City
of
Alameda
Planning
Board
2263
Santa
Clara
Ave.
Alameda,
CA
94501
Dear
Alameda
Planning
Board
Members,
This
letter
is
to
accompany
the
agenda
item
to
adopt
an
amendment
to
the
cannabis
ordinance
or
zoning
code
to
allow
cannabis
manufacturing
at
2421
Blanding
Ave.
About
Kiva
Confections
Kiva
was
founded
in
2010
with
a
clear
mission
-
change
how
the
world
views
and
uses
cannabis.
Frustrated
by
the
inconsistent,
low-quality
edibles
available
at
the
time,
a
young
couple
named
Scott
and
Kristi
Palmer
began
making
cannabis-infused
chocolate
bars
out
of
their
Bay
Area
home
kitchen.
The
Kiva
Bars
are
now
widely
recognized
for
setting
the
gold
standard
for
the
burgeoning
industry:
they
were
the
first
safe,
consistent,
and
lab-tested
edibles
in
California.
Today,
Kiva
has
grown
into
the
nation’s
number
one
edibles
brand.
Kiva’s
award-winning
chocolates,
mints,
gummies,
and
chews
are
the
most
trusted,
recommended,
and
sought-after
edibles
on
the
market.
Scott
and
Kristi
have
since
married
and
made
their
home
in
Alameda
,
where
they
are
excited
to
build
both
their
family’s
future
and
Kiva’s
–
with
the
potential
site
of
Kiva’s
headquarters
and
food
manufacturing
operations.
Kiva
Confections:
East
Bay
Grown
and
Growing
Kristi
was
born
and
raised
in
the
East
Bay.
Scott
and
Kristi
founded
Kiva
at
home
in
San
Leandro,
and
grew
the
company
to
a
national
brand
in
Oakland.
Kiva
has
spent
years
looking
for
buildings
in
the
East
Bay
that
are
suitable
for
their
expanding,
award-winning
business.
1 By
2018
they
were
currently
operating
in
three
cramped
locations
in
the
City
of
Oakland
that
they
had
long
outgrown.
When
Scott
and
Kristi
decided
to
make
Alameda
their
home,
they
became
inspired
to
move
their
business
to
the
town
they
fell
in
love
with.
For
the
last
two
and
a
half
years
they
have
worked
with
a
broker
to
identify
any
buildings
that
were
large
enough
to
grow
into,
with
a
landlord
willing
to
rent
to
a
cannabis
company.
With
rising
crime
and
an
unworkable
tax
structure
for
large
supply
chain
businesses
in
Oakland,
they
redoubled
their
efforts
to
find
a
location
in
Alameda
that
could
work
for
the
rest
of
their
business.
In
2019,
they
found
the
perfect
location
for
their
distribution
arm
on
North
Loop
and
have
been
operating
there
with
great
success
and
no
complaints
since
2020.
The
search
continued
for
a
large
enough
space
to
house
both
of
the
remaining
Oakland
manufacturing
facilities.
1 See
attached
list
of
Kiva’s
awards
(APPENDIX
A)
City
of
Alameda
Planning
Board
May
12,
2022
Page
2 ________________________________
The
building
is
large
enough
to
house
both
of
Kiva’s
manufacturing
operations
currently
operating
in
Oakland,
with
room
to
grow.
It’s
an
ideal
location
for
manufacturing
–
which
is
why
the
City
has
kept
the
North
Park
area
industrially
zoned.
Kristi
and
Scott
were
overjoyed
to
solve
the
most
difficult
part
of
the
equation
for
any
cannabis
operator:
a
location.
About
the
project
at
2421
Blanding
Ave.
In
or
about
March
of
2022,
Kiva
became
aware
that
the
building
at
2421
Blanding
Ave.
in
Alameda
was
being
offered
for
sale.
Kiva
moved
quickly
to
inquire
about
the
building
and
after
viewing
the
property
became
convinced
that
the
building,
with
a
bit
of
TLC,
would
be
the
perfect
location
for
Kiva’s
manufacturing
headquarters.
It
is
in
close
proximity
to
our
distribution
hub
in
Harbor
Bay.
Overall
Project
Scope
●
New
tenant
improvement
of
an
existing
building
to
be
used
for
Cannabis
Manufacturing
and
distribution
(roughly
85,000
SF).
The
building
is
currently
vacant,
but
previously
housed
a
cement
and
aggregate
manufacturing
facility.
○
Number
of
People
Onsite
-
Employees
are
staggered
to
mitigate
pressure
on
neighborhood
or
traffic.
■
While
400
jobs
will
be
moving
from
Oakland,
Kiva
does
not
anticipate
having
more
than
60-75
people
on
site
at
any
one
time.
○
Truck
Trips
-
Both
incoming
and
outgoing.
