CEQA — the California Environmental Quality Act — is being weaponized against a wide range of organizations and institutions across Alameda Island.
The lawsuit against the Alameda Food Bank is getting the most attention at the moment. Here's an Alameda Post dispatch from this week's packed City Council meeting, including an informative interview with the city's planning director and a hilarious interview with local historian Dennis Evanosky regarding the "historic parking lot" (to quote one of the CEQA lawsuit plaintiffs).
Simultaneously on the other side of the island, Councilmember Trish Herrera Spencer has issued a "call for review" of a use permit issued by the city to a new preschool facility on the East End. Among her claims as reasons to review (and potentially revoke) the permit issued by the city's zoning administrator:
The project approval is not compliant with the California Environmental Quality Act.
The Planning Board will meet on Monday, Sept 23 to hear this review. The other plaintiff behind the Food Bank lawsuit has submitted multiple letters to the Planning Board in opposition to this use permit for a preschool way over on the East End.
If Councilmember Herrera Spencer is not satisfied with the outcome of that meeting and the Planning Board's vote, my non-expert understanding is that she also has the right as a councilmember to call it for review again by City Council.
I previously blogged [edit: link fixed!] about how Natel (a long term tenant out at Alameda Point) successfully navigated a "call for review" for a use permit by both Councilmember Herrera Spencer and Vice Mayor Daysog. After the matter eventually reached City Council, a majority of City Council members approved the use permit (and even Vice Mayor Daysog relented). Only Councilmember Herrera Spencer voted against Natel's ability to make use of the facility that the company already owns outright. But it turns out Natel hasn't actually been able to proceed with their work...
According to the Alameda Post article about the most recent City Council meeting, those same two local litigants who are suing the Alameda Food Bank also filed a CEQA lawsuit against Natel. In the worlds of Natel's chief operating officer:
“Petitioners seem to believe that they can derail publicly approved, much needed projects without fear of repercussions,” he added. “They are setting a disturbing pattern by first going after Natel and now the Food Bank. If left unchecked, this trend will erode the civic and economic health of the city.”
As a side note: If one supposed this opposition against scientific employers and jobs at Alameda Point may be because Councilmember Herrera Spencer wants the city to still prioritize the beverage businesses along Spirits Alley, recall that she voted multiple times against leasing a vacant city-owned building to a new craft whiskey distiller earlier this year.
What's Councilmember Herrera Spencer's goal? What are the two litigants trying to accomplish? Who knows... In any case, it sure looks like an awfully large cross-section of Alameda — from parents looking for a spot in a preschool for their children, to scientific employers trying to deliver on their contracts, and to new businesses wanting to expand into the market of Alameda — that all feel the consequences.