Loading...
2005-04-06 ARRA MinutesAPPROVED MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE 5-B ALAMEDA REUSE AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Wednesday, April 6, 2005 The meeting convened at 7:11 p.m. with Vice Mayor Gilmore presiding. 1. ROLL CALL Present: Tony Daysog, Boardmember, City of Alameda Doug DeHaan, Boardmember, City of Alameda Frank Matarrese, Boardmember, City of Alameda Absent: Beverly Johnson, Chair, City of Alameda 2. CONSENT CALENDAR 2-A. Approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of February 2, 2005. Member Matarrese motioned for approval of the Consent Calendar items. The motion was seconded by Doug DeHaan and passed by the following voice vote: Ayes – 3; Noes – 0; Abstentions – 1. 3. PRESENTATION 3-A. Presentation on the March 3rd and March 23rd Community Workshops regarding Transportation and the Preliminary Development Concept Andrew Thomas, Planning Supervisor, gave an overview of the planning process for Alameda Point and the transportation planning process with presentations to follow. The consultant team was also present for the first time at an ARRA Board meeting. Mr. Thomas updated Members of the four major community workshops – that they’ve been very well attended. The Alameda Point Land Use team has also had a number of briefings with the Planning Board, Transportation Commission and other Boards and Commissions. There are two more major workshops planned, the next one is scheduled for Saturday, May 7th, with the final community workshop in early June. The plans are taking shape. For the next couple of workshops, the plans will be refined with input from the community (both the transportation and the land use plans). The March 3rd land use workshop will be rebroadcast on local cable channel 15 on April 7th, and the March 23rd transportation workshop on April 14th.. Walter Rask and Jim Adams from Roma (Land Use consultants) were present, as well as Matthew Ridgway of Fehr and Peers Transportation consultants) to give respective presentations. 1 G: BaseResue&Redv/Arra/Minutes/2005/04-06-05 regular minutes Walter Rask: Our agenda for this evening is two parts. The first part is to give an overview of the preliminary development concept including the next steps. Part 2 – Fehr and Peers will be presenting an overview of the transportation strategy focusing largely on the off base transportation issues having to do with capacity of tubes and bridges and the major street network. We’ll be doing more work later internally on the base itself and their presentation will conclude with discussion of the next steps in that process. Land Use Slide Presentation Mr. Rask presented the history of the Reuse Plan the ARRA adopted in 1996, which set forward a basic framework for development not only of Alameda Point but also of the FISC and Annex properties on the East side of Main Street. He discussed that we are only dealing with the area west of Main Street. In 2003, the City Council adopted an amendment to the General Plan that refined the Reuse Plan for mostly for the areas west of Main although there was a small area on the northeast of Main and this set the basic framework for redevelopment of the base and the targets for build out, the framework for the larger transportation system and perhaps most importantly it set forth seven goals for redevelopment of the base: 1) to seamlessly integrate Alameda Point with the rest of the community, 2) that Alameda become a vibrant new neighborhood with a variety of uses in it; 3) to maximize the waterfront accessibility, 4) to deemphasize the auto and to make new development compatible with the transportation capacity that is available, and 5) to insure economic development, 6) provide a mixed use environment and finally, 7) to promote neighborhood centers. Mr. Rask discussed the challenges, including contractual commitments, large Historic district area, ground water contamination, the Tidelands Trust places restrictions on the use of lands under state tidelands and specifically excludes housing, the Wildlife Refuge, the green area, as the effect of constraining development on the blocks between the western boundary and Monarch Street, the 100 year flood area has to be mitigated either by raising the ground or providing some kind of a sea wall, young bay mud poses problems of structural stability because of the danger of liquefaction in earthquake events. There is also a whole gamut of regulatory agencies that have a say on these matters. The plan as it currently stands has two major aspects. The first is what we refer to as the framework plan that fixes the location and character of the major streets and open spaces on the base and also identifies opportunities for certain civic functions. The land use plan is the second half of the two part preliminary development concept. Mr. Rask discussed the community concerns about Measure A, the Historic areas, etc. He stated that the next steps in the planning process is to refine the plan and respond to the major issues that have come up in the last workshop. One is a desire to more closely examine the notion of neighborhood centers as the general plan calls for. More generally to address neighborhood character issues. Pedestrian, bicycle and transit enhancements are a similar theme. At the next workshop they will present some refinements, as well as new information on alternatives, and then the refined transportation plan. Mr. Rask stated that the final workshop in June will be to actually present the preliminary development concept and the transportation plan with the intent is to bring it to the ARRA board in July. Transportation Presentation 2 G: BaseResue&Redv/Arra/Minutes/2005/04-06-05 regular minutes Matthew Ridgway and Michael Keeling from Fehr and Peers gave the transportation presentation. (Both the entire presentations are available for review and are on file with the ARRA Secretary) Mr. Ridgway gave an overview of the transportation strategy that has been developed and discussed some of the major components for sustainable transportation, including land use strategy, employment and retail, residential and retail, and to discourage auto use. The presentation included a menu of options and