This is a biggie, this may be the biggie for some of our resident NIMBYs in Alameda of the Programs in the Housing Element to achieve the goals set out in the introduction of the Housing Element:
You know what those barriers to housing construction are don’t you Alameda?
If you guessed A/26 you would be 100% correct and, specifically:
Before you all go rushing to see what the zoning in your neighborhood is don’t worry the majority of the East End, Bay Farm, and the Gold Coast are all R-1 which is not touched by this change. Essentially anything in white (of course) is R-1 and not affected by this change.
What is notable is in this item there is a bullet point about rezoning the two underutilized AUSD parcels: Lum School and Thompson Field. Because Thompson Field is open space this one will need to go to the voters because in Alameda no parcels zoned open space can be rezoned without a vote of the people.
I’m not quite sure how the City is including Thompson Field on its inventory list because there’s no guarantee that the zoning will be changed for this site.
Anyway, this program is a big deal because between all the other overlays and maneuvering this covers nearly all of the residential housing zones. The only areas that are A/26 safe are R-1 zones which is still a fair number of lots in Alameda, but — as I’ve mentioned previously — at this point A/26 is just a nasty little artifact that we’re hanging on to in name only. It has very little utility any longer and we just look like we’re hanging on to an exclusionary housing law because it’s nostalgic and reminds people of the good old days when people freely discriminated against poor people and people of color.
Blogging Bayport Alameda 
Are you sure about Thompson Field? Here’s a link I came across on Nextdoor.
Click to access SurplusChecklist.pdf
Comment by JRB — April 14, 2022 @ 8:26 am
Here are the real “barriers to construction” and also why few homeowners have split lots, courtesy of federal policies – it’s the cost of money, or as Kamala Harris stated the other day:
“I acknowledge one must acknowledge that prices are going up.”
30 yr fixed mortgage rate= 5.0%
11.2% wholesale price index
8.5% inflation and going higher next month
And if AUSD sells the old Lum school property, there would be no need for another school bond or bringing to the attention of Alameda voters and parents how much enrollment has declined due to lockdowns and mandates or the recent state wide test scores which showed 8th graders reading at 5th grade levels.
Comment by Common Sense — April 14, 2022 @ 8:49 am
Your handle is supposed to be ironic right?
Comment by Lauren Do — April 15, 2022 @ 6:43 am
I think one reason you won’t see many lot splits on large lots in the Gold Coast is this:
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1240-Hawthorne-St_Alameda_CA_94501_M19031-16094. This 6 bedroom 4.5 bath Alameda Gold Coast home on a quarter of an acre sold for almost $5M. In San Francisco properties like this are selling for $10M+. I’m also seeing a surge in prices in large home/lot prices in Berkeley as well — selling between $3K-$5M.
Where you could see lot splits in Alameda in the future, could be in the more dense areas where there is a mix of home types (multifamily and single family).
Comment by Karen Bey — April 14, 2022 @ 10:09 am
Correction — surge in Berkeley large home/lot sales prices between $3M and $5M
Comment by Karen Bey — April 14, 2022 @ 10:14 am