Title
PLN23-0380 - Street Name Amendment for Alameda Point Vesting Tentative Map (Tract 8696) - Applicant: City of Alameda. Public Hearing to consider a resolution approving an amendment to street names on the subdivision of a 160.64 acre City-owned parcel (APN 74-1368-18-4) into 23 lots, 3 remainder parcels and associated public rights of way on Pan Am Way, West Midway Avenue, West Ranger Avenue, West Tower Avenue, Orion Street, and Main Street at Alameda Point. CEQA Determination: Exempt, pursuant to the “common sense” exemption, CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3). Zoning: AP-AR Alameda Point Adaptive Reuse Zoning District and Main Street Zoning District.
Body
To: Honorable President and Members of the Planning Board
From: Steven Buckley, Planning Services Manager
Allen Tai, Director of Planning, Building and Transportation
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On December 11, 2023, the City of Alameda received Planning Board approval for a tentative map to subdivide an approximately 160-acre City-owned parcel of land at Alameda Point (APN 74-1368-18-4) to create 23 individual lots for the RESHAP and West Midway projects at Alameda Point.
That map is now ready for final approval by the City Council. However, placeholder street names appear on the map, and it is the desire of the City and the developers to rename the public streets as part of the final map process. The desired names are “Waves Avenue” (to recognize the prior use of the site as offices for the WAVES personnel who served at NAS Alameda) for the westerly street within the RESHAP project area (currently shown as Avenue B) and “Valor Avenue” for the easterly street within the market-rate development area (currently shown as A Street), reflective of naval history.
Staff is recommending approval of the street names as part of the recording of Vesting Tentative Map (Tract 8696) (Exhibit 1) and the development partners are supportive of this change, consistent with the City policy for street naming (Exhibit 2). A draft resolution is attached as Exhibit 3.
BACKGROUND
On July 19, 2023, the City Council approved the RESHAP and West Midway projects at Alameda Point. The project agreements require that the City of Alameda transfer lands out of public ownership and into private ownership to the development partners prior to the initiation of vertical construction of each phase of the two projects.
On November 13, 2023, the Planning Board reviewed and approved the Food Bank Project Development Plan and Use Permit. The recommended purchase and sale agreement for the land was approved by the City Council on December 19, 2023.
The design of the lots on the RESHAP project were drawn by MidPen and the Collaborating partners to maximize opportunities for highly competitive public financing for affordable housing construction. The schedule for the transfer of the properties is dictated by the Project Agreements milestone schedules.
The design of the lots on the West Midway project were drawn in consultation with Catellus/Brookfield to reflect the construction phasing plan for the project shown in the project phasing exhibits to the Project Agreements. Catellus will process more detailed tentative maps for each large lot at a future date. The detailed tentative maps will be coordinated with the final Design Review plans for the project, which will be subject to Planning Board review at a future date consistent with the Milestone Exhibit to the Project Agreements.
The Tentative Map also delineates the public rights of way within the 160 acre area to facilitate replacement and improvement of public infrastructure and streets consistent with the Alameda Point Master Infrastructure Plan (MIP) and to support the RESHAP and West Midway projects at Alameda Point.
DISCUSSION.
The project site is one large parcel that the City of Alameda received from the U.S Department of Defense. The City will subdivide the existing single parcel into 23 lots and three remainder parcels that can be conveyed into private ownership over time as the lands are prepared for development by the City’s selected development partners.
The subdivision is consistent with the City of Alameda General Plan and Housing Element, Zoning Ordinance, Subdivision Regulations and the California Subdivision Map Act.
Street name selection is guided by City Council policy adopted in 2021, the goal of which is “to establish a uniform policy to name City facilities and portions thereof including, but not limited to: Parks and recreation facilities, libraries, fire stations, City Hall, Police Department facilities, parking lots, City streets (both private streets and public streets) and entryways to the City.”
The purpose of the policy is “to reflect the City’s values of diversity, equity and inclusion. All [street] names should reflect everyone in our community and intentionally broaden representation. City [street] names should honor places, history, persons, organizations, events and natural environment that focus on local Alameda significance and may also reflect California or national names when appropriate.”
New streets at Alameda Point shall be named after WWII naval themes to be consistent with the area’s historic district designation. Further details can be found on page 3 of Exhibit 2.
Women made their way into the Navy as WAVES, i.e. Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. Created by Congress in 1942 following the creation of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), WAVES initially worked in support roles as chauffeurs, nurses, clerks, and cooks and custodians, and later worked in training and technical roles. They were stationed at naval installations throughout the continental United States and, eventually, overseas. The first WAVES arrived at Alameda in 1943 and were given their own barracks: Building 78 (last used for applied instruction) and Buildings 79 through 82 (the latter of which have been demolished). These barracks had just been completed for use by enlisted men and were converted to use by the WAVES. As at other naval installations, the duties of WAVES at Alameda expanded over the course of the war. At first they were limited to support roles such as secretarial and courier service. By war’s end, WAVES were involved in aerial gunnery training, parachute packing, air traffic control, aircraft repair, and other technical fields.
Building 78 (the first barracks for the WAVES at NAS Alameda) is located within the RESHAP / West Midway property and was approved for demolition to facilitate the development. It was a standardized World War II temporary barracks constructed according to the Navy’s B-1 plan. As such it was previously documented in a technical report on World War II Temporary Military Buildings and thereby included in a 1993 Programmatic Memorandum of Agreement Among the US Department of Defense, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers. It is approved for demolition as part of the development.
“Valor Avenue” is consistent with the street naming policy as a naval history reference.
Staff is recommending approval of the requested public street names as part of the recording of the Vesting Tentative Map (Tract 8696).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This project is Exempt, pursuant to the “common sense” exemption, CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3), where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, because the naming of a street does not result in any physical change.
RECOMMENDATION
Hold a public hearing and adopt the draft resolution recommending the City Council approve the street names “Waves Avenue” and “Tradewinds Avenue” on the Final Vesting Tentative Map (Tract 8696).
Prepared By:
Steven Buckley, Planning Services Manager
Exhibits:
1. Prior Tentative Map Approvals
2. Policy for Naming City Facilities and Streets
3. Draft Resolution for Street Name Change