Title
Approval of Minutes for the June 8, 2016 meeting
Body
COMMISSION ON DISABILITY ISSUES
MEETING MINUTES OF
Wednesday, June 8, 2016 6:30 p.m.
Item 2-B, October 12, 2016 CDI Meeting
1. ROLL CALL
Beth Kenny: I would like to call the Commission on Disability Issues meeting for June 8th, 2016 to order.
Kerry Parker: Roll call, Chair Kenny?
Beth Kenny: Present.
Kerry Parker: Vice Chair Brillinger?
Arnold Brillinger: Present.
Kerry Parker: Commissioner Aghapekian?
Anto Aghapekian: Present.
Kerry Parker: Commissioner Deutsch?
Susan Deutsch: Present.
Kerry Parker: Commissioner Franco?
La Donna Franco: Present.
Kerry Parker: Commissioner Lewis? Commissioner Linton? Commissioner Tsztoo?
Michaela Tsztoo: Here.
Kerry Parker: We have a quorum.
Beth Kenny: Thank you. I wanted to let everybody know that Commissioner Wilkinson has resigned from the Commission. She has started working again, and didn't feel she had the time to do both. So we are in the process of looking for another commissioner.
Kerry Parker: That's right. The City Clerk is aware and is putting out the application on the website, so that it's available. It's also clickable on our webpage, on the city website. So if you wanted to direct your friends, people you think that would be qualified to be a commissioner to the CDI website that would help. It says right on there on the form, there's a link.
2. MINUTES
Kerry Parker: Before we look into approval of the minutes for last meeting of April 13th, I just want to say a quick note about edits to the minutes. If it's a spelling change, why don't you tell me later, well just tell me offline, and I will change it. But to keep the meeting as short as we can, or as concise as we can, let's see if we can... If it's substantive change where you say, "You said I was here and I wasn't here." Then that's something we should add to the meeting. So, go ahead.
Beth Kenny: Does anyone have any content changes to the minutes from our last meeting? Then I move we approve the minutes from Wednesday, April 13th, 2016.
Susan Deutsch: I second.
Beth Kenny: Thank you. All in favor?
S?: Aye.
Beth Kenny: Anyone opposed? It passes unanimously.
3. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS/NON-AGENDA (PUBLIC COMMENT)
Beth Kenny: So our next item is oral communications, non-agenda. Do we have any speakers?
Kerry Parker: We do not.
Beth Kenny: Tonight, we have a few items on the agenda, but we would like to try and keep this meeting as short as possible. We want to give everything the proper amount of attention, but we really want to try and really focus in on what's being presented and to use our time wisely, and succinctly.
4. NEW BUSINESS
Beth Kenny: So given that introduction, let's start with new business. And I'd like to welcome Gail Payne up to discuss the expanding transportation options, transit and the TDM plan.
Gail Payne: Good evening, commissioners, I'm Gail Payne, the city's Transportation Coordinator. And I thought it was funny that you just talked about being succinct, because I was fretting about the number of slides that I have, and not wanting to take too much of your time. So I will do the best I can not to belabor all my points. And I'm here to discuss a new planning effort that we're undergoing at the city, it's a city-wide Transit and Transportation Demand Management Plan. And we're just starting out this effort, it's expected to take 18 months. So I'll talk about the background of this effort and the purpose of it. And since we're just beginning, we're beginning with existing transportation conditions, so I'll be going over those with you and asking for your input, what more you'd like to see, or less. And then also, we're looking at the preliminary draft goals and objectives of this planning effort, and we'd love to get your input on what we have so far on that front.
Gail Payne: So as for the background and purpose, what we're really seeing here in the City of Alameda is increased congestion, because of the regional economic boom. And so we really want to sustain our high quality of life here in Alameda, given that the region is just growing like crazy. And so that's why City Council directed staff to look into updating our transit plan, our city-wide transit plan, and also our Transportation Demand Management Plan. And keep in mind, we are not the primary transit operators in town, and so what we can do mostly as a city, is coordinate with the transit operators as much as possible. And also, we own the public right of way, so how can we make transit most efficient? And that's what the bulk of the work is going to be on that plan.
Gail Payne: The second plan, I was told it sounds like a disease, TDM plan. And so what we're trying to do here is provide options, provide strategies that are alternatives to driving alone, to make it more attractive to not drive alone and to do things like take the bus, and to bike, to car share, to ride share, to walk. And so that's what the TDM plan is going to be looking at. TDM measures, they are required for new developments. So we're trying to figure out ways that all Alamedans can take advantage of these transportation alternatives in town.
Gail Payne: Project background, we're at the very beginning of the 18-month phase. So this is the first time I've come to you all, and we're going to all the other boards that are relevant, and the City Council and Transportation Commission, we've already had a community workshop on the existing conditions. I'll come back when we're looking at actual draft ideas and strategies, and that will be in the fall. And then we'll come back again when we actually have a draft plan for you. And we currently have a web survey that's online, and so just that's a heads up if you haven't already received a link for it, feel free to fill it out or let me know if you're interested, I could send you a little blurb about it, and you could feel free to distribute it onto other people, as well.
Gail Payne: So, onto existing transportation conditions. Before that though, if you want to ask questions feel free to. I'm going to try to tailor to Commission on Disability Issues and I don't mind if you have questions as I go, or if you want to take your questions at the end, that's fine, too. So, local trends here in Alameda, we had a little bit of a different story compared to other parts of the region back in the late 1990s because the naval base closed. So we actually had a downturn in the economy while there was the dot-com boom. And now we're seeing this big upswing in the economy, and we've had record Bay Area congestion. So, we're really seeing the effects of that, at the moment. So, I'm going to talk to these existing conditions about six different key concepts. I'm going to go one through six. The first being congestion is increasing throughout the Bay Area. We've seen the highest amount of delay caused by congestion ever since, surpassed since 2006 levels, delay is up 40% since 2010. And we, our island crossings are congestion, we have limited crossings, this is a classic choke point type of situation. We have five ways on and off the island, plus, we do have two ferry terminals. And so there's limited ways of getting on and off the island, and they can only fit so many cars going on and off the island at any given time.
