Stop, Drop and Roll

25 May 2007 | Alameda Community Development Forum | John Knox White

With all the discussion of development and possible discussions at the planning board about Measure A, a development project is slowly working it’s way through the system that cries out for concern. It has been on the front page of the paper, gone through environmental public comment at the Planning Board and Transportation Commission and yet while it’s had opposition at those meetings, most people are silent.
The project is the Harbor Bay Village VI Draft Environmental Impact Report and you can see the map of it on page 42. Beyond the issues of housing near the airport, this project screams out to be reconsidered. Located near the housing of Bay Farm Island, the project’s only auto, bike and pedestrian connections are to North Loop Road. Residents will be marooned in the Harbor Bay Business Park with nary a residential oriented service to be found.

The EIR has significant errors and outright omissions in it and contradicts itself in some key areas. All of these points were raised at last night’s Transportation Commission meeting. This is an auto-dependent development if ever there was one. nothing highlights the Transportation Commission’s stated concerns better than these two sentences from the EIR:

Pg 223 of the PDF (3.12-15 of the EIR):

A project would result in a significant transit, bicycle, and/or pedestrian impact if its implementation would conflict with adopted policies, plans, or programs supporting alternative transportation (e.g., bus turnouts, bicycle racks).

and then:

Pg 225 of the PDF (3.12-17 of the EIR)

It should be noted that a connection between North Loop Road and Catalina Avenue is recommended in the City’s Bicycle Master Plan; however, due to the sensitive nature of this proposal, this connection has not been included in this analysis and would not be required as mitigation. However, the connection would not result in any adverse transportation impacts and would be desirable from a pedestrian access standpoint.

See, it’s an impact if the project conflicts with city plans, but two pages later, it says it’s not an impact because they didn’t include it and it wouldn’t be a problem if they did (it would be good).

I have to wonder if this project is getting so little play because it’s on Bay Farm Island, 104 houses isn’t a small number, and smaller plans on the main island have raised a stink.

In the great “Measure A Debate,” these are precisely the types of housing the city doesn’t need (disconnected, isolated, etc) and yet, the fact that they are Measure A compliant means that a large chunk of the anti-development crowd appear to be willing to let them be built.

If that isn’t an argument for the need for a discussion, I don’t know what is.