Delays aquatic fee Increase, rejects Mylar balloon ban
On December 2, City Council held a workshop about updating the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, which aims to increase affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents by requiring new residential developments to include affordable units. Council also held its fourth infrastructure needs workshop, focusing on shoreline flood protection, sea-level and groundwater rise, and disaster mitigation.
Council voted to amend non-aquatic Recreation and Park fees, but delayed aquatic fee updates for further review following objections raised by the Alameda Aquatic Masters. Council rejected a proposed ordinance to ban the sale and distribution of Mylar balloons. They approved Chantel Carter as a Member of the Social Service Human Relations Board.
Inclusionary Housing Ordinance workshop
Council held a workshop to review recommendations for updating Alameda’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance. Planning Director Allen Tai and Planning Services Manager Steve Buckley presented the analysis, noting that no action was required at this meeting. The purpose was to gather guidance from Council as staff continues refining the ordinance.
Tai explained that the current inclusionary requirement—15% affordable units (4% very low, 4% low, 7% moderate)—has been unchanged for 20 years and no longer reflects Alameda’s housing needs or market conditions. The housing market has slowed significantly; only 447 units have been permitted since January 2023, less than 10% of the City’s eight-year Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) goal of 5,350 units.
Buckley described distinctions between rental and ownership housing economics, noting that “moderate-income rentals” often remain vacant because their rents are set by a federal formula rather than current market conditions, meaning they can, at times, be more expensive than comparable market-rate apartments. Meanwhile, very-low-income ownership units require disproportionately deep subsidies and are difficult for buyers to sustain due to HOA dues and property taxes.
Staff is evaluating and recalibrating affordability percentages for each tenure type accordingly. For rental projects, they recommended shifting to 15% low-income units and for ownership projects to 5% low-income and 10% moderate-income units.
Staff proposed expanding options for in-lieu fees, the fees developers can pay instead of including affordable housing units on-site, currently limited to projects of five to nine units, to include projects of any size, giving developers more flexibility.
Staff also proposed refining the cluster development model, in which affordable units are provided in a separate building or lot. Currently, clustered affordable housing is allowed only through case-by-case negotiations. Staff proposed codifying it into the ordinance as a standard compliance option. Finally, they proposed extending the affordability period from 55 to 99 years.
Council comment
Councilmember Tony Daysog opened by urging a balanced approach to in-lieu fees, suggesting they be adjusted based on project-specific costs. Regarding affordable housing clusters, he warned against creating economic segregation. He highlighted that in-lieu fees also require careful deployment to prevent concentrating poverty.
Councilmember Greg Boller agreed with the need for flexibility. He emphasized that Alameda must “meet the moment,” noting that with a sluggish housing market, the City should act quickly to adjust policy. Although he acknowledged the importance of detailed fee analysis, he did not want procedural delays to prevent immediate improvements that could help unlock stalled development projects and address underutilized housing.
He specifically highlighted the issue of vacant moderate-income rental units, noting that recalibrating affordability requirements should be a priority so those units can be occupied. Boller also underscored the importance of public participation, noting that many residents care deeply about affordable housing.
Vice Mayor Michele Pryor echoed interest in a flexible in-lieu fee framework, including temporary lower fees to stimulate construction. She agreed that clustered housing can work in specific cases, such as senior housing, but cautioned against isolating low-income families.
Councilmember Tracy Jensen discussed constraints on available land, asking whether in-lieu fees could support infill housing and rehabilitation of small rental buildings. Staff confirmed that these are potential uses for in-lieu fees, but noted they require clear guidelines.
Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft urged exploring partnerships with regional housing trust funds and nonprofit developers to leverage local dollars into larger financing packages, emphasizing that modifying the ordinance alone will not overcome broader market challenges.
Council will consider an updated ordinance in 2026 once staff completes its further update based on comments received.
Infrastructure Workshop #4
Council held its fourth infrastructure workshop. Prior workshops were held on streets and traffic safety, civic and fire facilities, and libraries and parks. Sustainability and Resilience Manager Danielle Mieler presented Alameda’s urgent shoreline protection, sea-level rise, groundwater rise, and disaster-mitigation needs. She explained that much of Alameda’s shoreline was built on filled former marshland, making it highly vulnerable to rising seas, storm surges, groundwater intrusion, and liquefaction. Recent storms and king tides already show accelerating impacts.