Gail Payne: The key concept number two is housing and jobs are growing throughout the region, and regional job growth has increased 17% since 1990, and there's been an uptick in the number of housing units permitted. And what's interesting, is that there are more multi-family units being permitted now than single family units. So, the Bay Area is becoming more densely populated, it used to be the family dream was the single family units homes, and now people are much more wanting to downsize and live in condos and apartments. And so we're definitely seeing an uptick of those types of dwelling units being built. For Alameda specifically, people say, "Well, the congestion is happening because there's an increase in housing units and population." Whereas that's not really true. Because of the base closing, we've actually been very stable with population, and we're had a slight increase in housing units recently, but actually, it was a downturn after the base closure. And we've actually had a significant number of jobs increase in the past decade.
Gail Payne: And when you compare it to other East Bay communities, we're on the low side when permitting housing units, and we're on the medium size when we look at density. And the reason why we really care about density is that if you're trying to get a really robust bus system, say in town, it actually runs better if you have more people around a bus station, because you can get more people on the bus within that quarter mile radius of what people really want to walk. And so we're a medium sized density community, and so we can probably support a medium sized bus system, which is really what we have, we're actually quite fortunate with what we have. The regional agencies, they have policies out there that say where they want to focus their development in the region, and these are called priority development areas. And we have two of these areas in the City of Alameda, one is the Northern waterfront area, which is along Clement Avenue by the Estuary, and the other area is Alameda Landing and Alameda Point in West Alameda. And that's indeed where the development is occurring, and expected to occur over the next 10 years. So, we're expected to have an increase of over 2,000 housing units and over, or almost 8,000 more jobs here in Alameda.
Gail Payne: Most of the jobs will be going to Alameda Point, and the job growth is actually much higher at 30% than the Bay Area, over the next 10 years it's expected at only 11%. So, the third key concept out of the six is regional commute patterns are changing. We're having fewer auto commuters, and more people are commuting by transit in the region. And one of the factors is that millennials, folks who are younger, tend to be less apt to own cars, less apt to even get a driver's license. Young people, there's one study that said that 22% of young people never even plan on getting their driver's license. So this was, when I was a teenager, unheard of, we all got our driver's licenses the day after we turned, what was it? 16. So it's really different, it's a different generation. And we're seeing that they are expecting better bus systems, they are taking Ubers, and Lyfts, and doing bicycling, walking more so than any generation.
Gail Payne: In Alameda, as I said, our population hasn't really grown that much, our housing units really haven't grown that much, but we are having the people who are here who have moved here are more apt to commute off island, 5,000 more off island commuters since 2005, there's a 20% increase. So that's one reason why we're seeing congestion. Also, there's more people, more commuters from Alameda going to San Francisco. In 2005, there were less than 5,000, now there's more than 7,000 going to San Francisco to work. And they're more apt to be working in San Mateo County, and Santa Clara County. So those are harder, more difficult commutes more people are taking from Alameda. And most people... The two top destinations for where people work is Oakland, 8,000 people, and then 7,000 people going to San Francisco. The majority of people who work in Oakland drive alone, they get there by driving alone. The majority of people who work in San Francisco, they are less apt to drive alone, and only one out of five people commute to San Francisco by driving alone.
Gail Payne: The fourth key concept out of the six, Alameda is a multimodal city. We actually outperform a lot of cities in the Bay Area, and around the country, when it comes to being multimodal. And we even outperform the Bay Area. And Berkeley and Oakland do actually much better than we do, especially with transit and bicycling for Berkeley. Some of the factors, opportunities, is that we have great geography, weather, we're flat, we have strong policies in place, we're working hard to improve our bus system, walking and bicycling. Some of the challenges are that we still have gaps, especially in the bicycling system. We're trying to adapt to new technologies and it's changing daily, it's evolving, so that's hard to figure out.
Gail Payne: More people in Alameda are using alternatives to driving than they ever did before. More people are taking the bus, more people are bicycling and walking, and more people are telecommuting from home. So, people are definitely open, more Alamedans are open to commuting in these different ways. Within Alameda, most homes and jobs are located close to a bus stop, there's a 37% increase in bicycle commuting over the past four years. And what's really difficult within Alameda is if you need to get around at about 8:00 AM, before or after, we really have a lot of students here, we have about 1,500 more students than we did a decade ago. And not only that, we have fewer neighborhood schools, we have more magnet schools than we've ever had, more charter schools. And these schools have a city wide enrollment. The neighborhood schools tend to have that catchment area around the neighborhood, around the school. Whereas the magnet schools, charter schools, they get students from all over the city, so they're more apt to be driven to the school. They even get students from other jurisdictions as well, and more apt too, than local schools. So if you're trying to get around a town around 8:00 AM, you'll notice a difference, it's tough.
Gail Payne: Bicycle facilities, we are going to be updating the bike plan soon. We're going to be constructing the Cross Alameda trail next year. And we are currently looking at the potential to have bike share here, like you probably see in other jurisdictions like San Francisco, East Bay is getting it later this year, I think. For transit ridership, most commuters take AC Transit. My favorite is the AC Transit Transbay, they are the work horses of it all, and they don't get enough attention. And the people also take BART, and they also take Ferry. So we're very fortunate we have close access to ferries, BART, and the buses. It's unusual for such a small jurisdiction to have all those options. Granted, we don't have BART nearby, or right in town yet, we have, I think, within about a mile or so radius maybe, I think it's five BART stations. We have two ferry terminals, and shuttle systems, we also have some tech shuttles coming in now, like Google and Facebook. And we're expanding, we recently had improvements to Line 51 A, we're going to be restoring Line 19, along the Northern Waterfront, Buena Vista Avenue. And we're hoping to get a new ferry terminal in Alameda Point, in the Seaplane Lagoon area coming 2019-2020.