the challenges that go along with those options. There was much discussion about the Tubes getting more constrained and congested from the development within the region and Oakland. Mr. Ridgway presented some ideas about how to minimize the impact on the tube. The initial transportation strategy includes the use of ECO passes - the cost of purchasing ECO passes will be built into the homeowner’s association fees for anybody who lives at Alameda Point. It will be built into the fees that are part of the employment component of Alameda Point as well. The plan also includes shuttle buses, enhanced ferry services to include bike stations, car share programs, multi modal transit center, onsite transportation coordinator (a person who organizes the car pools and van pools, makes sure the shuttles are operating efficiently) etc. The presentation also included BART and AC Transit options/route alternatives as well as a light rail option (Cybertran). In June, the transportation options will be moved on to a more detailed evaluation and the next steps include two major components: 1) continue to look at the long term transit options and 2) take the short terms transit options that we’ve talked about and look at them with much more detail so that we have something that is ready to construct on opening day of the project. Another point, according to the MTC, in terms of land use densities to support transit, Alameda would be considered suburban – rural, the density that you are talking about would fit into that category, which in their mind would be something that in terms of regional funding you would be very low on the list to compute for regional funding Member Gilmore thanked Mr. Ridgway and commented that the presentation was very informative “if somewhat sobering.” Member Gilmore called several speakers: first speaker, Helen Sause, made comments on the community workshops she’s attended, stating that the transportation system being developed is very critical. She discussed the need to find partners with the rest of Alameda, not just with Alameda Point, and to engage the rest of Alameda. Second speaker, Neil Sinclair of Cybertran, commented on the light rail option and stated that he anticipates being here in Alameda and continuing their development. 3 G: BaseResue&Redv/Arra/Minutes/2005/04-06-05 regular minutes Third speaker, Diane Lichenstein, APAC Chair, commented on the tremendous amount of work and effort put into the community workshops and the preliminary development concept (PDC). Emphasized continued dialogue with community. Member Gilmore opened the item for discussion. Member Mataresse thanked staff and APAC for hosting the community workshops with the boards and commissions, etc. and appreciates the summaries of the meetings. He discussed the use of electric buses and liked the idea of the duplex shop houses in the historic buildings. Has one regret regarding “the Wall” and commented on the speed limit being dropped along Ralph Appezzato Pkwy. Member deHaan: Stated his appreciation for everything that’s gone forward and particularly transportation, probably the most important segment. Had some concerns about the ferry service, that it should service Oakland as well. He stated he liked the idea of the ECO Pass but had concerns about how the fees are paid. He slso liked the idea of the tram. He stated that the realism is that the ferry system, the bus systems and some other rapid bus system is the solution. Member Daysog: Stated he was excited about the ECO pass and the BART shuttle alternative. Stated that the transportation solution for Alameda Point is really the transportation solution for the City of Alameda. Member Gilmore: Excellent presentation with an incredible amount of information in great detail yet very easy to understand. Agreed with Member Daysog that whatever transit solution that we end up with is a transit solution for the entire island and not just for Alameda Point, and that it needed to be in place yesterday. She made a specific comment about the potential light rail connection from Alameda Point to the Fruitvale BART station. Stated that we can’t lose sight of the need for connections going off the island, but given our future developments – an “across island” transit corridor as well which has the potential of taking people out of their cars as they go from one end of the island to the other and generating more tax revenue for the city. 4. REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS None. 5. ORAL REPORTS 5-A. Oral report from APAC. APAC Chair Lee Perez commented on the tremendous amount of data received during this evening’s presentation. He thanked staff and the experts for their wonderful job of drawing in citizens. Following the board’s instructions, the APAC spent considerable amount of time discussing what could replace the APAC. He mentioned the letter which was sent to the board by APAC and hope that they will give it serious consideration. Mentioned the need of citizens’ input. Vice Mayor Gilmore thanked and congratulated the APAC as well as staff for the incredible outreach that was done because it has really shown in the increased attendance at the last several 4 G: BaseResue&Redv/Arra/Minutes/2005/04-06-05 regular minutes meetings. The APAC worked very hard to get the word out and it was nice to see the result and to have a reasoned dialogued among all the citizens of Alameda. 5-B. Oral report from Member Matarrese, RAB representative. Member Matarrese had nothing to report as he was unable to attend the last RAB meeting due to illness. He stated he would be unable to attend the next meeting as well due to a special City Council meeting being held at the same time. He will provide the secretary with the minutes of the two meetings, so that they may be included in the packet. 6. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS, NON-AGENDA (PUBLIC COMMENT) One speaker, Bill Smith spoke on various topics . 7. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE GOVERNING BODY None. 8. ADJOURNMENT Vice Mayor Gilmore adjourned the open session meeting at 9:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Irma Frankel ARRA Secretary 5 G: BaseResue&Redv/Arra/Minutes/2005/04-06-05 regular minutes