New sites, new sites

I don’t know if I’ve missed this in all the other discussions about the Housing Element but on the agenda for Monday these were new to me:

The City will rezone a vacant 4-acre site at 2199 Clement for residential use and accommodate at least 125 units if the zoning establishes a minimum residential density of 30 units per acre.  (The vacant waterfront site is immediately adjacent to the Boatworks property.  The current site zoning prohibits residential uses.)   

o                     The Alameda Unified School District will surplus 4 acres of land for residential use at either Thompson Field or Lum School, which will result in at least 125 units if the sites are zoned for a minimum density of 30 units per acre.   Lum School is currently zoned R-1, and Thompson Field is currently zoned Open Space. 

It doesn’t look like the shopping center near the Wellness Center has gotten the shopping center overlay so we’ll see if that’s in the works because it was one of the few shopping centers where the owner was actively seeking an overlay. I suppose, given that it’s just a public hearing, the Planning Board could recommend including it on the list but it’s not currently a part of the shopping center overlay.

Alameda is moving along at a pretty steady pace to be on track with our Housing Element:

Schedule: The upcoming milestones in the Housing Element update public process will include: 

•                     April: Distribution of the draft Housing Element for a 30-day public review period.  

•                     May:  Transmittal of draft Housing Element to HCD for 90-day review.

•                     May – July:  Planning Board public hearings on Zoning Amendments. 

•                     August or September: Planning Board public hearings to consideration of HCD comments.

•                     October:  Planning Board public hearings and final recommendations to City Council on Draft Housing Element and Zoning Amendments.

•                     November or December 2022:  City Council public hearings and action on draft Housing Element and Zoning Amendments. 

The real test will be when HCD comments come back in August or September to see if Alameda is on the right track or if it’s way off. Of course, as with all things Housing Element related, Alameda would be in a world of hurt toward Housing Element compliance if we had more Tony Daysog like Councilmembers making policy decisions. After all Tony Daysog voted against the Encinal Terminals project for literally no reason other than piggybacking on some initial complaints from Trish Spencer. She eventually voted for it, but he didn’t which would have left Alameda in a housing unit hole toward compliance.