pages: PlanningBoard/2007-01-08.pdf, 13
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PlanningBoard | 2007-01-08 | 13 | 11. STAFF COMMUNICATION: a. Status Report on upcoming Public Forum related to Measure A and Alameda Point. The public hearing was opened. Ms. Jean Sweeney noted that she was dismayed at the amount of support she has seen for overturning Measure A. She believed that issue should go to the voters, and she would not like to see further public sessions in pursuit of that goal. She believed that overturning Measure A would increase the density in Alameda, which she opposed. She did not want Atlantic Avenue widened to eight lanes, which would greatly impact entrances to the Tube. Ms. Diane Lichtenstein, representing Homes, believed the recommendation was to fold the forum into the station area plan that would come before the public soon. She believed that would not be the best way to approach this issue. She noted that Ms. Woodbury's memo based the station area plan on transportation and transit orientation. She believed the conceptual development plans with and without Measure A would be discussed as well. She believed that if Measure A was folded into the community forums as a discussion point, it would dominate the purpose of what the station area plan was, which was to discuss transportation and transit, not Measure A. She requested that the Board go forward with the proposal to hold a forum, and noted that it had been three years since the last forum at Kaufman Auditorium. She believed it would be fair to hear the public's views on such a hot issue, especially since many things had changed since then. Mr. David Howard objected to the use of MTC funds to explore non-Measure A-compliant alternatives. He also objected to the Measure A forums being combined with the station area plan discussion, and also objected to the existence of the Measure A forums in general. He was concerned that a study of a non-Measure A-compliant alternative as proposed may eventually undermine Measure A. He did not believe that was a good use of funds, and did not want it to become a backdoor way to undermine Measure A. Ms. Helen Sause, representing Homes, complimented the Board's plans to schedule a hearing on the impacts of Measure A across the City, not just Alameda Point. She believed it was important to separate this hearing from the work that will be done by WRT in analyzing the transportation development alternative for Alameda Point. She noted that it was encouraging to allow people to speak about the impacts of Measure A. She was concerned that linking it with the transportation study, that polarized positions would result, and added that no one was suggesting eliminating it. She believed that citywide, people deserved to have the chance to speak their minds about the possibility of modifying Measure A. She hoped the issue could be discussed civilly. The public hearing was closed for Board discussion. Member Mariani believed that while the speakers had opposite points of view, they did agree that the discussions should not be held together in a combined forum. Member Cunningham did not believe the issues could be examined effectively without considering Planning Board Minutes Page 13 January 8, 2007 | PlanningBoard/2007-01-08.pdf |