Gail Payne: AC Transit ridership is on the rise, especially Transbay buses. We had an increase in ridership of 27% since 2010. A lot of that has to do with the BART strikes that happened in 2013. And this next slide shows that BART ridership from Alameda is down. Because after the BART strikes, these commuters discovered the Transbay buses, they discovered the ferries. And ferry ridership is also up, and unfortunately for BART, Alamedans are less apt to take BART, although BART is packed so I don't think they're really missing us. For Paratransit, we are fortunate to have East Bay Paratransit, which is funded by BART and AC Transit, they really carry the bulk of Paratransit riders. They carry 13,000 annually, riders from home base from Alameda. And we also have an Alameda Paratransit shuttle. And we have, because of Measure BB that recently got passed, we're planning on increasing the frequency to run every 30 minutes, and hopeful to Fruitvale BART.
Gail Payne: Like I said, ferry ridership has been increasing from the two ferry terminals. And the last of key points, of the key concept is these transportation demand-management strategies improve transportation options, and I had mentioned them before but the idea here is we're trying to make the transportation system more efficient. There's limited space, so let's try to get as many people fit in the street as possible, to get where they need to go. So I had mentioned carpooling and car-sharing, there's bike sharing. And we're trying to make TDM work for all residents and employees. Right now, it's only required in the three key development areas. And so we're working on making that work as a consolidated group and so that they can form a single non-profit entity that would implement the TDM strategies for those new developments.
Gail Payne: Best practices and new technologies, and then I'll get to the goals and objectives. For best practices, you've probably seen Webster Street, the bus queue-jump lane that's there, that somewhat has been extended recently by the tubes, that's a great example of a best practice, because when it's all congested, you see the buses flying by. And I was, just once, I must admit, stuck in my car towards the tube in the morning, and I actually felt myself getting mad at all the buses going by so quickly, which is... I was ashamed that that was my reaction, but it really does work. And so, that's something in this plan we're really going to be looking at is other ways of having those dedicated bus lanes, where the bus riders aren't getting penalized with all this congestion coming up.
Gail Payne: Parking management, how can we price parking so that there's always one or two spaces available per block? You don't have to circle the block, and you don't have people there who shouldn't be parked there who could be parked at the off-street parking spaces. And so there's ways of doing a better job of strategizing about parking that we could perfect a little bit. On demand car-sharing and ride-sharing, that's where you get the Uber and Lyft. And when it comes to Commission on Disability Issues, what we're really struggling with as a city is how do we... These are private sector companies, and it's a little bit like the Wild West, they're not quite regulated yet as much as it probably will be. So how is it evolving? Where is it going? And how does a city form relationships with them contractually, if we do ever? I know some jurisdictions are doing that, and do we want to? And does that provide accessible ways for people to get around? So that's what we're grappling with when it comes to these entities.
Gail Payne: Other new technologies, you have these driverless vehicles that, from a disabilities perspective, could really increase freedom for people who are blind, or people who have physical impairments and can't drive. And so that can really open some great doors. It is coming, we think, and how does that change our streets? Because this one image is showing how they can be bunched up when parked, so maybe we won't need as much parking. Maybe we won't have so many parking issues. They also won't, if they're programmed, they won't take up as much space on the road, so maybe we don't need as many wide lanes, and maybe there won't be as much congestion.
Gail Payne: So, the very last part of this presentation is on the preliminary goals and objectives that we have. And so we have just two goals, one pertains to improving transportation on the island crossings, and the other goal is improving transportation within Alameda. So it's about the island crossings as one goal, and the second goal being within Alameda. And the objectives really are the same for each goal, they just repeat. And I can just summarize real quickly, it's really a lot of verbiage, but is that the transit goals or objectives for both goals have to do with improving transit frequency, reliability, access, awareness of the transit and ensuring that we have positive partnerships with the providers. And for these transportation options, is we're looking at providing programs and strategies to reduce drive alone trips and integrating land use changes with transportation improvements, prioritizing these transportation alternatives, and again, increasing awareness of them.
Gail Payne: Now we did also add some goals that didn't get into this version, but there was a request to add not a goal, but a safety objective, so we added that. We also added an objective pertaining to new technologies, and another one that pertains to equity. And I'll just read you the latest version that we have on the new equity goal that's not in your packet, but it's in for the Planning Board packet and the City Council, because I really like how it's shaping up, and it pertains to you all. "Ensure transportation improvements are applied equitably for all users, including senior, low income and minority populations, and are compliant with ADA requirements."
Gail Payne: And with that, I think I really would love to hear your comments on the discussion topics. Are there areas where we need to investigate further, pertaining to existing conditions? Did we miss some topics? What do you think about the goals and objectives? And are there other areas that we should be covering? Thank you for your time.
Beth Kenny: Thank you very much.
Gail Payne: I hope I wasn't too long.
Beth Kenny: You did a great job. I have a couple of questions. First, I'm wondering, are there plans to create another island crossing? And if so, have we thought about making it specific for public transportation options, and bike and pedestrian options? And because of the amount of development going on, are we getting money from the developers to build this type of infrastructure that we're going to need?
Gail Payne: So for the first question about the additional island crossing, we don't expect to have more capacity in terms of another island crossing, like another bridge or tunnel. And the main reason is that Oakland just doesn't want it, they're just not interested in having it touch down on their property, and that's where it would have to be. And so we really have to work within the constraints that we have. And we did study a bike pedestrian bridge over in the West End, and we found out that it was really infeasible, because of the Coast Guard Island, and that the need for the boats to get in and out 24/7 because they're for emergency purposes. And so the bridge would have to be so incredibly high, and not be a draw bridge, that bicyclists and pedestrians just wouldn't use it. And so we're not expecting another crossing on this. However, BART is looking at a second tube, a Transbay tube going between the East Bay and San Francisco. And if they do that, they possibly could add a station, either in Alameda or in the Estuary, or closer to Alameda than what we have now. That potentially, the one idea is if it were in the Estuary, then that would be a way for bicyclists and pedestrians to go under, either use the BART station or get to Oakland 24/7 or I don't know, 24/7 but...
