McKay Avenue, the street leading to Crab Cove, used to house a roller coaster before it became a street. It is living up to its legacy.
In recent years the battle over the street, and what will become of the surplus federal property at the end of it, has had its ups, downs, twists and turns. Continue reading
The chant coming from city hall is a familiar one: “What do we want? Another consultant! When do we want it? Now!”
Hiring consultants can be helpful at times, but when an issue has been studied to death, it’s make-believe to think that anything is being accomplished. Continue reading
There’s going to be a new ferry maintenance facility at Alameda Point, but not everyone is thrilled. While all welcome the good paying jobs it will bring to Alameda, some are saying the facility is in the wrong location, and others, including Mayor Trish Spencer, are saying the city’s planning process for the facility was not transparent.
Most Alamedans wouldn’t have heard about the proposed maintenance facility at all if harbor seal advocates hadn’t raised a stink about it displacing the seals.
Until a few weeks ago, when the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) sought a 60-year lease for the land from the city, the only hearing on the project in Alameda was an “information-only” meeting in November 2010, before the Planning Board. Continue reading
It’s been a long time coming. At its upcoming February 17 meeting, the new city council will consider adopting a resolution in support of using the surplus federal property by Crab Cove for park and open space purposes.
The resolution urges the federal General Services Administration (GSA) to negotiate a low or no-cost sale to the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) or the state and to end its eminent domain action on state-owned McKay Avenue.
If adopted, our city will officially join the efforts of the California Department of Parks and Recreation, EBRPD, the state Attorney General, a coalition of 11 environmental organizations, and the Alameda-based advocacy group Friends of Crown Beach in sending a united message to the feds about what is the highest and best use for the surplus property. Continue reading
“Tonight we turn the page,” said President Obama in his recent State of the Union Address. Our new city council has followed suit.
On January 21, the city council, at the request of Vice Mayor Frank Matarrese, decided to set up a liaison committee to work with the East Bay Regional Park District. The committee will look into advancing Alameda parkland opportunities, including the surplus federal property next to Crab Cove and at Alameda Point.
The move comes on the heels of the city and park district settling their lawsuit. Continue reading
At their first meeting, the new city council unanimously agreed on all the issues before them, including moving forward with the Del Monte Warehouse project.
As Councilmember Jim Oddie said at the end of the meeting, “Maybe this is a good sign of good things to come.” Continue reading
The new city council is not wasting any time in making good on their campaign promises, and then some.
On January 6, at the behest of Mayor Trish Spencer, they will consider repealing ordinances the former council adopted just two weeks ago that approved the Del Monte Warehouse residential and commercial project. In addition, Vice Mayor Frank Matarrese and Councilmembers Jim Oddie and Tony Daysog are going to introduce new agenda items ranging from traffic impacts and pedestrian safety to parks and wetlands.
No matter one’s position on these issues or what is passed, the new council’s bold leadership is a change welcomed by those who felt the former council merely responded to staff direction. Continue reading
Right when we’re trying to attract commercial developers to Alameda Point, our next door neighbors are proposing to do the same thing a thousand yards away from Alameda’s eastern shore.
In an attempt to build a new stadium, the City of Oakland is in the process of adopting a Coliseum Area Specific Plan that envisions “reinventing” 800 acres along both sides of Interstate 880, from the Coliseum to Doolittle Drive near Martin Luther King, Jr., (MLK) Regional Shoreline Park. Oakland hopes the area becomes a major center for sports, entertainment, residential mixed use, as well as industrial and commercial uses. Continue reading
Last July, the Alameda City Council heeded the will of Alameda citizens and zoned federal surplus property near Crab Cove as open space. As a result, private developer Tim Lewis Communities–the same company that is trying to develop the Del Monte warehouse property–recently defaulted on its contract to purchase the property from the federal General Services Administration (GSA) and walked away from its plan to build 48 houses on the property.
One might think this is great news and that the East Bay Regional Park District can now acquire the land and expand the park at Crab Cove, just as the voters intended back in 2008 when they passed Measure WW. But no. The U.S. Department of Justice, acting on behalf of the GSA, is continuing its eminent domain action. They want to take over title to McKay Avenue, the state-owned street leading to the Crab Cove Visitor Center. Continue reading
Harbor seals have been coming to Alameda Point to find food and a suitable breeding habitat and resting area in recent years, taking up residence at a site adjacent to Enterprise Park and the Bay Trail. Rather than encouraging their homestead, the Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) wants to kick them out. It will be a permanent loss for the seals and a lost asset for the community and visitors to enjoy.
WETA is applying for a permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service that would allow temporary harassment of the seals while it tears down the seals’ haul-out site and builds a new ferry maintenance and operations facility in its place. The Service is tasked to determine whether the project would negatively impact the marine mammals and, if so, to institute mitigation measures to offset the negative impacts. The deadline for public comment is October 17, 2014. Continue reading
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