Stop, Drop and Roll

28 November 2006 | Alameda Community Development Forum | John Knox White

One of the key reasons Stop, Drop & Roll got started is to facilitate a discussion on development in Alameda. Development is going to happen, all that’s left is to figure out what kind and what it’s going to look like. My hope for this discussion is to limit ourselves to the large re-development areas that are underway in some form or another in town.

There are of course other, smaller areas, but Alameda Point, Alameda Landing and the Northern Waterfron each has the potential to be either a South Shore like project, by which I mean a development that in 50 years people look back and wonder “What were they thinking?” Post Office on the beach, really? 90% of single-family homes are ranch style? Few connecting streets? Four-lane roads next to the waterfront? 8-foot sidewalk and no exclusive bike path? Etc. (kvetch your kvetch here.) Or will we develop in a way that leads the city forward, providing stronger services to both new and existing residents, creating areas that are of benefit to everyone who lives in Alameda.

There are trade-offs for every decision. More houses = more household trips, more demand on city services, more people. More commercial = more peak hour commute traffic. More retail = more cross-island trips and visitors from out of town. Saving historic buildings = greater project costs and less flexibility in land use. There are many others, and contrary to some opinions, there are no right answers. They are all trade-offs, which means very few people, if anyone, are going to be 100% happy with the final result.

With Alameda Point in the hot seat right now, but still missing a developer, it makes sense to focus the discussion there for now. Alameda Landing has a plan that has a completed EIR which will be going to the council in the coming weeks/months (scheduled for Dec. 5, but I’ll believe it when I see it). The Northern Waterfront has a General Plan Amendment that will be going before the city council in January (or later, see above comment about the speed of projects plans moving through the system).

In the coming days/weeks, I am hoping to post summaries of the Alameda Point Base Reuse and Advisory Group (BRAG) Reuse Plan, the Alameda Point General Plan Amendment (GPA) and the Preliminary Development Concept (PDC) for the point. Each of these documents was put together, with much community input, as part of an on-going planning continuum, each plan created to inform the next. And yet there is conflict and contradiction between them because of the many trade-offs that are needed in order to work within the huge constraints placed on the project.

Some of the constraints are fixed (tidelands trusts, bay mud zones (earthquake problems), polluted land, flood plains, etc.) and some are imposed (historic zones, measure A, open space requirements). Some of these constraints can be changed by throwing more money at them. We can spend more to shore up the ground where there’s bay mud, raise the land above the flood plain, or clean up the toxic land to a higher degree than planned. Some can be changed by a will of the community. We can redefine the historic zones, amend measure A in any one of a multitude of ways, demand more (or less) open space. In the end, we’ll have to compromise in each and every one of these (and other) trade-offs.

My one request for this space is respect of others, and an attempt to keep this discussion out of the realm of “things from the past.” We have plenty of places to post our feelings about decisions the city, the council, the slate, the “whoever” have made, if we try to keep this focused on “what do we want and why” we can move the conversation forward without getting caught up in the politics of people. Use of information and facts to support opinions is greatly appreciated, but not required.

A strong discussion will get us closer to a vision that a majority of Alamedans can accept. It can help to inform all sides in the discussion about what is possible and what is likely and why. By creating a space where Alamedans of differing opinions can come together in a respectful convening of ideas, perhaps the end result will be something that 50 years from now, people will look back and say, thank goodness they the city, not this blog) did that, imagine if they had just built another subdivision next to a mall that limits our access to and use of the water.

I’ll be trying to find themes and pull them into new posts. Have any thoughts on how we should move forward, hit me with them below, or shoot me an email.