Gail Payne: So, there are ideas out there, another idea is that at some point, we're going to have to improve the tubes, because they won't last forever. And so, when it needs to be upgraded, that it would be a complete street type of tube, whereas maybe it would have a dedicated bus lane, maybe it would have a real bike path, and a real way for pedestrians to go on it and through it. So, those are some long, long-term solutions, yet there's nothing in the short-term idea out there. For the second question about developer money, so yes they are required, developers are required to both contribute to when they're developing their units to also pay for the streets adjacent to them and anything related to their development. We call it a nexus, there has to be a nexus about it, so as to a legal way for us to require them to pay, because we can't just say, "Oh, well we want you to pay for some other... Everything because we don't have any money."
Gail Payne: So we do always, for example, Alameda Landing with Target, they paid to have Mitchell and that whole upgraded Fifth Street, and all that area, and including the bike lanes and bus stops, and all that. And also that Alameda Landing is required to pay on an ongoing basis, these TDM plan monies that they're required to implement, they're required to implement, for example, a shuttle bus that goes between Alameda Landing, Target Area and downtown Oakland on every weekday. So they have all these different requirements they're supposed to meet, and yes.
Beth Kenny: Thank you.
La Donna Franco: I'm actually wondering, with the increase and currently problematic issue of handicap parking, what are some of the ways are you looking at supporting existing parking issues for handicap parking? Increasing that, what are the plans for that, and what are some plans for increasing safer crosswalks, and lighted crosswalks?
Gail Payne: Increase the lighted crosswalks, okay. Yes, we can look at those. So for the lighted crosswalks, the ones that are seen as best practices, there's one that's on Otis at Mound that's this strobe light. Okay, so that's the kind that we would in the future add.
La Donna Franco: Could you speak to more specifically about the areas and plans for that.
Gail Payne: So for both these, we right now are just beginning this planning effort, so right now I'm coming to you on existing transportation conditions. And next time I come to you, we'll be looking at trying to get input on the draft strategies. So this is good now for me, because now I will know to have it, to talk more in depth with you for next time. Yet we're not at that stage at this point, yes.
Beth Kenny: And is AC Transit going to be going out to the current ferry?
Gail Payne: So AC Transit, the question is this the AC Transit going to go out to the ferry? So they currently operate at the ferry terminal at Harbor Bay, Line 21. And what we're working with them is to try to get money from the regional bodies, to get bus access to the Main Street ferry terminal. So we're in negotiations, trying to make that happen. Yes, yes. So we'll see, we're just trying to find money, because we know that's a very high complaint we have, is lack of bus access out to that ferry terminal, yes.
Beth Kenny: Yes. And I like some of the things that you were thinking about in the reports, about discounted rates for people who take AC Transit to the ferry building.
Gail Payne: Actually, that's true, and that's a good reminder. And right now, if you take the bus to the Harbor Bay ferry terminal, it's free and then when you go home on the bus, it's free. The bus ride is free and a lot of people don't realize that, is that that's the system that the ferry operators and the bus operators has already worked out. So it already operates like a shuttle, and yes.
Beth Kenny: Great, thank you.
Susan Deutsch: I was just wondering if there's enough ridership on that Harbor Bay ferry to increase the number of ferries. It seems like really limited ferry service over there. So, you do have to drive through Harbor Bay, and through Alameda if you want to get a ferry, or you just have to drive to get to your destination, because ferry service is being limited.
Gail Payne: I know that the ferry operators are looking at wanting to increase the ferry services at both Harbor Bay and Main Street. The issues that we're having are accessing the ferries, especially we just had a big City Council meeting last night on that topic for Harbor Bay, and that it's really impacting the adjacent neighborhood, neighbors living right next to the Harbor Bay ferry terminal, that people are parking in front of their homes. So we have some of the issues to work out with that. Fortunately Harbor Bay, it's really easy to walk around Harbor Bay, crime rate's low, it's easy to bike, there's a great San Francisco bike trail right there. And they do have the Harbor Bay, the Line 21 that goes there. So, slowly, we're trying to work out the kinks, and make it a... We're trying not to do it slowly, but we're working out the kinks and trying to make it better work for everybody.
Anto Aghapekian: And I have, I don't know if it's a question. What I find missing in here is what the expectations are for people who are going to be 60, 70, 80 years old, how many of these people we expect to have in Alameda, and how are we going to help them move around? I don't see anything in this or that, and I'd like to see something.
Gail Payne: Okay.
Anto Aghapekian: And there is a very small comment about the ADA, which seems to be consistent with every other presentation that I have gone to, and I'd like that to be more visible, to be part of every report that we put out. And the more information we have specially, because from what I have gathered, we're going to have more retired people on this island, and they're going to need probably more better transit, more personalized public transit and parking spaces. Those are the items that I'd like to see in the report, projections in five years, 10 years, 20 years from now. Thank you.
Gail Payne: Okay, thank you.
Beth Kenny: Do any of the other commissioners have questions at this time? Great, do we have any public comment on this? Well, thank you very much, Gail.
5. OLD BUSINESS
Beth Kenny: I'm going to start out by doing a summary of the current Universal Design Ordinance discussion. Kerry and I thought that this would be good to do, because not everybody is familiar with Universal Design, it is an issue that the Commission has been working on for quite some time, and we're hopeful that it will be going in front of City Council in the fall. So, if you were able to read the document that I sent out about it... Yes, and if you don't, Kerry has copies. Universal Design is a concept that can be applied to many different things. We are looking at it in the housing context. And so, the basic idea of Universal Design is that things should be made in a way that they are accessible to the most number of people; people who are disabled, people who aren't disabled, people who are old, and people who are young, short and tall.
Beth Kenny: And it's to be done in a way that using design to do things in an intelligent way that takes into consideration the wide range of humans. So, why we need this in Alameda, is we have, Alameda, along with pretty much every place in this country, has a shortage of accessible housing stock. And we have a growing senior population, and many disabled people are living much longer. So we have a growing disabled population. So in order for people to be able to stay in the community, or age in place, somebody who buys a universally designed place can stay in their house and not have to face moving out as they become older because it's inaccessible to them. So this all started because of a joint meeting between the Planning Board and the Commission on Disability Issues. And I'm going to ask Susan to talk a little bit about that, because she was one of the participants in that.
