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March 17, 2026 : Planning Board Talking Points
Alameda Marina Masterplan – Foundry (Wrap B) Housing Project
Item 7-C: Annual Reports on the Alameda 2040 General Plan/Housing Element
Good evening, Madame Mayor and City Councilmembers, Sean Murphy from Pacific Development and Alameda Marina. I am writing to emphasis the importance of building new housing in Alameda. The Alameda Marina masterplan, which was approved in 2019, consists of 801 housing units which include both for-sale townhomes and rental apartments.
The last phase of this master plan is a 260-unit ap artment project called Foundry which is truly shove l ready.
We have been working on this project diligently wit h our team and the City Staff so that we can start construction this summer. This past year was spent securing all the necessary permits from BCDC, Alame da County Department of Environmental Health and the City of Alameda.
The Foundry project is not a typical infill housing project. This project includes the development of significant Bay Trail improvements, environmental remediation (both fee simple and tideland), deep soil stabilization, sea level rise protection, adjacent commercial parking lot construction and important public open space.
Delaying this project would be bad for Alameda as w e desperately need to build more housing. Construct ion costs continue to increase; tariffs continue to inc rease and any delay to this project will only furth er increase construction costs.
• The total impact fees collected for the Foundry project will be as follows:
$4,757,705 City of Alameda fees
$308,252 Clement Ave Extension fee
$2,942,696 EBMUD fees
$1,426,224 AUSD fee
$9,434,877 Total Impact Fees
We are ready to start construction on the Foundry project now. We appreciate the partnership with the City on this important project.
Regards,
Sean Murphy
Partner
Pacific Development/Alameda Marina
Advisory Board
Denyse Trepanier
Board Chair
Brian Fowler
Treasurer
Tim Beloney
Secretary
Maria Piper
Board Member
Cyndy Johnsen
Board Member
Lucy Gigli
Founder, non-voting
Bike Walk Alameda is
fiscally sponsored by
Bike East Bay, a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization.
bikewalkalameda.org
March 16, 2026
RE: Item 7-C: Annual Reports
Dear Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft, Members of the Council, and Staff, This has been a banner year for the construction of much-needed safe streets projects in Alameda, and we want to extend our deep appreciation for the substantial progress that’s been made.
Your commitment—and the commitment of prior councils—to making Alameda’s streets safer for everyone is clearly paying off. Preliminary data shows citywide crashes are declining, and along corridors where safety improvements have been implemented, crashes have fallen by as much as 26–40%. While reallocating street space often faces a lot of pushback, and construction is often frustrating, the benefits in reduced injuries, safer travel, and improved quality of life are undeniable. We have a lot of work yet to do to achieve our Vision Zero and climate goals, but the trend is promising. We urge you to stay the course.
We would also like to comment on several specific items relating to the Transportation Annual Report.
Legislative Agenda
● E-bike/E-moto legislation. To meaningfully address the safety issue of teenagers riding e-motorcycles illegally on local streets and paths, we urge the City to support state legislation listed below. This approach is preferable to creating local regulations and diverting our limited police resources from the much more urgent threat of automobile-related injuries and fatalities (ie, failure to yield and speeding, per the Vision Zero Action Plan ).
○ SB 1167 addresses deceptive marketing practices that label overpowered electric motorcycles as “e-bikes.”
○ AB 1557 clarifies that the 750-watt limit for e-bikes refers to maximum motor power, closing a loophole currently exploited by some manufacturers.
● Save Bay Area Public Transit. Alameda supported SB 63 in 2025, which created a legal pathway for a regional transportation revenue measure urgently needed to sustain public transit across the San Francisco Bay
Area. The next step is qualifying this measure for the ballot. Known as Connect Bay Area , this effort would benefit greatly from Alameda’s continued support. Thank you to Michele Pryor for your public endorsement. We encourage other councilmembers to endorse the initiative as well. Visible support from local leaders will strengthen the campaign, build credibility, and encourage residents across the region to sign the petition needed to place the measure on the ballot. If there are other things our city can do to help, we hope you will consider them.
