Initiative to increase multifamily housing goes down to defeat

An initiative to throw out a 1973 law that banned multifamily apartment buildings in much of the East Bay island community of Alameda went down to defeat Tuesday, as a majority of the electorate voted against allowing more density in the city of 78,000. Measure Z was behind 59% to 41% with all precincts reporting.

Proponents of Measure Z argued that the restrictive law — passed as Measure A and codified into law as Article 26 — is “exclusionary zoning” aimed at preserving the largely white suburban fabric of the city by restricting apartments that would have made it possible for Alameda to become more racially and economically diverse. The measure “trampled our capacity to make housing more affordable, accessible and inclusive,” proponents of Measure Z stated in the official voter guide.

While Alameda has adjusted the regulations to allow for multifamily housing on some big waterfront parcels, like the 1,200unit development at former Navy facilities at Alameda Point, much of the city — especially downtown infill housing sites — has not been available for new housing.

Opponents of Measure Z said the old law — a response to the demolition of historic Victorian homes in the Bronze Coast neighborhood as well as towers proposed for Bay Farm Island during the late 1960s and early 1970s — has preserved the soul of the familyoriented city, preventing it from becoming a collection of waterfront highrises.

The hotly contested ballot measure divided the closeknit community. Critics said it would lead to traffic jams and the obliteration of the smalltown charm. Proponents, which included Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft and all but one of the City Council members, countered that more housing would make the city more affordable and diverse, and would help businesses recruit employees.

City Councilor Tony Daysog, who led the opposition to the measure, said that the vote reflected a concern with the fact that Alameda is an island community with limited development and density capacity.

“At the end of the day we are an island first and foremost and we need something like Article 26 to control growth,” he said.

Mayor Ashcraft called the results “very disappointing” and said that the Yes on Z side didn’t succeed in making the argument that the city could comfortably adapt to growth.

“We had an important message to carry about how Alameda is going to help solve the housing crisis, but I don’t think we did a good job of explaining how Article 26 constrains us from building more multifamily housing,” she said.