Title
A Public Hearing to Consider a Resolution Recommending City Council Approval of the Alameda Point Bladium Tentative Parcel Map Application: PLN16-0544
Body
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board
From: Andrew Thomas, Assistant Community Development Director
Jennifer Ott, Alameda Point, Base Reuse Director
BACKGROUND
The United States Navy has transferred approximately 547 acres of property at Alameda Point to the City of Alameda divided into numerous 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. In July 2014, the City Council approved the Waterfront Town Center Precise Plan for Alameda Point (Town Center Plan). The zoning ordinance amendment, MIP, and Town Center Plan 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 areas along West Tower Avenue and West Monarch Street. The Bladium, a commercial recreational facility and sports complex along West Tower Avenue, has a long-term lease with an option to purchase and now desires to purchase their building. As a result, the City must create a legal parcel before selling the property to Bladium (Exhibits 1 and 2).
In 2016, the City subdivided two other areas in the Adaptive Reuse Area along West Tower Avenue and West Monarch Street on 31.8 and 38.9 acres, respectively. All of these areas, including the Bladium parcel, also fall within the Naval Air Station Alameda Historic District (Historic District). The commercial recreation uses planned for the Bladium parcel are consistent with the vision for Alameda Point contained within the Town Center Plan, zoning and other approved entitlements.
ANALYSIS
The City of Alameda as applicant is taking on the task of requesting approval of the Tentative Parcel Map to create a single 6.76-acre parcel for sale to the Bladium (Exhibit 2). By creating this parcel for an individual existing building, the map will enable conveyance to a private owner and the funds from the sale will be used to facilitate implementation of infrastructure in the Adaptive Reuse Area at Alameda Point, and to facilitate the reuse of this building and reinvestment in the Historic District.
As shown on Exhibit 2, in addition to creating a parcel for the Bladium, the proposed Parcel Map also creates two public right-of-ways for Saratoga Street and Seaplane North consistent with the Town Center Plan and two designated remainder parcels, which may be further subdivided by the City at a later date. Once the parcels are created, the City will be able to enter into a purchase and sale agreement with the Bladium for the Bladium parcel. As part of the purchase and sale agreement, the Bladium would maintain use of 0.64 acres of Seaplane North as parking for their business and the City would maintain use of 1.03 acres of the western portion of the Bladium parcel until both of these portions of Saratoga Street and Seaplane North are constructed (Exhibit 3). There is also a 0.11-acre sliver of land to the east of the Bladium parcel that is still owned by the Navy that will be transferred to the Bladium once the Navy conveys it to the City (Exhibit 3). It is anticipated that these portions of the two streets will be constructed as part of future development of the taxiways south of the Bladium parcel.
The draft Resolution recommending approval of this Tentative Parcel Map Application 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 Town Center Plan, 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 proposed conditions of approval are for conveyance purposes only. The City has the discretion to apply additional conditions of approval on the property as part of any future development applications.
Staff is recommending the proposed tentative parcel map for the following reasons:
• The map is consistent with the General Plan, Town Center Plan, the Zoning Ordinance and the MIP for Alameda Point;
• The map supports commercial and recreational 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 map 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 Bladium Map Area. Consistent with the February 2014 action, the draft conditions of approval of the Tentative Map Application (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 Resolution recommending City Council Approval of the Alameda Point Bladium Tentative Parcel Map Application: PLN16-0544.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Ott, Base Reuse Director,
Andrew Thomas, Assistant Community Development Director
Exhibits:
1. Contextual Map of Parcel Map Area
2. Bladium Tentative Parcel Map #10600 prepared by Carlson, Barbee & Gibson, Inc.
3. Map of Bladium Parcel Map Reciprocal Use Areas
4. Draft Planning Board Resolution - Bladium Tentative Parcel Map #10600