■
Kiva
plans
to
electrify
their
fleet
of
vehicles
leaving
the
2421
Blanding
site
to
reduce
emissions.
They
anticipate
5-10
truck
and
van
trips
per
day.
●
Improve
the
exterior
building
and
surface
lot
so
that
it
is
clean
and
cohesive
with
the
character
of
the
neighborhood.
This
includes:
○
New
paint
that
aligns
with
the
approved
colors
provided
by
the
municipal
code
○
Repair/Removal
of
damaged
building
elements,
removal
of
blighted
existing
conditions
○
New
design
elements
on
the
building
facade
such
as
entrance
canopies
are
to
match
the
design
and
character
of
the
building
and
neighborhood
and
meet
city
municipal
code.
○
Surface
parking
lot
improvements
to
include
new
landscaping
and
planting
islands
to
exceed
the
minimum
requirements
of
the
municipal
code.
○
New
security
profile
with
the
intent
being
to
provide
security
without
being
overt
or
noticeable
to
the
public.
Physical
security
measures
will
include
well-lit
parking,
cameras,
and
24hr
manned
security
personnel.
○
Installation
of
state
of
the
art
odor
mitigation
and
ventilation
system,
to
ensure
there
will
be
no
detectable
smell
outside
of
the
manufacturing
facility.
The
City’s
appointed
and
elected
officials,
however,
would
need
to
take
action
for
the
project
to
move
forward.
City
of
Alameda
Planning
Board
May
12,
2022
Page
3 ________________________________
Adopt
an
amendment
to
the
Alameda
Cannabis
Ordinance
or
Zoning
Code
to
allow
for
cannabis
use
at
2421
Blanding
Ave.
1. The
Need
for
a
Zoning/Code
Change
When
the
City
of
Alameda
wrote
their
Master
Plan
for
its
industrial
zones,
the
California
voters
had
not
yet
adopted
Proposition
64 to
legalize
cannabis
in
the
state.
And,
more
importantly,
the
City
had
not
yet
adopted
a
cannabis
business
ordinance.
When
the
City
did
adopt
a
cannabis
ordinance,
most
of
the
focus
was
on
retail
uses
and
where
they
should
locate,
as
those
are
the
most
competitive
licenses
available
and
the
public
facing
ones.
However,
in
doing
that,
the
City
precluded
supply
chain
businesses
from
many
industrial
zones.
2421
Blanding
Ave.
is
one
of
those
zones
where
a
cannabis
supply
chain
business
would,
but
for
a
single
ingredient
in
their
process,
be
an
ideally
suited
use.
The
current
zoning
is
NP-MM
(North
Park
Maritime
Manufacturing),
which
allows
light
and
heavy
industrial/manufacturing
uses
by
right.
The
City
of
Alameda
provides
for
the
ability
of
the
City
to
adopt
a
zoning
change
or
code
amendment,
“whenever
the
public
necessity
and
convenience
and
the
general
welfare
require
such
amendment.”
(Ord.
No.
535
N.S.
§
11-171;
Ord.
No.
1277
N.S.).
The
City
offers
three
mechanisms
for
achieving
that
change.
Amendment
of
this
article
may
be
initiated
by
one
(1)
of
the
following
methods:
a.
The
petition
of
one
(1)
or
more
property
owners
affected
by
the
proposed
rezoning,
which
petition
shall
be
filed
with
the
Planning
Department.
b.
The
City
Council
on
its
own
initiative,
who
shall
refer
its
request
to
the
Planning
Board
for
action
pursuant
to
this
section.
c.
The
Planning
Board
on
its
own
initiative.
(Ord.
No.
535
N.S.
§
11-172;
Ord.
No.
1277
N.S.)
The
Findings
for
a
Zoning
Modification
At
such
hearings
the
Planning
Board
shall
weigh:
a.
The
effect
of
the
proposed
amendment
on
the
integrity
of
the
General
Plan;
b.
The
effect
of
the
proposed
amendment
on
the
general
welfare
of
the
community;
and
c.
The
equitableness
of
the
proposal.
a.
The
effect
of
the
proposed
amendment
on
the
integrity
of
the
General
Plan
The
integrity
of
Alameda’s
General
Plan
would
not
be
affected
by
approving
this
simple
zoning
allowance.
It
creates
jobs,
brings
a
new
industry
to
the
City
and
customers
to
a
hurting
downtown
corridor,
is
environmentally
sensitive,
and
improves
the
public
facing
portions
of
the
building.
All
goals
of
the
General
Plan.
b.
The
effect
of
the
proposed
amendment
on
the
general
welfare
of
the
community
City
of
Alameda
Planning
Board
May
12,
2022
Page
4 ________________________________
The
general
welfare
of
the
community
will
not
be
impacted
negatively
by
allowing
Kiva
to
occupy
2421
Blanding
Ave.
