Title
Update on the status and understanding of the 2014 Alameda Point EIR requirement to adopt Guidelines for New Infill Development within the NAS Alameda Historic District.
Body
To: Honorable Chairperson and Members of the Planning Board
From: Steven Buckley, Planning Board Secretary
BACKGROUND
In February 2014, the Alameda City Council approved the Alameda Point Project, which certified the Final Environmental Impact Report (AP EIR) for Alameda Point, approved a General Plan amendment, adopted the Alameda Point Zoning, and approved a Master Infrastructure Plan for Alameda Point. The EIR identified potential impacts to the NAS Alameda Historic District and required mitigation measures to avoid or reduce the severity of those impacts. The NAS Alameda Historic District includes both contributing and non-contributing buildings, sites and features. Included in the mitigations is a requirement (Mitigation Measure 4.d-1.b) that prior to approval of new buildings in the historic district, the City must adopt Guidelines for New Infill Development.
Prior to and following the AP EIR process, both the City and Navy adopted myriad in-depth, high-quality reports and plans containing guidance for adding new buildings and other development in the historic district, including:
• Guide to Preserving the Character of the NAS Alameda Historic District (1997)
• Historic District Assessment and Historic Preservation Strategy (2005)
• Specific Building Survey & Evaluation Report for NAS Alameda Historic District (2011)
• Cultural Landscape Report for NAS Alameda Historic District (2012)
• National Register Nomination (2012)
• Town Center and Waterfront Precise Plan (2014)
• Main Street Neighborhood Specific Plan (2017)
These guides focused on sensitivity to the character defining features and consistency with the Secretary of Interior Standards for Rehabilitation. In order to synthesize and ensure compliance with Mitigation Measure 4.d-1.b, this year staff began developing updated draft guidelines in consultation with the Historical Advisory Board and the Planning Board. HAB discussed the draft guidelines on June 6, July 18, and September 5, 2024. The Planning Board discussed the draft guidelines on September 9, 2024. Comments from the Boards and the public highlighted the prior guides and studies and expressed the desire to continue using the already adopted guidance. Accordingly, the current direction from the Boards was to prepare a “guide to the guides” rather than attempt to repeat work that has already been completed. To comport with this direction, staff’s focus has pivoted to preparing an easy-to-use guide that could effectively synthesize the web of existing studies and already adopted plans and policies without risk of important omissions.
DISCUSSION
Staff have also considered the utility of updating the existing guidelines in the context of working with a subcommittee of members of the Planning Board and Historical Advisory Board reviewing conceptual plans for a proposed performing arts center, to be located between the Naval Air Museum (Building 77) and the Waterfront Park. This effort includes an extensive review of the existing studies leading up to the Navy’s Federal Register Nomination (Nomination) in 2012, and City actions in 2013 and 2014 approving the Alameda Point Project. In light of this effort, it has become clear that the existing reports and guidelines provide ample guidance for project-specific review. Those reports are summarized below.
Cultural Landscape Report (2012)
Prior to completing the Nomination, the Navy commissioned two reports, collectively called Final Studies. These were the Specific Building Survey and the Cultural Landscape Report (Exhibit 1). The EIR requirement to adopt Guidelines for New Infill Development stems from a recommendation in the Cultural Landscape Report. The 1997 Guide to Preserving the Character of the NAS Alameda Historic District (The Guide) provides clear guidance on how to treat modifications of existing contributor buildings. However, The Guide provides only brief analysis of the historic designed landscape and minimal guidance for new infill development. The Cultural Landscape Report provides 612 thorough pages of analysis of the historic designed landscape, including approximately 20 pages of design review guidelines for infill development.
City Council Resolution 14771 (2013)
In 1999, the City of Alameda signed a memorandum of agreement with the Navy, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and California State Historic Preservation Office. This required the City to adopt the NAS Alameda Historic District as a local monument and adopt The Guide to Preserving the Character of the NAS Alameda Historic District to steer future modifications to the district. In 2013, after the Cultural Landscape Report and the Nomination were completed in 2012, the City Council adopted Resolution 14771 (Exhibit 2), to:
• Amend the Alameda Historical Monument Designation of the NAS Alameda Historic District to be consistent with the Navy’s nomination of the Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places, and,
• Approve an amendment to the Guide to Preserving the Character of the Naval Air Station Alameda Historic District to include design review guidelines for the historic designed landscape, excerpted from the Cultural Landscape Report.
This action effectively upgraded The Guide to provide design guidelines for reuse & rehabilitation of existing buildings in the district, but also guide infill development of new buildings that could impact the historic designed landscape.
NAS Alameda Historic District Guidelines (Zoning Code amended in 2014 to include this reference)
As discussed above, at the same time the City Council certified the Alameda Point EIR, it adopted the Alameda Point Zoning District. The zoning regulations include:
“NAS Alameda Historic District Guidelines. All new construction and modifications to existing buildings within the NAS Alameda Historic District should be consistent with the Guide to Preserving the Character of the Naval Air Station Alameda Historic District, as amended, and AMC Section 13-21 <https://library.municode.com/ca/alameda/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CHXIIIBUHO_ARTVIIHIPR_13-21PRHICURE> (Preservation of Historical and Cultural Resources).” (emphasis added)
Because The Guide was amended a full year prior to certification of the EIR, when current staff reviewed the zoning and required mitigations, it was not immediately clear that the design guidelines included in the Cultural Landscape Report had already been formally adopted. By incorporating The Guide as amended directly into the Alameda Point Zoning, City Council ensured compliance with Mitigation Measure 4.d-1.b in the Alameda Point EIR and that future development would be consistent with the design guidelines adopted in 2013.
Specific Plans & Next Steps
In 2014 and 2017, City Council adopted specific plans for the Waterfront & Town Center, and Main Street Neighborhood, respectively. These plans augment the existing design guidelines embedded in the zoning, providing tailored guidance to those parts of the historic district. For projects within the Adaptive Reuse Sub-district, The Guide continues to act as the primary source of infill design guidelines. Staff will continue to develop a road map that summarizes character defining features, provides a checklist of applicable standards and/or a matrix for identifying appropriate historic sources to rely on for future development applications.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Receiving an update from staff will have no direct or indirect impact on the environment and therefore is not considered a project under the California Environmental Quality Act.
CLIMATE IMPACT
Receiving a status update on the requirement to adopt infill design guidelines will not have a direct climate impact.
RECOMMENDATION
Receive an update on the requirement in the 2014 Alameda Point EIR to adopt infill design guidelines. No action is required.
Respectfully Submitted,
Steven Buckley, Secretary to the Planning Board
By,
Brian McGuire, Planner II
Exhibits:
1. Design Review Guidelines for the Historic Designed Landscape in the NAS Alameda Historic District (excerpted from the 2012 Cultural Landscape Report)
2. City Council Resolution 14771