it right away. We need more time to educate the merchants."
Councilman Henry Chang said store owners don't put in such devices "unless they've been hit many times and don't think they can run their business without it." He questioned whether burglar alarms are effective, saying intruders can get in and out before police arrive.
Wong said 43 percent of the 2,610 businesses in Oakland's 15 neighborhood commercial revitalization districts -- including International and MacArthur boulevards and San Pablo and Telegraph avenues -- use some type of exterior- mounted security gates, grilles, bars and doors.
Many have been installed without permits and could violate building codes by blocking exits and sidewalks, he said.
Such devices discourage customers and new businesses from moving in and degrade property values without stopping break-ins, Wong said.
The law would also apply downtown, where 120 of 460 storefronts have security devices outside.
Wong and Bobb had proposed educational outreach and monetary incentives for shops to upgrade security through existing funds for neighborhood business districts, but council members questioned how far the money would stretch, pointing out that the city is bracing for deep cuts come July.
The community and economic development committee did agree to a ban on barbed and razor wire, which Wong said can be easily scaled simply by using a jacket to cover the barbs.
"How our city looks and how welcoming it is to pedestrians and people driving by is critical," said Councilwoman Jane Brunner, who said she might support a ban on future installation of gates and bars, but not on those already in place.
If the full council approves the barbed wire ban in two weeks, an ordinance would be considered in July.
If barbed wire is outlawed, Richard Lau said he will have no choice but to take down the circles of sharp wire surrounding his E. 14th Auto Service Body Shop on International Boulevard.
Before he put it up five years ago, he was burglarized weekly, he said. Now,
someone breaks in every other month to steal radial tires and other goods.
"It's no use to call the police. They say, 'Call your insurance company,' " Lau said.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/03/26/MN43119.DTL
Ban on metal bars, roll-down doors considered
Janine DeFao, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, March 26, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barbed wire and metal bars make Oakland's business districts look like war zones, say city officials who want to outlaw exterior security devices that they claim are not only ugly but ineffective.
"It gives a sense that our community is not a very safe city," said City Manager Robert Bobb, who has made fighting blight a top priority. "We believe there are alternatives for securing their businesses."
A City Council committee backed a plan Tuesday to prohibit barbed wire fences in commercial districts but stopped short of supporting a more far- reaching proposal to eliminate burglar bars, roll-down doors and retractable security gates, common fixtures throughout the city.
City officials said they believe Oakland is the first city in the Bay Area to consider such a law, although Santa Monica has banned barbed wire.
Such devices "tend to exaggerate the perception of an unsafe area or war zone," said city building services director Calvin Wong.
Some council members questioned whether the city can afford to launch a new program when it faces a projected $30 million deficit for the coming fiscal year. And small business owners say crime is not merely a perception but a reality in many neighborhoods.
"There is a lot of crime in Oakland. Who's trying to kid who?" Josefina Lopez, owner of Corazon Del Pueblo, said at her Mexican imports store and art gallery on International Boulevard, near High Street.
"Come out here at 10 o'clock at night, you're going to find another planet. The prostitutes come out, the pimps come out, the street people come out."
When riots broke out after the Super Bowl in January, Lopez watched from her store as vandals and looters broke nearly every window of the Kelly-Moore Paint store across the street. Her shop, with a wrought-iron gate in front of its doors and metal roll-down doors over the windows, escaped unharmed.
"Had I not had those roll-down windows, I would have been as vulnerable," said Lopez, who spent $85,000 last year, including a $32,000 city grant, to fix up her storefront.
Dan Tran, owner of Thien Loi Hoa Supermarket in the Eastlake district near Lake Merritt, told the council that he had been burglarized three times in three months before installing a roll-down door.
"It saved me thousands of dollars," he said. "I feel safe with a roll-up gate door."
Several council members said they understand the concerns of small-business owners. They said they won't consider a ban on such security devices before knowing how much financial assistance the city could provide to merchants to make changes and whether more aesthetically pleasing security measures, such as break-resistant glass, are effective. Under the proposal, store owners could mount bars and grilles inside their windows.
Chuong Khac Nguyen, an organizer with the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation who works with Eastlake merchants, said he agrees that some of the security devices are ugly and could be moved inside.
But "it already cost them a lot to put them outside," he said. "We should not do it right away. We need more time to educate the merchants."
Councilman Henry Chang said store owners don't put in such devices "unless they've been hit many times and don't think they can run their business without it." He questioned whether burglar alarms are effective, saying intruders can get in and out before police arrive.
Wong said 43 percent of the 2,610 businesses in Oakland's 15 neighborhood commercial revitalization districts -- including International and MacArthur boulevards and San Pablo and Telegraph avenues -- use some type of exterior- mounted security gates, grilles, bars and doors.
Many have been installed without permits and could violate building codes by blocking exits and sidewalks, he said.
Such devices discourage customers and new businesses from moving in and degrade property values without stopping break-ins, Wong said.
The law would also apply downtown, where 120 of 460 storefronts have security devices outside.
Wong and Bobb had proposed educational outreach and monetary incentives for shops to upgrade security through existing funds for neighborhood business districts, but council members questioned how far the money would stretch, pointing out that the city is bracing for deep cuts come July.
The community and economic development committee did agree to a ban on barbed and razor wire, which Wong said can be easily scaled simply by using a jacket to cover the barbs.
"How our city looks and how welcoming it is to pedestrians and people driving by is critical," said Councilwoman Jane Brunner, who said she might support a ban on future installation of gates and bars, but not on those already in place.
If the full council approves the barbed wire ban in two weeks, an ordinance would be considered in July.
If barbed wire is outlawed, Richard Lau said he will have no choice but to take down the circles of sharp wire surrounding his E. 14th Auto Service Body Shop on International Boulevard.
Before he put it up five years ago, he was burglarized weekly, he said. Now,
someone breaks in every other month to steal radial tires and other goods.
"It's no use to call the police. They say, 'Call your insurance company,' " Lau said.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/03/26/MN43119.DTL