There
is
a
professionally
designed
state
of
the
art
security
plan
that
will
make
the
facility
safe
and
will
be
unimposing
to
the
general
public.
In
fact,
the
proposed
voluntary
tax
structure
and
the
building
improvements
stand
to
benefit
the
general
welfare
of
the
City
and
its
residents
greatly.
c.
The
equitableness
of
the
proposal
Without
the
baseless
concerns
over
cannabis
manufacturing,
this
would
be
a
simple
AUP.
And,
in
all
likelihood,
a
slam
dunk.
The
idea
that,
somehow,
cannabis
manufacturing
is
detrimental
to
the
community
while
other
similar
uses
are
not
is
solely
based
on
old
tropes
that
were
a
cause
of
the
iniquities
resulting
from
the
“War
on
Drugs.”
For
manufacturing
and
zoning
purposes,
cannabis
is
one
ingredient
in
the
confections
Kiva
makes.
2421
Blanding
will
be
transformed
into
a
state
of
the
art
food
manufacturing
facility.
This
use
brings
an
enormous
economic
benefit.
It
is
consistent
with
the
general
plan,
the
goals
of
the
City
of
Alameda,
and
the
redevelopment
of
the
blighted
buildings
in
the
North
Park
Zone.
Allowing
for
this
zoning
change
is
a
more
equitable
application
of
the
City’s
zoning
code
than
the
current
zoning.
Kiva
Meets
or
Exceeds
Local
Standards
in
the
Following
Areas:
Local
Hire
Kiva
has
a
voluntary
Local
Hire
Plan.
2 Additionally,
because
Kiva
is
moving
from
Oakland,
no
jobs
will
be
lost
as
the
workforce
is
already
local.
Kiva
will
also
enter
into
an
MOU
with
Alameda
Point
Collaborative
for
hiring.
One
of
the
reasons
Kiva
is
so
keen
on
securing
a
site
in
Alameda
is
that
it
will
ensure
retention
of
its
current
workforce.
Most
of
whom
are
local,
and
many
of
whom
have
been
with
the
Company
since
the
beginning.
The
makeup
of
the
proposed
work
force
will
be
diverse
and
include
everything
from
entry
level
packaging
jobs
(paying
above
minimum
wage)
to
C-level
roles.
Environmental
Benefits
Kiva
plans
to
fully
electrify
the
fleet
of
vehicles
that
will
be
operating
out
of
2421
Blanding
Ave.,
and
commits
to
using
these
zero
emission
trucks
for
transporting
products
for
short
haul
trips
within
the
Alameda
city
limits
to
reduce
greenhouse
gas
emissions.
They
will
also
install
and
maintain
electric
automobile
and
bike
charging
stations
adjacent
to
the
premises
if
the
City
agrees.
Economic
Benefits
Kiva
will
be
moving
approximately
400
jobs
previously
in
Oakland
over
the
bridge
to
Alameda,
agreeing
to
a
local
hiring
plan,
and
entering
into
an
MOU
with
Alameda
Point
Collaborative
for
hiring
new
positions.
The
new
addition
of
people
in
the
downtown
corridor
is
a
desperately
needed
customer
base
for
Alameda’s
small
businesses,
restaurants,
and
other
services.
As
Kiva
grows
in
the
next
few
years,
so
will
the
local
economy.
2 See
Local
Hire
Plan
(APPENDIX
B)
City
of
Alameda
Planning
Board
May
12,
2022
Page
5 ________________________________
Additionally,
the
proposed
renovation
budget
is
over
$10MM
and
would
provide
quality
jobs
and
opportunities
to
local
tradespersons
and
businesses.
More
importantly,
Kiva
intends
to
make
the
City
of
Alameda
its
national
corporate,
manufacturing,
and
distribution
headquarters.
Given
the
nascent
stages
of
the
cannabis
industry
and
inevitable
federal
legalization
would
materially
change
the
trajectory
of
services
and
infrastructure
projects
in
the
City.
In
Closing
Kiva
would
love
the
opportunity
to
grow
a
new
Alameda
family
business
that
will
provide
significant
new
revenue
to
the
City
of
Alameda.
This
project
represents
a
mutually
beneficial
proposal
for
the
businesses,
their
neighbors,
Alameda
Point,
and
the
City
as
a
whole.
We
look
forward
to
working
with
City
officials
and
staff
to
make
this
project
something
that
we
are
all
proud
to
have
in
Alameda.
Sincerely,
Kristi
and
Scott
Palmer,
Kiva
Confections
CC:
Andrew
Thomas
Planning
Director
Gerry
Beaudin
Acting
City
Manager
Lois
Butler
&
Lisa
Maxwell
Economic
Development
Department