Title
PLN19-0095 - Amendments to List of Street and Facility Names - Alameda Marina and Citywide - Applicants: Pacific Shops, Inc. and City of Alameda - The applicants request a public hearing to amend the List of Street and Facility Names for the Alameda Marina Master Plan project and other revisions to the List. This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)3, where it can be seen with certainty there is no possibility that amending the City’s street names list will have a significant effect on the environment
Body
To: Chair Saxby and Members of the Historical Advisory Board
From: Allen Tai,
Secretary to the Historical Advisory Board
BACKGROUND
In 2007, the City Council adopted the Policy for Naming City Property, Facilities and Streets (Policy) to formalize a process and criteria for naming City facilities and streets (Exhibit 1). The Policy also establishes the Historical Advisory Board (HAB) as the keeper of the List of Street and Facility Names (Exhibit 2) and was last updated by the Council in 2016. The HAB may approve additions or deletions to the List upon the request of a board or commission or a member of the community. The List currently includes names of early settlers, past community and civic leaders, architects and builders, and aircraft and ships associated with Alameda’s industrial and naval history.
While the HAB maintains the list of names, the actual naming of a City street is the responsibility of the Planning Board and often occurs as part the entitlement process for new development. In 2018, the City Council approved a master plan to redevelop the Alameda Marina site into residential, commercial, boatyard and marina mixed-use. The next steps to implement the master plan includes laying out a new pedestrian path and road network to access the waterfront and interiors of the site to serve new development. The applicant is developing the subdivision map where new streets will need to be named at Alameda Marina.
DISCUSSION
For the Alameda Marina site, the applicant is proposing the following names related to the history of this property:
Names already on the List:
Barnes, J.D.
Tibbitts, Walter
Barnes and Tibbitts were the founders of the namesake shipyard at Alameda Marina in the early 1900s.
New Name to be Added to the List:
Whirley Crane - The Whirley Crane is so-called because of its ability to turn 360 degrees, which was a major innovation in the 1930s to enable mass production of large ships.
One purpose of the street naming policy is to “honor persons, places and/or events in the history of the City”. The names selected by the applicant above all meet this criteria. Furthermore, these names are appropriate for commemorating the history of the Alameda Marina property. Since both the Barnes and Tibbitts names are already on the List, the HAB only needs to approve the addition of “Whirley Crane” to the List. Adding the name to the List will enable the Planning Board to subsequently approve the use of that name to a specific street at Alameda Marina (Exhibit 3).
Recommended Clean Up by Staff:
In 2014, the HAB added names of water bodies in Northern California to the List. To ensure the List accurately captured the names of bay and lakes only and no other miscellaneous water bodies, the Board directed staff to adopt the list of names maintained by the US Geological Survey. Inadvertently, over 100 names of bays and lakes were added to the List, many are located outside of the Bay Area unbeknownst to the Alameda community. Public feedback on these names have generally been negative. Developers needing street names for their projects and members of the community who have reviewed the List all questioned the extensive list of unfamiliar names dominating the List.
Based on this feedback and to keep the List at a manageable length, staff recommends the HAB reduce the long list of water bodies to the following, which make up large and broadly-known water bodies in Northern California:
Lake Almanor
Lake Berryessa
Lake Camanche
Lake Oroville
Lake Sonoma
Lake Tahoe
Clear Lake
Donner Lake
Folsom Lake
Shasta Lake
Trinity Lake
The Board may also consider any variation to this list recommended by staff after taking testimony at the public hearing.
CONCLUSION
The City’s street naming policy provides HAB the ability to identify names that pertain to a local context. The applicant’s proposal to add “Whirley Crane” to the List for use at Alameda Marina is consistent with the street naming policy. Staff is also recommending the HAB reduce the list of water body names to those that are more widely known in Northern California.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Amending the City’s List of Street and Facility Names is exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)3, because it can be determined with certainty there is no possibility that amending the City’s street names list will have a significant effect on the environment.
PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENTS
Property owners and residents within 300 feet of the Alameda Marina boundaries were notified of the public hearing and given the opportunity to review and comment on the proposal. No written public comments were received at the time of this staff report.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Board approve by motion an amendment to the List of Street and Facility Names to include the new name Whirley Crane. Staff also recommends the Board consider refining the list of more than 100 names of water bodies.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED BY:
Allen Tai,
Planning Services Manager
Exhibits:
1. Policy for Naming City Property, Facilities and Streets
2. List of Street and Facility Names
3. Proposed Alameda Marina Street Names