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I met with Jim Meeks this past Thursday regarding the Neptune Beach/McKay property next door.
It was a meeting mostly related to the lawsuit and the progress they are making with the project and the legal process.
The Parks Department has filled a challenge to the project and the bidding process.
For the Board's information here are summaries of the conversation topics.
Sale of Property: Tim Lewis Communities will be closing on the property and own it. When Jim outlined the bidding process and what transpired with the GSA (General Services Administration), Regional Parks really was not in the running. Lawsuits: We reviewed the history of the lawsuits. It is a bit of a wacky trail. The State threatened a suit because the City of Alameda needed to update their housing element of the General Plan. The City complied and updated that element and thereby avoided a State takeover. Thus the McKay property ended up with the current zoning. Now the Regional Parks have hired an attorney and sued the City. State/City/Parks suing each other? Maybe take the attorney fees and do some work to improve the point????? Density on the Site: The site plan proposed by Tim Lewis will still have 48 units the low end on the General Plan density allowed on the site. That number is being challenged by the Sierra Club and an organization called Homes. They are requesting a higher density (around 90 units) on the McKay site in order to cluster housing and prevent urban sprawl. This is something our Community needs to look at and decide what our position might be re the increased density. Homes have indicated through the grapevine that they would like to meet with us. Environmental Impact Report: Tim Lewis Communities will be doing an environmental impact report even though it is probably not required by CEQA. There will be public hearings and we can comment. As Gene knows, a preliminary report on hazardous materials had already been done and was fairly clean. It will address the aging sewer lines and other important items. Formal Meeting with Crown Harbor: Jim will be scheduling formal presentations to the neighborhoods. If we would like one he will schedule a meeting for Crown Harbor. I saw some of his early presentation materials and I would recommend that we take him up on his offer. Meeting with Parks: I did not meet with the Regional Parks people. I stopped by and tried to make some contacts; but then did not follow-up. To meet with them regarding the use they might have seemed like a waste of time. They did not win the bid and are not owners of the property. The Board did like the idea, but I would still like to meet with them re the trash and the 8 ft. fence. The fence was not approved and is an eyesore. I think all of that stuff along the path is detrimental to our property values.
So, once again, Jim has kept us in the loop on the project. I appreciate that!
Dave
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