Alamedans had one thing on their minds at the Chamber of Commerce’s meet and greet with Councilmember Greg Boller last Thursday, October 23—the Harbor Bay Landing shopping center. A developer, True Life Companies, has proposed demolishing the center along with its grocery store to make way for a 300-unit housing complex.
As proposed, the community would include 200 for-sale townhouse units, other rentals, and a five-story apartment building. Fifty units would be set aside as affordable housing for low- and moderate-income residents.
(Editor’s note: On October 18, the City of Alameda posted a notice online stating that the developer’s Harbor Bay Landing proposal is only a preliminary application, that it doesn’t meet City requirements, that City staff have informed the developer of the deficiency, and that the City has met with Safeway officials to express support for retaining a grocery store at the site.)
What was originally planned as an informal Chamber of Commerce coffee-and-donuts meeting with Boller quickly turned into a community hearing, as local residents were eager to find out more about the plan that would affect their neighborhood. So many people showed up that more than 120 homeowners jammed one of the chamber’s meeting rooms while those who could not get in met with Alameda City Manager Jennifer Ott outside.
While Boller expressed frustration with not being able to meet with the center’s owners, he stressed that the City is taking into account the legal status of the property. The preliminary application simply outlines the project. Final approval would have to come from the City Planning Board and ultimately City Council.
“What it comes down to is this is private property and we have a process that we have to go through,’’ Boller said. “What is really going on here is a negotiation.’’ Though the development backers have delayed speaking to City officials for more than a year, Ott and Planning Director Allen Tai met with them recently.
Hanging over the process is a series of laws passed by the California state legislature to fast-track affordable housing and solve the state’s housing crisis.
While developers were previously required to file pricey reports on the environmental impact of their building, they can now find numerous ways to avoid that and other provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act. Opponents have used such requirements to delay or stop projects in the past. The law even allows builders of affordable housing complexes to obtain City Council approval without public hearings or other local input, Tai said.
Cities must meet state housing goals and deadlines which are reviewed to make certain that they are in compliance. Alameda’s share includes 5,353 units, including the 300 proposed in the Harbor Bay plan. But in the past three years, the City has only approved 450 units due to a slow housing market, according to Tai. He anticipates a less-than-favorable response when the City’s progress is examined.
To comply with the law, the City has already zoned the Harbor Bay property for 300 new housing units. But the zoning also includes 90,000 square feet of commercial space including a 20,000 square foot grocery store. Tai made that point clear when talking to the owners.
“You can’t just come in and ‘say no more grocery’ because of the needs of the community,” he said.
Harbor Bay Landing’s only gas station will close on November 30 because the owners cannot afford the cost of installing new underground storage tanks by the end of December as required by law.
A person at the meeting with Boller said that Safeway may leave when their current lease expires in two years. Owners are reluctant to renegotiate a lease to avoid any “encumbrances” that would complicate marketing the property, Tai said. One homeowner suggested the city create a bond issue that would allow it to purchase the property.
“How many here would vote for a bond?” she asked, as several people raised their hands.
Residents voiced their approval when one speaker mentioned the additional traffic the project would create. A long line of cars was stopped as parents dropped off their children at Earhart Elementary School Thursday morning. Other commuters filled Island Drive on their way off the island.
“The schools are already impacted,” she said. “What are we going to do with 500 more families and cars?”
Local resident Dave Remeta said that Bay Farm homeowners must mobilize if they want to save their shopping center.
“This is volunteers beating the pavement, knocking on every door in Bay Farm Island and waking the community up because not everyone is like the people in this room,” he said.
The developer does not own the land, but has an option on the property if the housing complex appears profitable, Tai said. That decision may come as early as the end of the month, he added.
Tai and Boller said the city would keep residents informed via emails and that the Council plans to hold a hearing at a later date. Meanwhile, updates and supporting documents are available on the City of Alameda Major Planning Projects webpage.
David Boitano is a contributing writer at the Alameda Post. Contact him via [email protected].
