Title
PLN16-0314 - Certificate of Approval - Seaplane Lagoon. Applicant: City of Alameda. Public Hearing to consider a certificate of approval for a new ferry terminal and landside improvements located at the Seaplane Lagoon in the NAS Alameda historic district. The environmental effects of the proposed project were considered in the Seaplane Lagoon Addendum to the Alameda Point Environmental Impact Report. No further environmental review is required.
Body
To: Honorable Chair and
Members of the Historical Advisory Board
From: Jennifer Ott, Chief Operating Officer - Alameda Point
Michelle Giles, Redevelopment Project Manager, Base Reuse
BACKGROUND
In June 2015, the City Council approved a Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) with the private developer, Alameda Point Partners, LLC (APP), for the Site A Development at Alameda Point, consisting of a 68-acre mixed-use project at the gateway of Alameda Point. Contingent upon the closing for the City’s transfer of land for Phase 1 of the Site A development, APP must pay $10 million towards the costs incurred for permitting, design and construction of the Seaplane Lagoon (SPL) Ferry Terminal and associated parking improvements. The Site A Development Plan, which included mention of a new ferry terminal, was previously reviewed by the Historical Advisory Board (HAB) in early 2015.
On April 5, 2016, the City Council approved the Seaplane Lagoon (SPL) Ferry Terminal Plan (Exhibit 1), adopted a CEQA Addendum and approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) for future ferry service at SPL Ferry Terminal. The ferry terminal includes a new pier, gangway and boarding float which would extend into the Seaplane Lagoon (Exhibit 2), which is part of the locally and National Register-listed Naval Air Station Alameda Historic District (Historic District). The landside improvements are temporary and include roadway and landscape improvements and a 400-space surface parking lot which are outside of the historic district. Together, the waterside and landside improvements comprise the SPL Ferry Terminal Project (Project). Since the City Council action on the SPL Ferry Terminal Plan, the City, APP and their teams of architects and design professionals, have been designing the Project. The work has been informed by a Planning Board Study Session on May 9, 2016 and a Bay Conservation Development Commission Design Review Board meeting on June 6, 2016.
Pursuant to the Historic Preservation Ordinance, the HAB shall approve a Certificate of Approval for alterations and improvements to historic resources. The requirement for a Certificate of Approval stems from the fact that the new pier would extend into Seaplane Lagoon. Additionally, other features of the proposed project are located adjacent to Seaplane Lagoon, and even when they are not located within the boundaries of the Historic District, they are required to receive the same level of review as projects within the boundaries of the Historic District. Staff is recommending that the HAB hold a public hearing and approve a Certificate of Approval for the Project.
DISCUSSION
Ferry Terminal Plan
The Project includes construction of a ferry terminal, including a pier, gangway and boarding float within the Seaplane Lagoon and associated facilities on land described in detail below. A key driver in the location and design of the ferry terminal has been the need to avoid dredging, which would add additional levels of cost and review to the project. As proposed, the location has no sentiment build-up and will not require dredging. The location also allows the maximum amount of recreational uses of the lagoon because of the angle of entry and exit of the ferry into the opening of the lagoon. The location is also beneficial as it is at the future terminus of Pacific Avenue, which will be the main entrance into Alameda Point’s Enterprise District (Site B), where the new commercial development will be sited.
This ferry terminal location is physically south of the Site A Development and will be constructed by APP as part of Phase 1 Site A development. Ideally, the ferry terminal would be completed within a year of the first residents living at Site A, depending on funding availability. Those residents would walk less than ¼ mile to the new ferry service. Temporary landside access improvements from the ferry terminal to Site A would include an improved Ferry Point Road with new paving, painting and striping for transit, bike and pedestrian circulation to and from the ferry terminal. Other improvements include a 400-space parking lot, bus stop, seating and stormwater improvements.
The new service will initially operate with three weekday peak-hours trips to San Francisco in the morning and three in the evening from San Francisco to Alameda with approximately 20 minute headways. The Project will supplement the Main Street Terminal which is reaching capacity and will maximize opportunities for residents and employers/employees who locate at Alameda Point to be transit users. The SPL ferry service is a crucial component of marketing and attracting major commercial users to Alameda Point and will help minimize weekday peak-hour vehicle trips from the Site A development.
Project Description
The proposed project includes the construction of a new ferry terminal, which would include a new pier, landside transportation infrastructure and landscape improvements, and a surface parking lot. Preparatory work will include the removal of the deteriorated timber pier at the east side of Seaplane Lagoon and the removal of some asphalt paving along the existing roadway and angled parking area. The existing riprap wall of Seaplane Lagoon would not be affected by the proposed project.
The design for the new pier consists of three elements: a fixed pier, a gangway, and a boarding float. There will be canopies over each of the elements to protect riders from weather conditions. Pedestrians would access the fixed pier from Ferry Point Road both by a short, concrete stair and by two paved ramps. The rebuilt portion of Ferry Point Road would consist of a 22’-wide auto roadway, a 10’-wide bike path, and a 5’-wide sidewalk and a promenade with pedestrian nodes that include crosswalks from the parking area and seating and planters. The southernmost pedestrian node would serve as a transit plaza, with access to the ferry pier, a drop-off area and a public transportation shelter. The auto roadway would end at a bus turnaround loop, which would be landscaped at its center and along its edges with native plantings. Bicycle racks and bicycle lockers are included in the plan.
Findings and Conclusions:
An analysis of the Project was prepared by Christopher VerPlanck of VerPlanck Historical Preservation Planning to review the project for compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation (1997)(Exhibit 3). The analysis also includes a review of two other sets of standards and guidelines that apply to projects at Alameda Point, including the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes (1996) and the Guide to Preserving the Character of the Naval Air Station Alameda Historic District (1997).
The key in ascertaining whether a project complies with the standards referenced above is to determine if the project would retain the bulk of the NAS Alameda and the Seaplane Lagoon’s “character-defining features.”
In the case of the proposed project, there will not be any demolition of any contributing elements to the NAS Alameda Historic District, so the only potential effects could be physical impacts to Seaplane Lagoon and visual impacts to the setting of the adjoining NAS Alameda Historic District, in particular, impacts to sightlines across Seaplane Lagoon from the addition of new a pier, gangway, and float.
The attached analysis concludes that the Project would not have an adverse impact on the character-defining features of the Seaplane Lagoon or the NAS Alameda Historic District as a whole. When compared to the sheer size of the Seaplane Lagoon area, the new pier, gangway, and float are relatively small in scale and low in profile. These structures are also temporary, flexible and utilitarian by design, and their location primarily outside of the Historic District leads to a conclusion that the Project complies with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards. Therefore, staff recommends the HAB approve a Certificate of Approval for the Project with findings set forth in the Draft Resolution (Exhibit 4).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
On April 5, 2016, the City of Alameda certified the Seaplane Lagoon CEQA Addendum to the Alameda Point Final EIR in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Addendum evaluated the environmental impacts of constructing and operating a ferry terminal at Seaplane Lagoon. No further review is required for Certificate of Approval.
RECOMMENDATION
Approve a Certificate of Approval for the Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal Project.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Ott, Base Reuse Director
Michelle Giles, Redevelopment Project Manager, Alameda Point
Exhibits:
1. Ferry Terminal Plan
2. Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal Design Plans
3. VerPlank Historical Evaluation of Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal
4. Draft Resolution