Mieler noted the City’s regional collaboration through the Oakland–Alameda Adaptation Committee (OACC), formed in 2021, which coordinates shoreline resilience planning across jurisdictions. The coalition includes public agencies, community partners, and consultants, and has helped Alameda secure significant grant funding and statewide recognition.
The City is advancing multiple near-term shoreline projects. Projects include improvements along Bay Farm Island, the estuary shoreline, South Shore, and the northern Alameda Point shoreline. Alameda recently won a Senate Bill 1 grant to complete its Shoreline Adaptation Plan and a Proposition 4 grant to advance the Bay Farm Island Project, and is pursuing additional federal and regional funds. Still, long-term needs far exceed current resources; near-term shoreline adaptation requires $295 million, with only $26.5 million secured so far.
Regionally, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) estimates $110 billion is needed Bay-wide by 2050 to protect communities, infrastructure, and natural habitats. BCDC also projects that inaction could lead to over $230 billion in damages.
Communications Director Sarah Henry concluded by outlining that, across the four recent infrastructure workshops, Alameda has identified over $1 billion in total infrastructure needs. The City will conduct public polling in coming weeks to assess community priorities and potential revenue measures. Council will receive options for new funding mechanisms early next year, following community input.
Recreation and Parks fee update
Alameda Recreation & Parks Director (ARPD) Justin Long presented his department’s annual fee schedule update (link downloads document), which sparked the most intense public interest of the evening. Fees are adjusted each December. Long explained that although inflation, rising staff and material costs, and tariffs continue to pressure the department, most program fees are increasing by only 3-5%, far lower than last year’s 10-15%.
Long described the department’s fee philosophy—higher fees for individual-benefit programs, moderate fees for group classes, and very low fees or no cost for high community-benefit programs, including free parks programming and low-cost senior programs.
Adjustments include incremental increases to field rental rates and new fees for adult sports officiating, open space rentals, and equipment rentals. However, the most significant proposed increases were related to swim lane rental fees. Long proposed a four-year plan to raise pool rental rates from below-market levels to $15 per lane-hour for resident adult organizations and $10 per lane-hour for resident youth organizations.
Numerous Alameda Aquatic Masters swimmers urged the City Council to reject the steep proposed pool-lane fee increases for resident adult organizations, arguing the hikes would threaten the survival of the 42-year-old nonprofit program. Speakers emphasized the team’s intergenerational community, health, and mental-wellness benefits, and long history of partnering with ARPD through donations, volunteerism, and consistent year-round rental revenue. Many noted that over half of the team are seniors, cancer survivors, or swimmers recovering from injury, and higher fees would price them out. Speakers asked the City to adopt a single nonprofit team rate equal to the youth rate to maintain accessibility.
Council unanimously voted to approve all non-aquatic fees and to pull aquatic fees for further review, with existing rates remaining in effect until the revised proposal returns.
Proposed Mylar balloon ban
Finally, Council held an extended late-night discussion on whether to move forward with a local ban on Mylar balloons or broader restrictions on lighter-than-air balloons, balancing environmental impacts, Alameda Municipal Power (AMP) outage risks, small-business concerns, and enforceability.
Councilmember Jensen, who sponsored the referral, strongly supported a full ban, citing environmental harm, non-degradable waste, wildlife deaths, and proven risks to AMP’s infrastructure. She argued Alameda should not wait for the state’s upcoming 2027 phase-out and should lead by example.
Mayor Ashcraft supported action but emphasized education first, protecting small businesses, and ensuring realistic enforcement. She warned that code enforcement is already stretched thin and that regulations without enforcement lose credibility.
Councilmember Daysog presented outage data showing that Mylar-balloon outages account for a tiny fraction of AMP’s overall downtime—far less than 1%—and argued that the data did not justify the disproportionate regulatory burden on small retailers.
A motion by Jensen—directing staff to return with a draft ordinance banning the sale of lighter-than-air balloons, prohibiting Mylar balloons/confetti in City facilities, and launching an education campaign—failed on a 2-3 vote with Boller, Pryor, and Daysog voting against it. Staff will still integrate Mylar and lighter-than-air balloon prohibitions into City-facility rental agreements.
Contributing writer Karin K. Jensen covers boards and commissions for the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at https://linktr.ee/karinkjensen and https://alamedapost.com/Karin-K-Jensen.
