Title
Draft Meeting Minutes - February 8, 2021
Body
DRAFT MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF ALAMEDA PLANNING BOARD
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021
1. CONVENE
President Alan Teague convened the meeting at 7:00 p.m.
This meeting was via Zoom.
2. FLAG SALUTE
Board Member Hanson Hom led the flag salute.
3. ROLL CALL
Present: Board Members Curtis, Hom, Rothenberg, Ruiz, Saheba, Cisneros, and Teague.
Absent: None.
4. AGENDA CHANGES AND DISCUSSION
None.
5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
6. CONSENT CALENDAR
None.
7. REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS
7-A 2021-640
Review and Comment on the Annual Report on the General Plan, Climate Action and Resiliency Plan, and the Transportation Choices Plan.
Andrew Thomas, Director of Planning Building and Transportation introduced the item. The staff report and attachments can be found at
<https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4769216&GUID=D67C9A9F-80C2-48CC-B596-DBD82B6AE161&FullText=1>.
Jerry Beaudin, Assistant City Manager, also gave a presentation. He also introduced Danielle Mieler and Patrick Pelegri-O’Day who are both part of the Climate Action Team.
President Teague opened public comments.
President Teague closed public comments and opened board discussions.
Board Member Teresa Ruiz asked if the amount of ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units) that did not get built would affect ADUs being counted against the RHNA (Reginal Housing Needs Allocation) numbers.
Director Thomas said that 30 of the ADUs that had been approved actually pulled building permits.
Board Member Ruiz said the language around ADUs needed to be clarified and she believed that more emphasis was needed for the homeless shelter. She suggested allocating a budget to review each action item on the Transportation Annual Report to see if there was an actual improvement. She was pleased that Ms. Mieler would be taking on a full-time role with the Climate Action Resiliency Team.
Director Thomas agreed there needed to be more monitoring data.
Board Member Rona Rothenberg wanted to see the total number of permits associated with ADUs, to give a better understanding of what was happening. She thought they should add information about the Homeless Shelter being built at Crab Cove. She thought that the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (CARP) was very thorough and was pleased that Ms. Mieler would be joining that team as well. She looked forward to the All-Electric Ordinance adoption going to the City Council.
Board Member Xiomara Cisneros wanted to see information about why ADUs were not being built after they had been approved. She suggested a program that would help them get built provided they were accessible to low-income families. For the Inclusionary Program, she did not agree with the recommendation, and she believed that the Inclusionary Program was vital for advancing society. She did believe that flexibility would be key to its success. She was also interested to hear from the development community about the electrification of new buildings.
Assistant City Manager Beaudin said they would be doing a comprehensive report showing the cost-effectiveness study as part of their outreach with the building trades council.
Board Member Hom gave his thoughts on the density bonus and how the affordability requirements could be strengthened. He also gave his thoughts on action items for homelessness that needed to be made a priority. For the CARP he was pleased with the priorities listed and he was pleased to see that social equity was an element of the plan. He was also in support of developers going full electric. For the Transportation plan, he was in support of slow streets, traffic calming, and the roundabouts that were planned.
Board Member Ron Curtis believed for the electrification plan to succeed it needed to be phased in with plenty of notice given to developers. For the Transportation plan, all the priorities were made high priorities. He wanted to see more care taken into listing these priorities with a budget and timeline added. He also wanted to see the problems (such as shutting down roads) addressed in the plan so that everyone is prepared for unintended consequences.
Vice President Asheshh Saheba discussed the Inclusionary Housing Program and wanted to know data about the developments where they could pay an in-lieu fee or build on-site.
Director Thomas said no there are very few. Most recent projects are either very big or very small.
Vice President Saheba wanted to know how Alameda had supported Senior Living Housing and if these count towards the RHNA numbers.
Director Thomas explained how Measure A had historically made things complicated and how they get the Assisted Living Housing approved by working around Measure A. He went into detail about how Article 26 coupled with the high cost of land makes building required housing difficult.
Vice President Saheba believed that diving deeper into all these connected issues that surround housing would be beneficial.
President Teague wanted to know how the energy usage had changed due to the pandemic and wanted to see reports that electrification would not be a barrier to development. He also wanted to see more information on rental vs sale for the Inclusionary Housing Program. He also strongly suggested that Alameda adopt the Efficiency Unit Ordinance that opts them into AB325.
Director Thomas wanted to thank Mr. Pelegri-O’Day for all his work as he will be leaving Alameda. He said that the staff was very aware that all of these issues surround housing and that it’s important that the board was picking out items that are important. He also assured Board Member Curtis that they are not closing down any roads, but more of road diets like reducing 4 lane roads to 3 lanes. He also said that they would start having budget workshops in May.
8. MINUTES
8-A 2021-635
Draft Meeting Minutes - December 14, 2020
Board Member Hom made a motion to approve the minutes. Board Member Curtis seconded the motion. The motion passed 7-0.
9. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
9-A 2021-636
Planning, Building and Transportation Department Recent Actions and Decisions
No board member wanted to pull any items for review.
9-B 2021-637
Oral Report - Future Public Meetings and Upcoming Planning, Building and Transportation Department Projects.
Allen Tai, City Planner, said that at the next meeting there would be a presentation from the Economic Development Staff. The staff would also bring back the Objective Design Review Standards and proposed amendments to the Residential Open Space Ordinance. Then at the March 8th meeting, the staff would bring forward the Parking Ordinance with a more detailed Housing Element Annual Report.
10. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
None.
11. BOARD COMMUNICATIONS
Board Member Ruiz suggested looking at the definition of Alameda’s zoning code, to revisit the definition of a dwelling unit. They could more narrowly define it and also give more options as other jurisdictions have done. This could possibly expedite the housing production while working around Article 26. She would pull some examples and send them to the staff for review.
12. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
13. ADJOURNMENT
President Teague adjourned the meeting at 8:17 p.m.