On April 14, the Planning Board voted to recommend that City Council adopt amendments to the Universal Residential Design Ordinance to ensure that townhome-style developments are no longer penalized by accessibility requirements they physically cannot meet. The goal is to reduce barriers to townhome development.
The Board also voted to recommend that City Council approve new street names—Waves Avenue and Valor Avenue—to replace placeholder names on the final map subdividing City-owned land at Alameda Point in order to create lots for the RESHAP (Rebuilding Existing Supportive Housing at Alameda Point) and West Midway housing projects.
Universal Design Ordinance
The Universal Residential Design Ordinance supports housing needs for individuals with mobility difficulties or other functional limitations by ensuring new housing provides accommodations that allow independent living. There are two types of these accommodations.
Visitability accommodations apply to 100% of all new housing and focus on making critical portions of the home, such as a bathroom and common room, accessible to guests with mobility impairments. By contrast, universal design requirements currently apply to 30% of units in developments of five units or more. They focus on expanding access to more of the home within a reasonable range of abilities and disabilities.
Proposed amendments
Proposed amendments are being prompted by townhome developments, which often cannot meet all accessibility criteria because of their vertical design in which a garage occupies most of the ground floor. Historically, these projects have had to seek waivers from the Planning Board or leverage a density bonus to exempt themselves.
A key proposed amendment exempts small-scale projects of fewer than 10 units and less than 150 square feet of habitable space on the ground floor of each unit from universal design requirements. Such projects typically lack the flexibility to diversify unit types. It also exempts such projects of any scale from specific visitability requirements.
These projects would be exempt from accessible entrance requirements but would still need to provide blocking within walls to support the installation of grab bars and handrails in bathrooms. If there is ground floor open space, the builder must still provide an accessible path of travel to the open space. Also, the builder must still offer buyers the opportunity to purchase additional universal design features from a pre-approved list.
Exemption Matrix
These changes aim to reflect the City’s actual practice and respond to recurring waiver requests from townhome projects, creating a more predictable process for developers and encouraging the production of this type of housing.
Another key amendment splits waiver authority. The Building Officer would have jurisdiction over financial hardship and site constraint waivers; the Planning Board would preside over all other waivers, such as those necessary for design review approval.
Board discussion and vote
The Board recommended technical improvements, especially related to the waiver process. For instance, to avoid late-stage redesigns, they encouraged the early identification of hardship issues likely to lead to a waiver.
The Board unanimously voted to recommend that City Council approve the proposed amendments to the Universal Design Ordinance with their recommended changes incorporated.
New street names for Alameda Point
Staff requested to formally name two streets within the approved RESHAP (Rebuilding Existing Supportive Housing at Alameda Point) and West Midway subdivision at Alameda Point. RESHAP is an affordable housing project. West Midway is a market-rate housing, retail, and open space project. The subdivision was approved in December 2023, and site preparation is underway. However, two streets have placeholder names—Avenue A and Avenue B.
Following the City’s naming policy, street names at Alameda Point must reflect military and naval history. Staff proposed Waves Avenue as the new name for Avenue B and Valor Avenue as the new name for Avenue A. Waves Avenue would honor the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), the women’s naval auxiliary who worked at the former Naval Base during World War II. Valor would be a tribute to the area’s naval history.
The Board unanimously voted to recommend that City Council accept the new street names.
Contributing writer Karin K. Jensen covers boards and commissions for the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at https://linktr.ee/karinkjensen and https://alamedapost.com/Karin-K-Jensen.