Susan Deutsch: It was just such a long time ago, [chuckle] I don't remember that much about it. But I do remember going to the City Council meeting, talking about Universal Design, and feeling that we did have support. And I felt that they were very supportive of what we wanted. Really, all I remember about the meeting because it was four years ago.
Beth Kenny: Yes, it was indeed over four years ago. But since after that meeting, Commissioner Deutsch, former Commissioner Lord-Hausman, and former Commissioner Harp got together and drafted a sample Universal Design Ordinance. And that was submitted about four years ago, and we've now come to the point where the Planning Department, they have a draft that they expect to get to us in the next week, or so, and the schedule of events is that we will meet, we have a work group from CDI that is working on this, and the Planning Board Work Group will meet together to go over the draft, and make any changes that we think are necessary, possibly have one more meeting. And then in September, we'd like to hold a joint meeting between the Planning Board and the Commission on Disability to vote on the Universal Design Ordinance. This September meeting works for us because in August, we are scheduled to have an August meeting, but the City of Alameda goes dark in the month of August, there are no City Council meetings. And so we've been asked to reschedule our August meeting, which having this joint meeting in September with the Planning Board, I think is a good way to reschedule that meeting.
Beth Kenny: So let me throw some statistics out at you guys for the need for accessible units. Research shows that over the span of a typical housing unit that 25% to 60% of those units will house a disabled person. Additionally, 53% to 91% will have a disabled visitor over the course of a unit's lifetime. Those numbers do not include people with temporary disabilities from surgery, or broken legs, and it does not include people who might have mobility impairments, but not necessarily identified as disabled, which is a common phenomenon in the senior population.
Beth Kenny: So it is expected that population of Alameda will grow 8.8%, according to the Alameda Housing Element Background Report. In addition to a growing senior population, people with disabilities are now living longer, and aging in larger numbers than previous experience, resulting in overlapping categories. In 2002, it was estimated that 52% of Americans with disabilities were 65 plus. It's gone up significantly since 2002. Apparently, only 10% of multifamily buildings of four units or more need to be designed excessively, and those are the type of units that we normally think of as ADA units, where they have the grab bars installed, they have the clearings.
Beth Kenny: So there's a difference between an ADA unit and a universally designed unit. The universally designed unit would have the accessible pathways, accessible entrance that an ADA unit would have, but you don't necessarily need to have the grab bars up if the person doesn't need them at the time. What we want is to make sure that the walls are reinforced to be able to put the grab bars in without having to rip out the wall, and we want to be able to make sure that the electrical outlets are at an accessible level. But it doesn't mean that you can't have outlets along the baseboard also. Things like having accessible counters can be easily achieved by putting in a breadboard, it doesn't mean that the whole counter has to be at the level of somebody... That would work for somebody in a wheelchair, it means that there has to be some amount of counter that that can be, but also there can be a standard or a higher level cabinet, depending on your preference.
Beth Kenny: There have been some Universal Design ordinances, one of the things that's had a little bit more movement is the visitability movement, which happened in the '80s. And there are quite a few areas that have visitability statutes including Austin, Texas, Chicago, Lafayette, Colorado, Georgia, Texas and Kansas. So they all have a variety of whether it's a mandatory program, or a voluntary program, or parts, or a combination of where some things are mandatory, and some things are voluntary. And they've learned through visitability that they said to-date that 30,000 visitability homes have been built with mandatory programs, versus less than 1,300 visitability homes have been built with voluntary programs. So we want to be sure that... I would recommend we make sure we get the important parts voluntary, and not mandatory to offer. I mean mandatory to have, and not mandatory to offer.
Beth Kenny: How it has worked out with where we're at in the negotiations, it seems like there's going to be a few different parts of the ordinance. One part would be something that applies to 100% of new residential units. So, that would be any new residential units would have to have these accessibility features. I know one that we've talked about with Andrew quite a bit is reinforcement in the walls or be able to install grab bars in the bathroom and along the hallways. Some other ones that we've talked about as a group is at least one zero-step entrance on an accessible route leading from the driveway, or public sidewalk into the unit. That one, I'll just read the list...
Beth Kenny: Another one is all interior doors providing at least 31 and three quarter inches, or 81 centimeters of unobstructed passage space. So, basically, that you can get through the door. At least one bathroom on an accessible route on the primary floor. The idea is to have living space on the primary floor, and if you're going to be able to live on the primary floor, you're going to need a bathroom. Reinforcements for the railings and grab bars, kitchen facilities on an accessible route on the primary floor. And in there I did leave out that the kitchen facilities themselves would have to be accessible. So, that would include leaving space for a wheelchair to be able to maneuver, and turn in the kitchen. That would include having a cabinet or a counter that you could use, whether it be a breadboard or not, at the height of a wheelchair. And I think there was one other element.
Susan Deutsch: Sink?
Beth Kenny: Yes. The sink that you can...
Susan Deutsch: Well, there's the faucet issue, but also if the sink is too high...
Beth Kenny: Yes, okay.
Susan Deutsch: And there's also the faucet, maybe levers. One lever.
Beth Kenny: Yes. So, yes, putting in accessible fixtures. And I think yes, it was something about clearing out under the sink so that you could get to the sink. Number seven is one that I put in because every time we've talked about this with the mayor, she's thought that this was necessary, and I think it's a good idea, to have laundry hook ups on an accessible route on the primary floor. Because if you're going to live on that one floor, you're going to need to do your laundry. So, we don't need the actual laundry machines themselves, but the hook ups to be able to install laundry. Installation of receptacle outlets, lighting controls, environmental controls at specific heights, conducive for those with disabilities. And I don't know the full spectrum of what that would be, but I would love to hear more if anybody has ideas on what environmental controls and lighting controls would be important.