Red-Light Safety Camera Pilot
It may be that the planned red-light safety camera pilot for the Webster/Atlantic and Park/Otis intersections was not included in this report because the pilot is going to be managed by APD, but an update on this project would be welcome. Specifically, it would be helpful to get an update on the timeline for installation, and the go-live of warnings and citations.
Illegal turns on red and other dangerous intersection behavior continue to be a significant safety concern at these intersections.
Pavement Management Program
Although the Report does not yet include details of this year’s Pavement Management Program, we wanted to take this opportunity to comment on it.
We greatly appreciate how the program has evolved to incorporate improvements called for in our Vision Zero and Active Transportation Plans.
Integrating these upgrades into routine pavement work is a far more efficient path to implementation, and we hope this approach continues.
The restriping on Mecartney created challenges for both staff and elected officials, and the controversy has prompted discussion about how future improvements are implemented. While we welcome improved communication and a clearer delineation of authority, we caution against changes that would slow the process or subject projects to subjective debate before Council. Such a process risks enabling a small number of well-resourced constituents to delay or reshape projects to serve narrow interests.
The current structure supports systems-level planning rather than block-by-block decision-making. If we are serious about achieving our safety and mobility goals, maintaining that approach will be essential.
We wanted to close by reiterating our appreciation for all the great work this year, and offering a special heart-felt thanks to Gail Payne, and her many years of service making Alameda’s streets safer.
Sincerely,
Bike Walk Alameda
From: Aaron Clements
To: CITYCOUNCIL-List
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Comment for March 17th City Council Meeting - Re: Annual Report on Transportation Date: Sunday, March 15, 2026 2:59:01 PM
Dear Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Councilmembers,
As an Alameda parent with 2 children biking to middle school everyday on a busy local road (Grand St), I am acutely aware of both the progress we've made to keep pedestrians and cyclists safe, and the work left to be done. Both are demonstrated in the annual report on transportation that the council is reviewing on March 17th.
Only a single fatality was reported in 2025, which represents a meaningful improvement from previous years of multiple fatalities. However that pedestrian was killed by a driver at the same intersection at which another driver killed another pedestrian just a few years ago. (The intersection has not received any substantive changes since the previous crash.) That is an example of the sort of pernicious traffic safety problems that City staff and City Council must continue to direct time, attention, and budget toward solving.
However, the Strategic Plan that Council adopted in January is instead directing resources toward potentially wide ranging "e-bike safety measures." Having APD officers check the e-bike classification of students in parks and ferry commuters on trails would be a huge distraction from more impactful causes of traffic dangers.
Overpowered electric devices are a genuine problem. But to succeed, regulations need to be adopted at the appropriate level and involve all of the relevant stakeholders. If you want to take meaningful action on this topic, please direct city staff and the city's lobbying firm to support the following proposed legislation:
Senate Bill 1167, a bill co-sponsored by the California Bicycle Coalition that cracks down on the deceptive marketing and labeling of overpowered electric motorcycles as "e-bikes."
Assembly Bill 1557, a bill which "clarifies that the 750-watt limit applies to maximum motor power. The bill does not ban e-bikes or target responsible riders. It simply draws a clear, enforceable line between an electric bicycle and a motorized vehicle."
Carefully crafted solutions are needed at the state level to stop the sale of "e- moto" motorcycles and electric dirt-bikes to uninformed parents or directly to minors — that's exactly what's recommended in a recent report on e-bike safety from San Jose State's Mineta Transportation Institute. (That report was prepared at the direction of the state legislature to inform further state-wide legislative solutions.)
But as for the City of Alameda's finite resources for policy-making and for traffic enforcement, please keep staff and policies focused on what really matters most here: enforcement to ensure responsible driving by those behind the wheels of cars, SUVs, and trucks.
Please remove the proposed "e-bike safety measures" from this year's Council Strategic Plan, support state-level solutions, and continue to fund and focus on the critical goals and programs of Alameda's Vision Zero Action Plan.
Thank you for your time,
Aaron Clements