Title
Alameda Marina Draft Master Plan Environmental Impact Report Scoping Session
Body
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board
From: Andrew Thomas, Assistant Community Development Director
background
Alameda Marina is an approximately 44-acre site located between Clement Avenue, the Oakland Alameda Estuary, Grand Street and Willow Street. The Alameda Marina includes approximately:
• 16 acres of submerged lands with 11 existing piers and 550 boat slips, and
• Five acres of public Tidelands land adjacent to the submerged lands and 23 acres of private land developed with approximately 250,000 square feet of maritime and other commercial businesses.
Over 80% of the 28 acres of uplands is currently paved for circulation and dry storage, which takes up most of the west and east portions of the site.
The property was originally developed as a shipyard in 1914, and then substantially expanded in 1940, by the General Engineering & Dry Dock Company with assistance from the U.S. Maritime Commission. A recent 2016 Historic Resource Evaluation of the property found that due to significant modifications to the property over the last 50 years, the property as a whole is not eligible for listing on the California Register, and only three of the buildings on the property are individually eligible for listing (Buildings 16, 19, and 27). The historic assessment of the site is included as Exhibit 1.
In 2012, the City rezoned the 23 acres of private land to mixed use (MX zoning) and multifamily housing (MF zoning). The MX zoning requires a mixed use plan for the site and the preparation of a master plan describing how a mix of uses will be implemented on the property. The MF zoning allows any housing approved in the master plan to be constructed in a multifamily configuration. At that time, the site was also included in the Housing Element as a housing opportunity site that could reasonably accommodate approximately 400 housing units.
The current property owner, Pacific Shops, Inc. (PSI), (“the applicant”) has submitted a Draft Master Plan (Exhibit 2) for the redevelopment of the property to include:
• Up to 670 housing units with up to 168 affordable units restricted to households with at least one member over 62 years of age (25%),
• Up to 150,000 square feet of maritime and other commercial businesses, and
• Rehabilitation of the existing 550 slip marina, piers, bulkheads, and wooden wharves and other waterfront infrastructure on the site.
On October 25, 2016, the City of Alameda released a Notice of Preparation (NOP) (Exhibit 3) notifying the public and other public agencies that the City of Alameda has determined that the proposal requires preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The purpose of the November 14, 2016 scoping session is to provide an opportunity for the public to submit oral and written comments on the scope of the EIR that will be prepared to examine the environmental impacts of the proposal. The NOP establishes a November 28, 2016 deadline for comments on the scope of the draft EIR.
DISCUSSION
EIR Scoping Session
As described in the NOP, City staff has determined that an EIR is necessary to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of the Master Plan. Pursuant to CEQA, staff has determined that the draft EIR will need to evaluate all of the potential issues listed in Appendix G of the CEQA Guidelines that may be associated with up to 250,000 square feet of commercial uses and up to 670 residential units, including:
• Aesthetics,
• Agriculture/Forestry Resources,
• Air Quality,
• Biological Resources,
• Cultural Resources,
• Geology and Soils,
• Hazards and Hazardous Materials,
• Hydrology and Water Quality,
• Land Use and Planning,
• Mineral Resources,
• Noise,
• Population and Housing,
• Public Services and Recreation,
• Transportation and Traffic, and
• Utilities.
Master Plan Issue Scoping:
Staff has begun an initial review of the Draft Master Plan. Based upon that review, staff prepared the following comments and recommendations for Planning Board and community consideration:
Staff agrees with the goal of the Draft Plan which states:
“Alameda Marina represents for the City of Alameda an opportunity to maintain existing jobs, stimulate economic development, create housing, and offer recreational amenities to existing and future residents.” (Page 4)
Staff also agrees with the four Master Plan objectives (page 9):
