Albany Waterfront

As you probably know, there's a proposal underway to develop a huge shopping mall complex on the Albany Waterfront near Golden Gate Fields.

Prefer to see more waterfront that is primarily open space with habitat restoration and recreational access, and modest development set well back from the water's edge instead of an other mall?

Here's your chance to help.
Citizens for the Albany Shoreline, Committee for Eastshore Parks (CESP) and the Sierra Club are working on a Citizens’ Planning Initiative to Protect Albany’s Shoreline. They just met their goal and turned in 2,400 signatures to the Albany Registrar's office for verification, qualifying the initiative for the November 2006 City of Albany ballot.

The initiative requires that the City Council create a Citizens' Planning Committee to develop a Specific Plan to guide the conservation and development of the Albany shoreline. The initiative would also establish a set of shoreline protection policies to guide the waterfront planning process.

Now comes the hard work of reaching out to the voters and getting them informed on the issue. To volunteer:

Some see track plan as bad bet for Albany, Effort would create new urban zone
San Francisco Business Times - April 28, 2006
by Steve Ginsberg

Solano Avenue in Albany has the look and feel of retail America in
the 1950s. It's a long street with many mom-and-pop stores where
parking is mostly at the curb and there isn't anything close to a 16-
screen multi-plex or a big-box superstore.

Los Angeles shopping center developer Rick Caruso has a different
vision for Albany's future. He wants to convert 45 bayfront acres at
Golden Gate Fields racetrack into 450,000 square feet of upscale
shops and restaurants. His plan includes 150 apartments, a 25,000-
square-foot YMCA and a large parking structure. He describes his
$300 million plan as "romantic." >>read more