Would you like fries with that zoning change?

Property owner consulted with MAC member about changes to county's drive-in ban; Oakland councilmember is releasing her first single; DA Price recallers and opponents clash at rally

COUNTY NEWS

SAN LORENZO

—CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST ZONE—The owner of a long-vacant commercial property in unincorporated San Lorenzo is asking the county to remove a prohibition on drive-in restaurants in the area.

—The policy adopted by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in 1999 does not allow new drive-in restaurants on Hesperian Boulevard between San Leandro and Hayward.

—An application to be heard at Tuesday night’s Eden Area Municipal Advisory Committee asks to remove the prohibition.

—Elaine Hom, the owner of the commercial property at 18600 Hesperian Boulevard, wrote in a letter to the county in March that she has been unable to sell the property due to the county’s constraints on drive-in establishments.

—The property is bookended by a McDonald’s and a taqueria, both of which are existing drive-ins.

—But despite questions about adding drive-ins to one of the most depressed regions in the county and concerns about healthy-eating options, the assistance of a Castro Valley MAC member raises questions about the proposed policy change.

—A letter penned by Hom on March 18 makes reference to Ken Carbone, at the time a member of the Castro Valley MAC.

—“My zoning consultant Ken Carbone says, there is not much market for retail spaces. He says this lot is only useable and in demand for a drive-through, so please advise what I can do to make this happen,” Hom wrote to the county.

—Carbone abruptly resigned from the Castro Valley MAC on May 13 amid rumors of some type of conflict of interest.

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