1. Improve and enhance the Maritime Commercial Marina.
2. Activate and reconnect the community to the waterfront.
3. Create a Dynamic New Neighborhood for Everyone.
4. Provide for Financially Sound Development.
Staff is currently working with the applicant and its consultants to prepare additional studies and reports that will be useful to the Planning Board and community when considering how best to improve the Master Plan for the site. Work is currently underway on a market study, building assessments, and additional evaluations of the structural issues along the waterfront. Staff believes that these studies and reports will help inform the following revisions and improvements to the draft Master Plan which staff believes are necessary to support implementation of the Master Plan goal and objectives:
1. Improve the commercial plan for the property. A mixed use plan for Alameda Marina that is designed to “improve and enhance the Maritime Commercial Marina” requires a detailed plan for the commercial future of the site. The Draft Master Plan provides little detail or information on how the master plan will “maintain existing jobs” and “stimulate economic development”. The Draft Master Plan reduces the development capacity of the property from 250,000 to 150,000 square feet for non-residential, commercial activities and businesses, and the amount of land dedicated to non-residential uses is reduced from about 28 acres (about 22 acres of which are paved areas for boat storage and/or circulation) to 3.6 acres.
2. Preserve more of the existing buildings in the maritime core of the property. A project that includes a mix of new and existing buildings will create a more interesting waterfront urban environment and preserve more of the existing maritime commercial leasable space on the site for small businesses and maritime businesses. At minimum, all three of the buildings (Buildings 16, 19 and 27) that are eligible for landmark consideration should be preserved and reused.
3. Add the Transportation/TDM Plan. The Draft Master Plan proposes that the project’s transportation/TDM plan be prepared at a later date, before issuance of building permits. The Transportation Plan should be prepared now and be available for review with the rest of the Master Plan.
4. Provide a financially sound phasing plan. The draft Master Plan should include a clear and concise phasing plan informed by a market study to explain how the development of the residential areas in the plan will fund the necessary improvements to the public Tidelands lands, including replacement of 3,800 linear feet of bulkhead, existing piers and docks, necessary dredging and replacement and/or improvement of the existing maritime lifts which are necessary for moving boats between submerged and uplands within the Public Trust property. The market study should inform both the phasing plan and the total number of housing units proposed on the site.
5. Provide a detailed housing plan. The Master Plan needs a detailed housing plan that describes the total number of units to be built on the site (the plan does not currently specify the number of units planned), the total number of affordable units to be provided, a description of how the affordable units will be distributed on the property and any additional regulations or standards that are being proposed to ensure a variety of housing units that will be affordable to the full economic spectrum of households. The housing plan should provide multifamily residential rental and for-sale housing opportunities for a wide variety of household types, sizes, and incomes. The draft Master Plan is proposing to provide 25% of the total units as deed-restricted for very low-, low-, and moderate-income seniors. Twenty-five percent exceeds the City’s inclusionary housing ordinance requirement of 15%, but does not meet the inclusionary ordinance requirement that the affordable units be comparable to the market rate units. In this case the market rate units would not be deed-restricted to seniors.
6. Create a “working waterfront” open space plan. Staff agrees with the description on page 21 of an open space plan that “will embrace the gritty charm of Alameda’s historic maritime commercial northern waterfront.” However, the diagrams and photographs on pages 28 through 31 depict a much more manicured, residential-oriented open space network. The priority use of the Tidelands uplands areas should be maritime commercial uses and open spaces that can be accessed by the public to experience the waterfront site and access the water and public docks. Large residential open spaces should be confined to the residential sub-districts in the Master Plan. The graving dock area (narrow strip of water that enters the property on the east end) could be maintained or altered to create an interesting submerged/tidal influenced open space /or sea level rise education center. The Master Plan should also specify that existing gates will be removed and the new development will not be a “gated” community.
Next Steps and an Ad Hoc Subcommittee
Based upon comments received, staff will continue to work with the environmental consultants and the applicant’s design team to prepare a draft EIR for public review and a revised draft Master Plan for public review and discussion with the draft EIR.
The Planning Board may wish to appoint an ad hoc subcommittee to work more closely with Planning staff and the applicant over the next few months on the revisions to the Master Plan.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The Alameda Marina Master Plan is a project subject to the CEQA. Work is currently underway on a draft EIR.
RECOMMENDATION
Hold a public hearing to take public comment on 1) the scope of the draft EIR, and 2) Draft Master Plan.
Respectfully Submitted by:
Andrew Thomas
Assistant Community Development Director
Exhibits:
1. Historic Resource Evaluation, Christopher VerPlanck, October 2016
2. Draft Alameda Marina Master Plan, July 2016
3. Notice of Preparation (NOP)