More than 100 people tuned into a Wednesday night community forum — Zoom style — with Principal leaders of the Southern Land/Nimitz/HOK Mare Island redevelopment team.
The Nimitz Group purchased 500 acres of land on the island in 2019 and brought in Southern Land as master planner last year, when they also began talk of developing the north end of the island as well. Their vision appears to be a mixed-use development full of parks, shops, housing, bike paths, a school, and a whole lot more. It’s the “lot more” that inspired opinions from many of the listeners.
Residents once bit by the $1 a year lease given to previous owners Lennar have been twice shy to trust a new development company after Lennar was accused of failing to deliver on much of its small investment. Hackles were further raised when City Manager Greg Nyhoff was accused of doing too much negotiating behind the scenes with the developers.
“Southern Land is something unknown, and to be honest, is actually not well-trusted,” said resident and Realtor Diana Lang, who said she has been very involved in following local development deals and “cares deeply” about Vallejo.
“There are some disagreements about communication with Greg Nyhoff and how things have been handled,” she said. “So I’m just saying to you, your biggest asset is communication to be as transparent as possible. And to continue this open conversation I think is invaluable.”
Another hot topic was an amended term sheet about the development of North Mare Island that dropped late last year — with controversial deductions and additions, all adding to the public’s demand for more transparency and communication. The city has said that the term sheet is nonbinding and is merely a map of sorts that the Vallejo City Council can use in its final OK. Needless to say, many community members want to remain in the loop.
Enter the 2021 community forums, which the companies say they want to hold every month.
On board on Jan. 27 from Southern Land were President Thomas D’Alesandro, Vice President of Development and Construction Andrea Jones, and Vice President of Marketing, Sheryl McKibben. HOK Design Firm Director of Planning Brian Jencek was also logged on and did most of the pre-question talking as he went over what ideas and plans the team had put together so far.
Jencek, who can only be described as jocular, gave an hour-long presentation outlining information and trajectories for the project that were culled from prior input from the community, he said.
The project is still very much in its infancy, with only a few large concepts about the space’s proposed impact coming to the fore: Nature and the built environment, community and people, economic development, and mobility, transportation, and connectivity. Both Southern Land and HOK said they were committed to preserving Mare Island’s natural beauty, bringing jobs and opportunities to the area, facilitating greater connectivity between Vallejo and its island, and thinking long-term into its future once we are all gone and our children and grandchildren live here as adults.
President D’Alesandro spoke a bit about his company’s philosophy, which he describes as “place-making.” He also defended Lennar, which he said had done quite a bit of development remediating by dealing with addressing problematic soil, buildings, and other not-so-sexy projects that added up to $200 million.
“The fact is, we are where we are today in large part because the Navy, Lennar, and others who worked hard for over two decades to make it possible to remake Mare Island,’ he said.
He described the current project his company was tackling as “the most complex site” he’s worked on, adding that the project is really hundreds of projects that will evolve into a four-decade juggernaut.
Many of the questions posed to the group were really ideas — will we have an area where people can purchase land to build homes on? What’s going to happen to the golf course? Will there be an urban farm?
Most of these were met with “We don’t know yet. We are considering it.”
Other questions and comments delved deeper into the issues. Joe Feller of the Sierra Club was concerned about traffic mitigation, bridges, and Highway 37 issues, which Jones said they were certainly taking into consideration but had not yet begun to tackle.
Participant Robert Brekke said he hoped that the developers got it that Mare Island is an “iconic” place. He praised the imagination and vision of Nimitz buyer Dave Phinney, but wondered why he doesn’t seem to be involved anymore.
“I’m pretty deeply disturbed that I don’t hear much from him,” he said.
D’Alesandro assured Brekke that Phinney was still on board. He said at this point Nimitz is the landholder, not the designer.
Myrna Hayes was next up and people were anxious to hear what the Director of the Mare Island Heritage Trust had to say.
Being a passionate advocate for the island and having an especially vested interest in its nature, Hayes also brought up talk of the wetlands and the addition of nature trails.
“I’ve seen a lot of talk, heard a lot of talk, talked to Dave Phinney himself, about ‘Oh, we’re going to connect all these amazing trails together and have the Bay Trail here and the Bay Trail there, and anywhere and everywhere the Bay Trail,’ she quipped. “I just want to point out that it took the restoration advisory board community members seven years … to build the San Pablo Bay Trail.”
Hayes said they seem like they are on the right track but she hopes that they will ask for the input from her and others who are stewards of the area.
McKibben and D’Alesandro both responded warmly to Hayes, especially when she offered up her partnership capabilities, saying they welcomed her expertise.
Finally, Vallejo native and self-described activist Anne Carr joined in, stressing the importance of job creation.
“I’m a little concerned that there was more emphasis put on residential concerns versus employment concerns,” she said. “I don’t want us to lose the fact that Mare Island’s main role in Vallejo prior to the Navy leaving was as a jobs generator. If nothing else, if you could bring employers and jobs to the community, that would really help.”
There’s no set date for the next community meeting, but one is expected in February.
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Mare Island developers hear out community - Vallejo Times-Herald
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