Title
Approve Meeting Minutes - April 9, 2018 (Action)
Body
Transportation Commission
07/25/2018
Item #4B
(ACTION)
Approve Meeting Minutes - April 9, 2018
DRAFT MINUTES
JOINT MEETING OF THE
CITY OF ALAMEDA PLANNING BOARD AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2018
1. CONVENE
President Mitchell convened the meeting at 7:00pm
2. FLAG SALUTE
Board Member Sullivan led the flag salute.
3. ROLL CALL
Planning Board:
Present: President Mitchell, Board Members Cavanaugh, Curtis, Köster, Sullivan, Teague.
Absent: Board Member Burton.
Transportation Commission:
Present: Chair Bellows, Vice Chair Vargas, Commissioners Hans, Soules, Palmer.
Absent: Commissioners Miley and Bertken.
4. AGENDA CHANGES AND DISCUSSION
*None*
5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Jennifer Barrett, from the Commission on Disabilities, introduced herself and said she can be contacted with any questions on the Universal Design ordinance.
6. CONSENT CALENDAR
*None*
7. REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS
7-A 2018-5416
Study Session and Discussion on Land Use and Transportation Planning in Alameda
Staff Members Thomas and Ott gave a presentation. The staff report and attachments can be found at: <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3462455&GUID=5695A3C4-1142-4263-8E54-A6772D272032&Options=&Search=&FullText=1>
President Mitchell opened the public hearing.
Jeff Gould, CASA, said we have to deal with greenhouse gas emissions at the same time as congestion. He said we can do things to encourage the electrification of our transportation system.
Tony Kuttner said moving people around the island is as important as the goal of getting people on and off the island. He said the Alameda Shuttle is missing from this report. He said it is a council priority and can solve many of our transportation problems.
Jim Strehlow said City Council and road diets are causing traffic. He said bringing BART to Alameda would attract crime. He said his friends and family do not want to visit because of our traffic problems.
President Mitchell closed the public hearing.
President Mitchell asked for a response to the issue raised regarding the shuttle.
Staff Member Ott said they are exploring the idea of a shuttle along with many other plans. She said the shuttle idea has led to exploring free bus passes with a broad financing mechanism.
Chair Bellows said people do not understand the state RHNA requirements and what happens if we do not meet our requirements.
Staff Member Thomas said the state has been slowly turning up the heat on the housing issue. He said cities are vulnerable to lawsuits regarding decisions that are not consistent with their general plan or state law.
Commissioner Palmer asked how we have worked with Oakland to improve the flow of cars through the tube. She asked how much the developers are really investing in the transportation solutions for Alameda.
Staff Member Thomas said they have spoken extensively with Oakland over the years. He said Alameda is at the forefront of requiring developments to contribute money for operating expenses for transportation and not just capital investments.
Staff Member Ott said the Broadway-Jackson project has a lot of momentum and would speed up the average morning commute by three minutes and improve pedestrian safety issues in Chinatown. She laid out the many obligations of new developments that impact financing and viability of new development.
Board Member Sullivan said that the transportation expense gets passed on to the residents, not the developers. She said we are often compared to San Francisco which is very different than Alameda.
Staff Member Ott said they try to compare Alameda to cities like San Leandro and Hayward.
Board Member Teague asked to have timelines for the new ferry terminal and bus rapid transit projects shared with both boards and the public. He asked what we were doing about the school drop off issue that creates backups on Bay Farm in the morning and transportation options to the Main St. Ferry.
Staff Member Ott said they hope to have construction of the Seaplane Lagoon ferry terminal completed next year with operations beginning in 2020. She said they have $9,000,000 in funding for the bus rapid transit lanes between Main St. and Webster and will begin outreach in 2019. She said Central Ave will help with school drop off issues. She said Harbor Bay has not wanted transit lanes or bike lanes and they will need to decide how they want to mitigate traffic.
Board Member Curtis said we have limited infrastructure capacity in Alameda and that things like bus lanes may create traffic jams. He said there will be backlash and is worried that it will create problems for emergency service response times on the island.
Commissioner Vargas asked to re-invite the police to attend Transportation Commission meetings more regularly. He asked for more context on the RHNA number.
Staff Member Thomas said the number is a bit of a mystery and that we get a new number every eight years. He said the Association of Bay Area Governments divides up the regional allocation amongst the cities. He said our next allocation could be much larger. He said the days of new single family subdivisions in Alameda are likely over.
Commissioner Soules asked how much of the space in these housing sites are being reserved for parking.
Staff Member Thomas said the parking rules vary by neighborhood. He said we are switching from minimum parking requirements to maximum parking requirements. He said the lenders for the developments often require a certain amount of parking to achieve financing.
Staff Member Ott said they are using the strategy at Alameda Point of having more public parking in order to maintain control and achieve the right balance.
Commissioner Soules said many of the people most impacted by congestion have the least opportunity to engage on these issues. She said there are many intra-island trips that could be addressed by a local shuttle option.
Board Member Cavanaugh said he is concerned with island transportation issues. He said the new signals in Oakland have severely impacted traffic flow over the bridges. He said light rail on Lincoln would make a real difference for everybody on the island.
President Mitchell said requiring neighborhood parking permits around the Harbor Bay ferry is counterproductive for meeting our transportation goals. He said he agrees that the changes across the Park St. bridge have negatively impacted traffic flow.
Staff Member Ott said they are seeing the Park St. bridge impacts and will continue to communicate with Oakland about the issue. She said they will be applying to BCDC for approval to add parking near the Harbor Bay ferry. She said people are finding ways to get to the ferry and ridership is still increasing. She said the long term solution is getting people out of their cars, not providing more parking.
President Mitchell asked if relocating the terminal had been considered.
Staff Member Ott said they have not considered relocation. She said they think it is a successful terminal.
Board Member Sullivan asked if shuttles for the Harbor Bay ferry have been considered.
Staff Member Ott said they have looked at that and are considering how best to get people to the terminal.
Board Member Köster said reliability is the problem. He asked how much the city has considered working with private transportation providers to find solutions.
Staff Member Ott said they are getting interest in more private ferry options. She said they are not afraid to look at last mile solutions that may compete with AC Transit, where AC Transit is not getting the job done, citing the reliability of Line 21.
Board Member Köster said we need to look at true mixed use projects, and the projects like Alameda Landing were a huge missed opportunity.
Staff Member Thomas said he agreed that mixed use is the future. He said before 2012, Measure A made these conversations moot. He told the Transportation Commission that they could request the opportunity to comment on large development projects before they go to the Planning Board for approval.
Commissioner Palmer asked how our island geography impacts our RHNA allocations.
Staff Member Thomas said the “we’re an island” argument has been less effective at the regional level than the fact that we do not have direct access to a freeway or BART station. He said other cities will point out that the island geography means that people do not drive through Alameda to get somewhere else like they do in Berkeley, for example.
Board Member Curtis said he disagrees with the statement that there is no cut through traffic in Alameda. He said when 880 is backed up people go through Alameda.
8. MINUTES
*None*
9. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
10. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
11. BOARD COMMUNICATIONS
President Mitchell thanked the Transportation Commission for organizing and joining them for this meeting.
12. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
13. ADJOURNMENT
President Mitchell adjourned the meeting at 9:00pm.