What is E.P.A.C. trying to achieve?
E.P.A.C. presented the Planning Board with a petition signed by almost 300 neighbors who want Estuary Park. E.P.A.C. has asked the Board to allow time to raise money to buy land along the Estuary for a park. We will keep the park idea alive
We want to convince Board members that balanced development is vital. We’ll wear green ribbons. (If you have a web browser and Internet access, see examples of the E.P.A.C. ribbon on the EPAC web site at http://www.alamedareport.org/epac/ribbons). We’ll stand so the board will know we want the park. Those who want will speak during Oral Communication at the beginning of the meeting to explain what our presence means. Our witnessing will show the Board how important the park is to our neighborhood and all of Alameda. They will see that the people want and need Estuary Park.
You’ll see more information about plans for the September Board meeting soon. You can also contact Joe Woodard of E.P.A.C. at jwoodard@best.com or phone (510)748-9811.
E.P.A.C. is trying to raise money to buy a portion of the land between Clement Avenue and the Estuary that has been offered for sale.
Citizens are not asking to get something for nothing. We don’t want to prevent anyone from making a living. Proposition 40 money remains. Hundreds of millions of dollars are available. Alameda can apply for a share to buy land for Estuary Park. We’re also applying to other similar funds, like the Bay Area Conservancy, which has 200 million dollars. Cultural conservation funds may be available because Estuary Park is also a historical site commemorating Japanese-American baseball, played there for decades. (See pictures of the commemorative plaque the City placed in front of the APT substation on Clement near the park land, on the web at http://www.alamedareport.org/epac/docs/atkplaque.html)
The Fox/Wright property between Clement Avenue and the Estuary has been offered for sale. We can buy that land for the park. A 100 foot strip along the waterfront is already publicly controlled by law. By combining the two intersecting strips, we can make the park a reality. We have to remind City officials that we need time to raise the money. We have to help them remind developers why balanced development is critically important for the well-being of everyone.
We have convinced planners how important it is to consider all elements of development, not just the need to cram the most number of residents on the island. The housing shortage in the Bay Area is critical. But badly designed housing won’t result in a better life for people who need a place to live. Inconsiderate development will only allow a few fortunate land title holders to maximize speculative profit, resulting—not from work and investment in buildings— but from our demand for housing in a limited space. Such development isn’t fair to either the community or the residents of the development. Board member Rossi said to Steward Gruendl of BayRock, the developer of the Dutra property:
I come from New York City, so I know what crowding is all about. ... It’s just plugged up, too many people and the space isn’t big enough. That’s what the issue is here. ...if you take people into consideration and recognize that when they pay their hard dollars to you in order to buy a piece of property that’s going to be in the four, five, and six hundred thousand dollar range, that they really should be given something beside just living inside of a space without anything on the outside except walls, and not even cars, and in some cases not even sidewalks, you know, this kind of thing. ...But you got to take Alamedans into consideration. It’s not just your land that you’re putting your buildings on. You got to think about the people who are going to be there. I don’t know how to get that across. We can’t shoot you. We can’t line you up and say, Hey, don’t do this, or, you know, you’re out of here. I think you just simply have to approach it from an entirely different standpoint of view in your own head.
Planning
Board member Rossi
Planning Board meeting 22 July 2002