MAC Approves Housing, Reviews Cityhood Report
Higher-density housing and the possibility of incorporation and cityhood were on the agenda at Monday night's lengthy Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council meeting. (MAC).
In land use business, the MAC approved an application to allow an 11-unit townhome development at 20036 Anita Avenue.
The project site is approximately a half-acre in the area and zoned for up to 29 units per acre. One of the 11 units will be earmarked for affordable housing.
“I realize this is an infill project, but we are squeezing a lot into a small area,” said MAC member Al Pardo.
The MAC said they understood the concern but that, ultimately, high-density projects will be a fact of life around town.
The developer is invoking the California Density Bonus Law, which provides incentives for affordable housing development. The density bonus is a state mandate, and the MAC can’t amend the approval to exclude the bonus. Without the density bonus, only eight units would have been allowable.
“I understand the state has a density bonus, but it’s hard when it is taking away parking,” added MAC member Chuck Moore.
As with many higher-density housing projects around town, neighbors on Anita Avenue expressed concern about parking and crowding.
“The parking issue is a problem,” said neighbor Angel Ortiz. “We’re always playing musical cars, trying to find a spot.”
The Anita Avenue townhomes will be a combination of one- and two-story units with attached garages and three-story townhomes with a ground-level garage and two stories above.
The MAC also unanimously approved a tentative tract map to subdivide a two-acre parcel at 19521 Center Street into four parcels and nine residential lots. The map will now go to the county Planning Commission.
The Center Street project has been in development for years, with approval granted back in 1991 for 12 residential lots, which lapsed. In 2016, a plan for 12 lots was considered but not approved.
The proposal would involve demolishing three existing residential buildings and removing 12 trees.
As with the Anita Avenue project, neighbors on Center Street expressed concerns with parking and traffic. Additionally, there were worries about sewage and water overflowing from the creek.
“This is room for growth, there is room for change, but you’ve got to stop shoving stuff down our throats,” said one speaker who said she was a 60-year resident of the street.
The MAC directed county staff to give them specifics about the creek and drainage issues when it goes to the planning department before approving the item for consideration at the county level.
LAFCO Report
Finally, the MAC heard the Alameda Local Agency Commission (LAFCO) report regarding a draft feasibility study about the potential incorporation of Castro Valley and its Eden Area neighbors.
Incorporation has long been a topic of conversation in Castro Valley, and the possibility of cityhood was on ballots in 1956 and 2002, only to be shot down by voters.
This time around, LAFCO commissioned a consultant to investigate three hybrid models for incorporation:
Castro Valley alone
Castro Valley plus Ashland, Cherryland, San Lorenzo, Hayward Acres, and Fairview
Ashland, Cherryland, San Lorenzo, Fairview, and Hayward Acres as a standalone city.
LAFCO Executive Officer Rachel Jones gave the MAC a brief rundown of the feasibility and fiscal analysis and said a final report from LAFCO will be out this fall.
The MAC seemed skeptical of a large-scale incorporation plan for the Eden Area and said they wished the various MACs in the area had been more involved earlier in the process
“I’m disappointed in the direction this has gone without our input,” said MAC member Chuck Moore.
MAC member Tojo Thomas was similarly wary.
“Mixing it all together and calling it a city… I don’t know if that’s appropriate,” said Thomas.
Public comment is open until September 11 at alamedalafco.org.