The push for transforming single-family-home neighborhoods into dense, multi-income communities continues in California as the idyllic Alameda is being forced to add more than 5,000 new homes between 2023 and 2031.
The small island city currently has a population of 78,000 and residents were angry at a recent meeting to discuss the proposal, required by state law.
Michael Marx has lived in Alameda for 38 years and said in a San Francisco Chronicle report that he worries about the traffic and the loss of his neighborhood’s character.
“We feel we live in paradise and we are fearful paradise will go away with these changes,” Marx said.
The Chronicle reported:
Every city in the state must put together a draft housing element that spells out how it will accommodate new homes. As part of the plan, Alameda officials are proposing allowing multifamily apartments throughout the city and are prioritizing placing denser housing on nearly 100 acres of shopping centers and near bus and ferry connections. They also are encouraging more accessory dwelling units behind single-family homes.
In the past, smaller cities including Alameda have ignored the mandates, bowing to resident opposition. But Alameda officials say this time the state will levy fines or withhold funding for city projects, like infrastructure, if they don’t plan for the required number of units.
Allowing multifamily buildings would undo a voter-approved City Charter from the early 1970s that prohibits these buildings. In 2020, city officials tried to convince voters to remove that element from the Charter with a ballot measure, but it failed.
The Chronicle reported that about 100 people attended the meeting at a golf course. A developer has submitted a plan to purchase the property and add 400 housing units to the nearly nine acres of the club.
Andrew Thomas, the city’s director of planning and building, said the golf course plan is separate from the state’s housing mandate but residents see it as part of a takeover of their community.
Thomas faced pushback from residents at the meeting.
“This sucks,” one woman said.
“What if there’s no room?” Another person said.
The Chronicle reported the city will hold another community meeting on June 9 and must finalize its housing element by the end of 2022.
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