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The Oakland City Council tonight agreed to postpone until December 18 their final decision on Safeway's proposed expansion of their store at College and Claremont on the Oakland-Berkeley border.

It was announced this afternoon that Safeway had reached a settlement agreement with a trio of neighborhood organizations who have appealed the Oakland planning commission's decision to grant Safeway the permits they sought in their initial proposal.

The settlement reduces the size of the new building to 45,500 gross square feet, puts parking on the roof and provides up to an hour of free parking for shoppers at other nearby stores.

At tonight's meeting, all councilmembers praised Councilmember Jane Brunner for mediating the agreement. Some stressed points in the deal that they wanted planning staff to examine carefully. The staff will work with Safeway to create a revised proposal that reflects the terms of the agreement, which Brunner's office has made public. 

UPDATE: Terms of the agreement reached between the Safeway Corporation and three citizen groups, Friends and Neighbors of Safeway (FANS), the Rockridge Community Planning Council and Berkeleyans for Pedestrian Oriented Development have been released by Oakland Councilmember Jane Brunner. Safeway has agreed to modify the project according to a 15-point list of terms. 

Among the provisions in the agreement: 

• In addition to reducing the size of the Safeway store itself, associated shops will add no more than 9,500 gross square feet to the development.
• Employee parking will be restricted to off-site during peak parking periods,.
• National chain stores will occupy no more than 40% of the shops by square footage.

The full agreement and Councilmember Brunner's letter can be found here: 

Safeway Agreement Term Sheet