[CPEO-MEF] Renewed Hope & ARC Ecology Sue City of Alameda for Jobs Near Housing

[wjasmith@aol.com]

Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 10:33:55 -0700
Message-ID: <0.700000380.1348019856-951758591-956684035@topica.com>
Reply-To: wjasmith@aol.com
X-Loop: 700000380

April 22, 2000
 
 From Renewed Hope: For Publication Monday, April 24th
 Contact: Laura Thomas, (510) 522-8901
 
Two nonprofit organizations that are fighting to save former navy base 
housing in Alameda for use as affordable housing will file suit Monday in 
Alameda County Superior Court challenging the adequacy of the  environmental 
impact report on the Navy's transfer of  the former Naval Air Station 
property to the City of  Alameda. 

Renewed Hope Housing Advocates and Arc Ecology charge,  in the suit, that 
Alameda has failed to meet the requirements of the California Environmental 
Quality  Act by using an inaccurate base line date for studying  the 
project's impacts and then going on a "fishing expedition'' for whatever 
dates suited the city's  purposes in depicting impacts relating to housing, 
traffic, law enforcement and other key issues.

"They have really corrupted the process,'' said Tom  Matthews, director of 
Renewed Hope.  "If you are creating a picture of the project that is based on 
1990 for one thing, 1993 for certain things and 1997 for other things, you 
cannot figure out what the impact of the project is going to be."  Renewed 
Hope, an Alameda housing advocacy group, and Arc Ecology, a San Francisco 
organization that's a watchdog over base conversion, have joined forces to 
challenge the City of Alameda's plans to demolish 590 units in East Housing 
to pave the way for an upscale development.  

The suit, which names the City of Alameda and its redevelopment agency, 
targets the EIR passed March 21.  Known as the program EIR, it analyzes the 
city's acquisition of the 1,700-acre naval air station and  nearby Fleet 
Industrial Supply Center (FISC). 

Alameda's housing activists charge the city has largely ignored citizens 
concerns about the transfer of these properties plus plans by the Catellus 
Corp. to develop East Housing together with the FISC.  The EIR on this 
project is scheduled to be heard by the Planning Board May 13.  The 
destruction of the units at East Housing could occur by the summer. 

Renewed Hope and Arc Ecology hope the suit will force the city to address the 
housing problem in Alameda where many people, some long time residents, are 
being  force to leave by rising rents and housing prices.

Eve Bach, an economist for Arc Ecology, noted that city officials claimed 
that they cannot meet their share of regional goals for affordable housing 
and yet they are prepared to destroy almost 600 serviceable 3 and 4-bedroom 
units.  To do so without an adequate environmental analysis  "could do 
serious damage to the city," she said.

Renewed Hope has presented the city with a plan to  renovate the homes for 
sale as starter homes to working families and individuals at $125,000 to  
$162,000 with rented units going for $700 to $1,300.    

Catellus' proposal is to demolish the homes and build  a gated, 
suburban-style residential subdivision of 500 units priced at market rates 
expected to be over $400,000.  Renewed Hope asserts these homes will be too 
expensive for most people in the workforce range of $30,000 to $70,000.
 
The project has been criticized by the Sierra Club and nearby cities for 
adding to rather than addressing  the Bay Area's disastrous jobs and housing 
imbalance and commute-hour gridlock by creating jobs without adequate 
housing. Further, Renewed Hope says it will cause the gentrification of  the 
city's modest west  end neighborhood, a further loss of affordable housing  
and community character.

 "The redevelopment of Alameda Point will be one of  the largest 
redevelopment programs in the entire East Bay during the next 20 years. Let's 
ensure that it helps solve the jobs housing imbalance rather than force 
further sprawl into the county's open space,"  said William Smith, chairman 
of the Alameda County Planning Commission.
 
  
 Renewed Hope activists will be staging a public witness demonstration with 
signs and banners supporting East Housing from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday on the  
corner of Atlantic Avenue and Webster Street in  Alameda. 
 
 Contacts:
 
 Renewed Hope:
 
 Office:        (510) 522-2073
 Tom Matthews   (510) 231-3991 or 523-9681
 Michael Yoshii (510) 522-2688
 
 Arc Ecology:
 Eve Bach       (415) 495-1786 or (510) 524-1800
 
 Sierra Club:
 Toni Loveland       (510) 569-6503
 
 Attorneys:
 Scott Allen        (415) 543-9464



Bill Smith
WJASmith@AOL.com
Voice and Fax:  (510)522-0390


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