Just Say A.R.R.G. to Any Change

Following are highlights from a notice from Alameda Residents for Responsible Growth (A.R.R.G.), which claims to have obtained over 1100 signatures on petitions opposing the Evil Development on Harbor Bay Isle:

URGENT

TO ALL BAY FARM AND ALAMEDA RESIDENTS:

BE INFORMED * TAKE ACTION
The LAST Bay Farm shoreline VACANT LOT will be gone forever unless you act quickly.

The Alameda Planning Board has just approved construction of TEN Office Buildings totaling over 110,000 sq.ft. with an additional 150,000 sq. ft. of parking lot area on what is now a beautiful field of golden Centaurea solstitialis located on the bay, adjacent to the Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal.

WHY YOU SHOULD OPPOSE THIS PLAN

EXCESSIVE PARKING: The huge parking lot included in this project should be a clue that the project is expected to act as a magnet for relentless waves of speeding cars originating from outside Alameda. We all know that no-one actually uses the Harbor Bay Ferry, so don't try to tell us that public transit would mitigate the traffic.

LOSS OF OPEN SPACE AND WILDLIFE: Our beautiful Centaurea solstitialis preserve will be paved over. Precious Invisible Rabbit and Squirrel species reside amongst the hairy-leaved flowers, always hiding from those nosy, intrusive government biologists sent to count them, and we are concerned for their future. Will they have a future?

BUILDING DESIGN: Most residents surveyed say the proposed project is inappropriate and incompatible with nearby homes. Not a single hot-tub is included in the plans, whereas a majority of nearby residences include hot-tubs. The contrast would be jarring.

INADEQUATE PARKING: Planned parking is well below City standards which would force cars into the already-crowded Ferry parking spaces, where throngs of Ferry commuters arrive before 5:30 A.M. to jockey for coveted curb-side spots. If any of those commuters should arrive too late, and find both the Ferry lot and the pitifully meager Office parking completely full, they will immediately turn to a residential street, and end up parking in front of upstanding Alamedans' houses!

SECURITY AND CRIME: Walkers and joggers will face increased risks in the narrow spaces between buildings and the shoreline pathway. Scores of office workers will only be able to stare out their windows in horror as innocent victims, overcome with claustrophobia, are easily outrun by the shady characters who hang out under lamp-posts next to buildings down on the waterfront, speaking in their Brooklyn accents and sending many a concrete-shoe-clad victim to sleep with the fishes.

EVIL DEVELOPERS: We all know that no good can come of any development, because all developers are corrupt and greedy. They will stop at nothing to force badly designed projects on us, so must stop them before they can do anything. It is the only way.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW!

Join with Alameda Residents for Responsible Growth (A.R.R.G.) at 747-6844. We want to see this development (colloquially known as the Evil Development) redesigned and reduced to preserve all of the existing open space, and to result in no substantive change to our neighborhood. We like the place the way it is, so there is no way that any change could make it better.