Beth Kenny: And then finally, if there is an interior stairway, it must be wide enough to accommodate future installation of a chairlift, and include an outlet at the top or bottom of the stairway. And this would only pertain to a home that had interior stairway. So, those are some of the things that we've been considering asking for to be applied 100% for every new housing unit built that would be under the Universal Design Ordinance. There is another layer to this ordinance where there's a certain percentage of units that would have to meet all the universally designed ordinance elements.
Beth Kenny: And for multi-unit dwellings, and single family homes, what we've been hearing from the Planning Department, they're looking at about 20% of those new units with five plus units. And then, 10% were town homes, because they said that town homes, space wise, are going to be very difficult. So, some of the questions that we had thought about around here is, they're asking for, first of all, to start with five plus units. I think the federal regulations start with four plus units, so I think I'd like to see it down to four... Any development with four plus units, rather than five plus units. And I think that the 20% is very low, because we do have such a shortage of stock. And as Andrew said himself, that the units that they've already built have not had any trouble selling, and they're not selling to people who necessarily have a mobility concern, they're selling to people who like not having stairs.
Beth Kenny: So, I think 30-35% would be much more in line with what I would like to see. And then, I would also like to see in that, that percentage is applied to town homes, and that town homes aren't given a specific carve-out. And I admit I don't know about building, and maybe it's unrealistic, but I feel like, A, the city is saying... I don't know, the town homes, it's not the way that the city wants to be developing the city anyways, because they're just not very appealing way to develop, and I don't know why we should carve out a special exception for them, because I really do believe that the elements of the Universal Design can be met in a very small square footage, just designed thoughtfully. So, those are the things that I was hoping for, and to kind of give you a little bit of background.
Beth Kenny: The other things I wanted to talk about is that we're going to have to do some educating the public around Universal Design, and I already started talking to people when I'm in the line at the Warriors game, or here, just because people don't know what Universal Design is, and I've seen a lot of people fear that we're going to change their houses into an ADA unit and I think we really need to help people understand what Universal Design is.
Kerry Parker: So, kind of the beauty of the agenda building for this meeting is that it kind of forced the work group to create the more concise document that you see, it's three pages, and kind of abbreviates what all the Commission would really like to see Universal Design Ordinance. And we were able to submit this to Andrew Thomas last week when we were building this agenda. So they have it right, Planning Department has this document. And as they develop the draft that they want to give you in about a week for you to consider for the work group, they are incorporating suggestions into that document, so that when a subcommittee between the Planning Board and the Commission on Disability Issues meets, you guys will probably have some good ordinance language to work with, the draft language will be more developed than the last time you saw it.
Kerry Parker: And the other thing to note is that they are scheduling the subcommittee meetings for early July, for the first one right one. That'll be a subcommittee between the Planning Board and CDI regarding this, there will probably be a notice. Anyway, just so you know that this is now in a lot more development than it was at only our last meeting, because this has now been submitted to the Planning Board.
Anto Aghapekian: And now one of the things I find, myself, I forget to even talk with you about, is facilities for, or accommodations for people who are hearing or visual impaired. And I think they can be achieved very economically, they're not very expensive. It's just said it has to be thought out and installed, taken care of.
Beth Kenny: Yes. Again, I said, I don't know much about building and what sort of accessibility devices that are out there, but I was wondering if lighting control and environmental controls, maybe... I was thinking that that might be what we were talking about in that. I was trying to capture that by saying. But I don't know what is out there and what is important, so certainly if you have experience with something that you know is important, or you have seen somebody else find important, please, please, please let us know as soon as possible, because we want to capture as much in this as possible.
Susan Deutsch: I do think there are environmental roles, and I think right now, they're probably changing, the technology is getting more high tech, but there are ways that people can control, they can wirelessly turn the heat on, lights, having touch pads. My guess is that... And also voice, talking to something. I know Google is coming out with something. I haven't really looked into what, Google home thing, but when I get... But there are a lot of environmental control...
Beth Kenny: Yes. So the idea is to have those things there available or even just to be able to easily add them without having to rewire the house or take on a major project, because modifications to a house because of a disability is not something you can write off on your taxes, the average home modification is extremely expensive, and if you don't do it, you're also putting the caregivers at risk. And we're paying a huge amount to keep people in nursing homes who could live in their home if it was accessible.
Anto Aghapekian: My last comment is the model, we talked about the model. And more than anything, I think that an accessible model, a real actual life-sized model is much more important than a regular model, because the people that need an accessible model, they need to walk in there, or they need to wheel themselves in there to experience the space, and to find out where the doorbells are, to find out how the smoke detector works, for them to experience the spaces. And that's not going to happen with a virtual reality thing that people are visualizing. So a real model, I think, is a must for this universal.
Beth Kenny: Yes. And so, what Anto's speaking about is an issue that I forgot to put on this document, and that is that CDI would definitely like to see a model home available that is designed universal, so that when you're looking at the model homes, you can go in and experience it. What has been proposed is a brochure to a virtual reality experience of the home. But certainly if there's going to be model homes available, we feel that they should have a universal designed home as one of the model homes.
Susan Deutsch: I don't think we can expect somebody to visualize it without actually feeling their wheelchair going through a doorway through.
Beth Kenny: Yes, Arnold?
Arnold Brillinger: Yes. Beth, I've been in a wheelchair for four years, but I've only found out about Universal Design being on the Commission here. And so I have done a lot of research, and I have gone into some of the new housing developments. I went into Marina Shores, and I went up and down the streets and I started crying because each of them had a block of concrete at the front door that kept me from going inside. So, not even thinking do I want to buy one, but if my friends buy one, I can't go to visit them. If they want me to come over and see their new big screen TV, and watch the game, they're going to have to rip the TV of the wall and haul it out to the garage, because that's the only place that I can get into with my wheel chair.
