With the possible termination of the construction of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) clinic and columbarium at Alameda Point, there has been both speculation and questions on what will happen to the land that was designated for the project.
Alameda Post readers have posted comments on our social media accounts saying that they favor housing, a golf course, and restoring biodiversity on the land. But the City of Alameda does not own the land, so it’s not as simple as Alameda’s Planning Board voting for a housing development or zoning the area for a commercial hub.
A big unanswered question about the termination of the project is who will own the land if the project does not proceed.
The Navy agreed to transfer about 1,300 acres on the base to the City of Alameda in 2011, with the actual transfer officially occurring on June 24, 2013, according to ABC News. The other half of the land was given to the VA. The vast majority of the VA land is reserved for the least tern colony and cannot be developed. Least terns are endangered birds which use the VA land as a nesting site.
According to Abby Thorne-Lyman, the City of Alameda’s Department Head of Base Reuse and Economic Development, some of the land that the VA clinic and columbarium was supposed to be built on was transferred to the City and was not VA land. But the VA needed that land, known as the 74 Acre Flex Parcel, in order to keep a required distance from the least tern colony.
In 2014, the City of Alameda ceded rights to the 74 Acre Flex Parcel to the federal government. In exchange, the VA promised to build out infrastructure such as roads around the proposed area. Thorne-Lyman explains that the promised infrastructure is “part of the reason the City stepped aside and said, OK, we will cede our rights to receive this property.”
Thorne-Lyman tells the Post that the City of Alameda was hoping the VA-built infrastructure would have helped to “unlock new development” such as a regional sports complex and the Bay Trail. If the VA project is indeed canceled, Thorne-Lyman isn’t sure what will happen next. “What happens to all those commitments?”
The future of the VA land is unclear. According to Thorne-Lyman, the VA is supposed to provide the Navy with 30 days notice that they are terminating the project. The VA still has not notified the Navy or the City of Alameda of their plans. And if the VA does notify the Navy that they are no longer building the clinic or columbarium, Thorne-Lyman says, “The Navy has the right to take back the land.” She adds, however, “I don’t think the Navy is motivated to do that. Or interested.”
Whether the Navy can and will take back the least tern conservation area in addition to the 74 Acre Flex Parcel remains unclear. The VA has been funding the management of the least tern conservation area by contracting with US Fish and Wildlife to oversee it. When asked if the VA is still paying for management of the least tern colony, Thorne-Lyman said in an email to the Post, “US Fish & Wildlife still goes out and cares for the birds, so presumably they are paid in some fashion.”
Jean Chen is a contributing writer for the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jean-Chen.
