Rain, Roses, and Recharge: A Holiday Walk to Grand Avenue

There had been rain earlier in the morning last Wednesday, but it was just cloudy when our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group gathered for our weekly walk. The rain reduced the group’s size, but there was a special reason to go on this walk. We were going to Zachary's restaurant on Grand Avenue for our annual Holiday lunch. Nineteen walkers were at the Exedra and five more met us at the restaurant.

Priscilla Wanerus had called Zachary’s, and it was going to be ready for us at 11:30. We took a direct route down Magnolia Avenue to Wildwood Avenue. The rain had brought down a carpet of bright burgundy leaves to the sidewalk, and we were careful not to slip on them. We stopped just before Grand Avenue to talk about what was happening there, where an old Shell Station once was.

The station had been in Piedmont for 95 years, but it was announced in November of 2022 that it would close and be sold to Shell Recharge, a division of Shell Oil. The station had three 10,000-gallon gas tanks under the pumps that needed to be replaced by 2025. New tanks would have enabled the station to continue to sell gas for decades, but the increased popularity of electric vehicles made the owner feel uncomfortable with the future of gasoline stations and the investment. Shell had demolished most of the station and wants to replace it with a 14-bay electric vehicle charging hub under the Shell Recharge brand.

The Piedmont City Council voted unanimously in November 2024 to approve a conditional use permit for the new station. It established conditions that included the requirement of a security plan and restricted operating hours from a 24/7 plan. These conditions addressed residents’ concerns about noise and potential security risks with no staff usually present.

At that time, Shell agreed to limited hours of operation and other modifications. However, the plan has been upended by two, new State laws that limit local control over EV charging station permits. They are designed to speed the installation of EV charging stations, and limit cities’ discretion regarding features such as the canopies, fencing, landscaping, benches, and an air compressor that were part of the 2024 Piedmont approved plan. Most notably, there are now no restrictions on the hours of operation. The permit application is also exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Cities have some discretion over the permitting process if there is an adverse impact to public health or safety, but the City of Piedmont says no such impact has been identified in this application. So, Shell recently withdrew its first permit and submitted a new application under the new laws.

After discussing the station, we still had time to go up Jean Street to the Morcom Rose Garden. The road in front of the garden has its own history with many puddled potholes to navigate. We entered and walked up the garden’s central path and soon met a group of about eight Chevron retirees who were there for a visit. They didn’t know much about the garden so the following information was shared with them and one retiree took a group photo of us.

The garden is in a natural bowl on a 7.5-acre site that was purchased by the City of Oakland in 1911 and named Linda Vista Park. However, the best park entrance was through land in Piedmont, and the Piedmont City Council joined the effort in June 1911 by acquiring Piedmont lots at the southern corner of Olive and Oakland Avenues. In 1913 it was proposed that the park be converted into a zoological garden. Several animal offers were received. Golden Gate Park offered elk and buffalo. F. M. “Borax” Smith offered several llamas from the large herd on his East Oakland estate, but the park directors decided not to go that direction.

Linda Vista Park’s conversion to a rose garden was a project of the Oakland Businessmen's Garden Club in 1930 with the support of the city. It was originally known as the Municipal Rose Garden. Additional work began in 1931 or 1932 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. The first rose was planted on Jan. 27, 1933, and the garden was officially opened on May 28, 1933. Presumably, work was completed in 1935 with Depression era funding. The park’s name was changed in 1954 to honor former Oakland Mayor Fred Morcom, who served from 1931 to 1933. The park has been refurbished at least twice, in the 1950s and 1990s, with many of the old roses, some going back to the 19th century, being regrafted on new rootstock.

A few roses were still in buds and blooms, and pretty. As we left the garden we noted the many, well-fed chickens in the next door neighbor’s coop. We retraced our steps to Grand for a short walk and an on time arrival at the restaurant.

After good conversations, lots of pizza, and another group photo we exited the restaurant and went back up Wildwood for our return to the town center. On the way back the distinction between a drizzle and a light rain became literally cloudy, but it was not a problem. This had been a satisfying walk in more ways than one.