Arnold Brillinger: So when we talk about visitability, we need to have it 100% on all of the things that are built in Alameda. We love the homes that we have now, but with stairs of eight to 18, there's no way I'm going to get into one of those things. We don't need to keep on building homes on slabs with a barricade in front of the front door. At Marina Shores they say, "Everything is included." I went over there and checked it out. Now I could get up into the office, when I asked for, "Well, can I go and check out some of the models, because I want to see if I can turn around in a bathroom, or in the kitchen?" I couldn't even get in. They didn't have a one that was accessible to a person with a wheelchair.
Arnold Brillinger: And I asked them for some information, they have a real nice, slick brochure about their houses. And I said, "What about the UDO items?" Well, they gave me six sheets of kind of a boring... You know, it's not a pamphlet or anything, it's just six sheets of paper with some X marks in front of things that they would put in if you wanted it. No pictures, no nothing. And I thought, "Well, this is not going to sell a lot of UDO homes. This is going to just... "Everybody likes what they can see. So I didn't see anything. And I realize that Marina Shores was planned and built a couple of years ago and stuff. But I went out to Alameda Point, and I've got to go again, because I wasn't sure that I was at the right area for finding the models, but there again, there's a lot of houses with... They don't necessarily have the step right in front of the threshold, but they've got it about two feet out. There's the step. So you're not even going to let me get to the door to ring the doorbell. It just doesn't make sense, and Alameda needs to make sure that 100% of the... Well, first of all, there are only so many places to build homes in Alameda, and most of it is a flat area out there, and at the Point and so forth.
Arnold Brillinger: We need to make sure that all of those are built with Universal Design things included. We need to make sure, first of all, that they are all accessible through the front door, that it's wide enough so that people can drive in. It's not only for people in wheel chairs, it's also for mothers and their baby strollers, baby buggies and all that kind of thing. It's for people who are starting to feel a little wobbly when they walk. There are so many different reasons for having these things. I mean, I've asked to be in on these kinds of things, because I will surely push for getting more and more. Now when we talk about 20% or 25% or 30%, my question is on some of these things, should we just follow the pack, or should we make Alameda stand out? And one day people will look and they'll say, "Look at Alameda, they've got this really great UDO." And, "Let's even surpass them, or get up to them."
Arnold Brillinger: No reason for us to follow the pack, we don't have that many places. It's not like we're in the Midwest where we just keep on spreading out over farmland or something. We only have so many places, we need to say, "Hey, we know that you want to build housing, but if you're going to do it in Alameda, you're going to have to do it in this way."
Beth Kenny: Thank you, Arnold. I really appreciate what you had to say. Do any of the other commissioners what to speak?
Anto Aghapekian: I really liked the last part that you said, Arnold. Because I've seen some samples of what other cities are doing and what we should do, and I think that Alameda can do better than what other people are doing, or other counties and cities are doing. So I really appreciate what you just said.
Arnold Brillinger: We need to be leaders, people ought to say, "Oh, there's a group there that could stick to their guns, and look what they've got. They've got a city where they've got a lot of units now that have visitability. They've got a lot of units that are adaptable for whatever kind of people live in those homes." Because if you buy yourself a place out there at Marina Shores for what, $1.2 million, right? And it's not a real big footprint, but I'm sure they're real nice houses, but I'd like to get inside and see what they look like, and how innovative they are, but I can't get in there.
Beth Kenny: Thank you, well said. Do we have any comment on this item?
Audrey Lord-Hausman: Hi, my name is Audrey Lord-Hausman, past commissioner of this esteemed Commission. And the UDO has been top of my list for, let's see, since 2012. And I think this is a great information sheet, and a lot of interesting items in here. I think through all of this since 2012, the Commission has educated the community on a number of levels, I will say that. I know more people talk about it now, and there's more interest out there from the general public, but how do we reach them to get them sitting here, getting them to come to the planning meeting, the Planning Board, whatever gatherings in order to speak to this. And I also think people still don't understand it exactly, in terms of it's not just persons with disabilities, it's the aging process, and issues that happen to all ages throughout our lives that are unexpected and change our lives dramatically.
Audrey Lord-Hausman: And I think in the design area, that adaptability is key in the discussion, because people will say, "Well, not everybody has a disability, so why do we have to put all of that stuff in there to start?" Well, you don't have to do everything, but it has to be built with adaptability in mind. And so I think that's something that I would encourage the Commission as you're continuing the conversation, don't let some roadblocks come up from developers about, "Well, we can't do this, we can't do that." "Well, wait a minute, why can't you built something with an adaptable design that a young healthy family can move in, and then either something happens or they want to move a parent, or a grandparent in, or they sell it, and I want to move in, and I need to adapt it to meet my needs?" So that is something that I think would be worth including in the conversation.
Audrey Lord-Hausman: But yes, I commend you to keep the battle going, I hate to say battle, but it's time that this city stand up, become a leader, I absolutely agree, I would love to see Alameda held up as an example of a city who said, "You know, we're taking this seriously, and we are an aging population here, and we want to keep people here." And if we don't take that seriously, the city, the City Council, Planning Board, everybody doesn't stand up and say, "This is important, and we want to make it special, and we want to make sure that our people can stay here", then that's to everybody's credit. So I would keep working hard, and keep pursuing this. And I think that we can get people to support this as it comes together, and then for the final kind of overview with the Planning Board. Thank you.
Beth Kenny: Thank you very much, Audrey. Alright, unless anyone else has anything to state on that item I'd like to move onto staff communications.
6. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
Kerry Parker: Okay. So to say it again, we're going to cancel the August meeting in order to make room for this meeting in September. Because right now we have six meetings a year, plus the retreats. And we used to have just four meetings a year, even though sometimes those would be cancelled. So, trying to be frugal with how we use our meetings. So, we imagine that the joint meeting between the Planning Board and the CDI to be on September 26th, we'd normally schedule the Planning Board meeting. And that the Planning Board will probably sit up here, and the Commission on Disability Issues would sit out here. And that we would do a presentation of a final draft of the Universal Design Ordinance, that's our hope. And that there would be a vote up here, a vote over here. And that after that moment, it could go to Council. So, that's how we're kind of imagining, just so you are all aware.
Beth Kenny: And I just want to point out, before that meeting, the work groups will have met with a draft of the ordinance.
