Alameda Point

Letters from the Community

August 17th, 2009

Alameda is a city known for its vigorous political debate and its well-informed citizenry. We would like to encourage that debate by periodically acknowledging the people who have offered thoughtful insights about the Alameda Point Revitalization Initiative.
 Posted below is a letter sent to a local newspaper we think is worthy of your attention.

 

 

Small developments help environment
By Nancy Heastings: Alameda Journal: Aug. 13, 2009

 

Mixed in with the discussion on the best plan for Alameda Point has been the topic of environmental sustainability. It made me curious to check out just what it really means to be green when it comes to land development.

According to the May/June Association of Bay Area Governments newsletter, 50 percent of Bay Area greenhouse gases come from transportation, as compared to the rest of the world at 14 percent. In the Bay Area, a 20 percent to 40 percent reduction in vehicle miles traveled can be achieved with compact development as compared to sprawl.

The SunCal plan calls for compact development with the inclusion of condos, townhomes and apartments, in addition to single-family homes, which enables more compact development. A compact development means less reliance on the automobile for several reasons: it promotes mixed-use, meaning businesses, retail, civic, recreational uses and housing coexist, greatly reducing the distances that need to be traveled for everyday needs or amenities; it supports walking and biking as alternatives to the car due to these shorter distances and the completeness of the neighborhood; and it supports public transportation options and frequency of service because there are enough residents who live close enough to use public transportation.

Transportation strategies in the plan include a new ferry terminal, bus rapid transit, an EcoPass program, carshare and carpool programs, guaranteed ride home program, community bicycle strategy, and adaptive parking pricing.

These strategies de-emphasize the need for the automobile, which benefits all Alamedans in terms of traffic. And it greatly reduces carbon emissions, which is what being green really means.

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Get behind the plan
By Honora Murphy: Alameda Journal: Aug. 13, 2009

 

I have worked for more than 30 years for libraries in Alameda, from promoting school library services to the development of an adequate main library and branches to provide library services to the whole community. As I visit the main library and its branches, it is obvious that students, from preschool to elementary, high school and college, to adults and seniors are making use of these facilities.

The Revitalized Alameda Point plan includes 47 acres of civic spaces including a new branch library, a community center, schools, fire house and post office. These new facilities will benefit not just future residents of the Point, but current residents as well. The new facilities will pay for themselves through new revenues that will be generated by the project itself, not from current taxpayers.

Right now Alameda taxpayers are paying for maintenance on roads, pipes, sidewalks and sewers at the Point that date back to World War II. These are in areas that few people can use and are a constant drain on the taxes we pay today.

The longer we wait to move forward on this project, the more money we are forced to spend on the upkeep of this idle and decaying infrastructure. The more money we spend on the upkeep of this idle infrastructure, the more we lose out on using our resources for new schools and public safety.

I urge Alamedans to get behind the plan that will bring prosperity to this ignored portion of our city and put it to good use for all Alamedans.

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APC is involved
By Doug Biggs, Executive Director, Alameda Point Collaborative: Alameda Sun: Aug. 13, 2009

 

Faith McDonald’s intentions may have been honorable, but her recent letter to the editor (”What’s the Point?” Aug. 6) had the facts wrong about the residents of the Alameda Point Collaborative, currently living out at Alameda Point.
APC has a 59-year lease on housing and other properties at Alameda Point. This lease cannot be broken by SunCal. There is no danger or possibility of our residents being “hustled off the island” as Ms. McDonald alleges.

Calls to do nothing or to protect the Point as is are actually the greatest threat to our community members, and would likely result in their dislocation — intentionally or otherwise, as this do-nothing approach provides no solution to replacing the current infrastructure that is on the verge of failure.

Also contrary to Ms. McDonald’s statement, APC residents have had a significant voice in the redevelopment plans, having attended every public planning meeting (and there have been lots) going back to the meetings held in the flight tower more than four years ago.

SunCal has also met specifically with our community to incorporate our needs and ideas into the development plans in ways that will enhance our neighborhood and the services we offer.

APC residents are supportive of the proposed redevelopment for the new job opportunities, recreation sites, civic opportunities and transportation enhancements it will offer.

That is the vision established for Alameda Point in the general plan, and for those of us who have been waiting for that vision to manifest over the last decade, we look forward to finally getting some new neighbors and new job opportunities!

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Stay on track
By Helen Sause, President, HOMES: Alameda Journal: Aug. 13, 2009

 

HOMES continues to fully support the SunCal plan to revitalize Alameda Point. We appreciate the timing of the election being postponed until 2010 to enable more Alamedans to fully understand the plan and the benefits it offers to our community and to enable more time at the negotiating table between the Navy, the city and SunCal.

This is an extremely good plan for Alameda Point. It brings economic opportunities, employment, transit and recreational benefits to the whole community. It takes a virtually unusable, decaying old military base that requires cleanup and construction of infrastructure systems to turn it into a sustainable, new neighborhood providing an array of housing, jobs, revenues and amenities for the community.

This plan has been in the works for 15 years. There have been dozens of community meetings to gather input from Alamedans. The community’s key goals and principles have been incorporated into the city’s general plan. And now, at long last, we have a developer who has figured out a way to turn the community vision into a physical and fiscal reality.

It is time that we finally do something positive out at the Point. Some of us would like to see this happen in our lifetimes. It is now vitally important that SunCal and the city continue to work swiftly and cooperatively to keep this plan on track.