Title
A Resolution Recommending City Council Approval of the Alameda Point Adaptive Reuse Tentative Subdivision Map Applications:
(1) PLN15-0555 - West Tower Avenue Subdivision at Alameda Point - Applicant: City of Alameda. A proposed Tentative Map Application for a 4-parcel subdivision for conveyance purposes only on 31.8 acres to implement the Alameda Point Master Infrastructure Plan and zoning district; and
(2) PLN15-0556 - Hangar Row Subdivision at Alameda Point - Applicant: City of Alameda. A proposed Tentative Map Application for a 6-parcel subdivision for conveyance purposes only on 38.9 acres to implement the Alameda Point Master Infrastructure Plan and zoning district
Body
BACKGROUND
In June 2013, the United States Navy transferred approximately 510 acres of property at Alameda Point to the City of Alameda divided into 66 parcels, based primarily on environmental conditions. The detailed parcelization from the Navy allows the City to assemble and sell parcels for private ownership with clear information about the specific environmental conditions relevant to each original parcel. However, the original parcels from the Navy do not follow the arrangement of existing buildings and proposed streets and must be reconfigured and subdivided to meet future reuse and development needs.
In January 2014, the Planning Board recommended approval of the zoning ordinance amendment creating the Alameda Point zoning district (Alameda Municipal Code 30-4.24), the Alameda Point Master Infrastructure Plan (MIP) and other entitlements for the reuse and redevelopment of Alameda Point. In February 2014, the City Council approved the Alameda Point zoning ordinance amendment, MIP and other entitlements. The zoning ordinance amendment and the MIP establish the uses, regulations and arrangement of streets, parking areas, and buildings for Alameda Point.
Now that the City owns much of Alameda Point and the major entitlements are in place, the City Council has recently entered into long-term leases with options to purchase with tenants for key buildings and property within strategic areas of the Adaptive Reuse sub-district of the Alameda Point zoning district (Adaptive Reuse Area), including within the West Tower Avenue and Hangar Row Subdivision Areas on 31.8 and 38.9 acres, respectively (Exhibit 1). These areas also fall within the Naval Air Station Alameda Historic District (Historic District).
The uses planned for these leases are consistent with the vision for Alameda Point contained within the zoning and other approved entitlements and primarily include clusters of clean-tech and food and beverage manufacturing uses. Tenants/potential property owners include Natel Energy for clean-tech alternative energy research and development and production uses in Building 23 located within the Hangar Row Subdivision Area. Another example is 707 and 651 West Tower Avenue Associates, LLC who operate food and beverage manufacturing incubators for Buildings 9 and 91, respectively, within the West Tower Avenue Subdivision Area.
ANALYSIS
The proposed parcel maps are necessary to facilitate private ownership, financing, and to attract the significant private capital investment required to renovate and reuse the existing buildings within these areas. The City does not have the funds necessary to renovate these buildings with the improvements required by higher employment generating uses.
The City of Alameda as applicant is proactively taking on the task of requesting approval of Tentative Maps to subdivide the 31.8-acre West Tower Avenue Subdivision Area into four parcels and a remainder parcel and the 38.9-acre Hangar Row Subdivision Area into six parcels for conveyance purposes only. (Exhibits 2 and 3) By creating individual parcels for individual existing buildings, the maps will enable conveyance of appropriate parcels and facilitate implementation of the Alameda Point zoning district and MIP, and to facilitate the reuse of these areas and reinvestment in the Historic District.
The draft Resolutions recommending approval of these two Tentative Subdivision Map Applications include conditions of approval associated with: (1) preparing the Final Map; and (2) memorializing on the Final Map key obligations and regulations required by the City’s existing planning documents that future entitlement applications and development must comply with (Exhibit 4). Examples of these requirements include compliance with the mitigation, monitoring, and reporting program from the City’s Final Environmental Impact Report for Alameda Point, the biological regulations associated with the endangered species that nests on the runways, the Transportation Demand Management Plan for Alameda Point, the City’s Historic Preservation Ordinance, and the City’s Design Review Ordinance, among other items.
The draft conditions of approval for these proposed subdivisions are for conveyance purposes only and do not include all of the conditions of approval necessary for new development that will be captured as part of any future entitlement, improvement or development application.
Staff is recommending the proposed tentative maps for the following reasons:
• The maps are consistent with the General Plan, the Zoning Ordinance and the MIP for Alameda Point;
• The maps support commercial use of the Alameda Point property and job generation consistent with the 1996 Naval Air Station Alameda Community Reuse Plan and all Alameda Point planning documents; and
• The maps facilitate the rehabilitation and reuse of the historic buildings within the Historic District.
PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENTS
Property owners, tenants of the subject parcels, and residents within 300 feet of the project’s boundaries were notified of the public hearing and given the opportunity to review the proposal.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
On February 4, 2014, the City of Alameda certified the Alameda Point Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act. The FEIR evaluated the environmental impacts of redevelopment and reuse of the lands within the Alameda Point zoning district, which includes the West Tower Avenue and Hangar Row Subdivision Map Areas. Consistent with the February 2014 action, the draft conditions of approval of the Tentative Map Applications (Exhibit 4) require that property owners comply with, and implement, all the relevant mitigations measures adopted by the City Council in February 2014.
RECOMMENDATION
Hold a public hearing and adopt the Draft Resolutions recommending City Council approval of the Alameda Point Adaptive Reuse Tentative Subdivision Map Applications:
(1) PLN15-0555 - West Tower Avenue Subdivision at Alameda Point - Applicant: City of Alameda. A proposed Tentative Map Application for a 4-parcel subdivision with a remainder parcel for conveyance purposes only on 31.8 acres to implement the Alameda Point Master Infrastructure Plan and zoning district; and
(2) PLN15-0556 - Hangar Row Subdivision at Alameda Point - Applicant: City of Alameda. A proposed Tentative Map Application for a 6-parcel subdivision for conveyance purposes only on 38.9 acres to implement the Alameda Point Master Infrastructure Plan and zoning district.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Ott, Chief Operating Officer Alameda Point,
Andrew Thomas, Assistant Community Development Director
Exhibits:
1. Map of Subdivision Areas Overlaid on Alameda Point Zoning District
2. West Tower Avenue Tentative Map Tract 8315 prepared by Carlson, Barbee & Gibson, Inc.
3. Hangar Row Tentative Map Tract 8316 prepared by Carlson, Barbee & Gibson, Inc.
4. Draft Planning Board Resolution-West Tower Avenue Tentative Map Tract 8315
5. Draft Planning Board Resolution-Hangar Row Tentative Map Tract 8316