Kerry Parker: Yes. It will developed before that time, and you will probably be aware, either from emails from me, or an email from the group that would be publicly out there, that I guess the results of the subcommittee. You're going to be seeing that ordinance as it is being developed. So there's that. That was one item that I had, the other item that I had was an email that I sent to you regarding Form 700, and the Sunshine Ordinance Declaration. I brought extra copies tonight, so please, if you haven't submitted it to the City Clerk's office, come by, grab another form, and you can fill it out and hand it back to me, or you can mail it tomorrow, or whatever you'd like to do. But I tried to make it a little more convenient by bringing it in today. And the sooner we can get those back, the better.
Kerry Parker: And then... Oh, the luncheon that I forwarded to you, that I received from Jim Franz regarding the City of Alameda's Social Service Human Relations Board having a luncheon on June 22nd at the Alameda Free Library. I sent you an email about it, if you want more information, go ahead and email me or call me in Public Works and I can get you more information. They do request RSVP, but it's not required...
Beth Kenny: Great. Thank you, Kerry.
7. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Beth Kenny: Now we move on to announcements. I know that the event work group has been meeting, and I believe you have...
La Donna Franco: Well, [chuckle] Okay, so the work group consist of myself and Arnold, and Tony with us. And so we have been planning to be present for the next Park Street Festival. And the vision is to, for example, be more visible as a Commission, and to offer information to the public, such as video information, and be more visible on an ongoing basis through events like this, and also developing partnerships with other Commission boards. And we're in the planning process of that, and we've each agreed to have... Fulfill some roles, and so, we should have some more information shortly, and it would be wonderful... From UDO, and a short brochure or kind of a pamphlet offering that.
Beth Kenny: Yes, that would definitely be a great way to get some information out there about what Universal Design is, and what the city is considering. I really like that idea, and I would be willing to come and work at that at any point.
La Donna Franco: You want to add anything, Arnold?
Arnold Brillinger: I just wanted to add, I've been to places like ADA Pacific. First, I contacted them and had them mail me some things, some information on what they do and so forth. Then I went in there one day when I... And I just kind of raided their publications closet. I got some stuff on the service animals, I got some stuff on other items, I even got some pens. I gave them all to Kerry. I got like 80 of those pens, they're advertisement for ADA Pacific, but they're still things that we can hand out, and probably, maybe we'll even get something that has CDI on it, and the phone number for Kerry's office, and the web pages and all that kind of stuff. And I think that this would be a great time for us to hand out and they sent me some electronic files on visitability. Well, they've got two pages and four pages, and I thought we'll get a two pager, put it on both sides of one piece of paper, have big stacks of these available on the table. And people can read them on the way home, or take them home and read them there. And we need to be able to get out those things that we are interested in, or that concern us. We ought to get them out so that everyone knows. And somewhere I saw... Was it in your thing here, Beth? About writing letters to the editor?
Beth Kenny: Yes.
Arnold Brillinger: Right? Well, I started a letter a couple of weeks ago after I went out to the housing. And starting writing, and it turned into not really a letter, it turned into more like a novel. So I've got to cut it down. But it is a way for people to get that information.
Beth Kenny: Great, thank you. And I really appreciate it. I know this group has been working hard, because I've been in on your emails. So thank you for all of the work that you guys are doing. And please let the group know anytime that we can help you out, I know you'll probably need people to help staff the table in July.
La Donna Franco: So, yes. Thank you for bringing that up. We'll be looking at considering some rotations for the day, for the two day event. So we haven't finalized anything, we know that we will need some help with that, to rotate, or volunteers.
Arnold Brillinger: And we're hoping to spread it among maybe the planning, or the Transportation Commission, or to Mastick, anybody that wants to make themselves known in the community also.
Beth Kenny: Do you have the dates of that event in July?
La Donna Franco: So, let's see, July 30th and 31st on Park Street.
Arnold Brillinger: When is the Neptune thing? Is that coming up in June?
Kerry Parker: 18th and 19th of June. So, yes, Father's Day weekend.
Arnold Brillinger: Yes. So maybe we need to kind of do a preliminary, and then see what kind of problems we come up with...
La Donna Franco: A dry run?
Kerry Parker: It's worth calling them and finding out what a booth might cost.
Arnold Brillinger: Because that's WABA, right?
Kerry Parker: Yes.
Arnold Brillinger: Yes, okay.
Kerry Parker: Actually sorry, no, it's the Chamber of Commerce.
Arnold Brillinger: Oh, okay.
Beth Kenny: Alright...
Kerry Parker: And we kind of talked about those sorts of logistics. But yes, we've been talking about it a little bit, but I have some thoughts on it, and so does Beth.
Arnold Brillinger: Okay.
Beth Kenny: Does anyone else have any announcements?
Susan Deutsch: I just want to let everyone know, I went to a library board meeting. I was just impressed with what they offer for people with print disabilities, people with literacy challenges. They have a lot of screen readers, they have a lot of groups for children. They're not planning any big changes in the future, but they sent me an email inviting me to the meeting, to get to know me. And they just shared a lot, the technology that they have and the programs that they have for literacy and discipline. I've been also invited to the park rec, but it was on the same night as the library, so I couldn't go to that one. And then they have another meeting tomorrow, which is going to be difficult to have two meetings in a row, but if anybody wants to go to that meeting, park and rec tomorrow night.
Beth Kenny: I think I can take that.
Susan Deutsch: I will come too.
Beth Kenny: Okay.
La Donna Franco: When is the next library board meeting?
Susan Deutsch: I don't know.
La Donna Franco: Do you think I can find it online?
Susan Deutsch: I just connected with them and I will let you know when I get something.
Beth Kenny: Alright, so are there any other announcements? Well, then I think we're ready to adjourn. And I want to say that this was a very good meeting, thank you, everybody.
La Donna Franco: Thank you.
Kerry Parker: Concise! Good work!
Beth Kenny: Thank you.
8. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:08 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kerry Parker
City Staff Liaison
Commission on Disability Issues