At the 5/31/23 CB Committee meeting with the BPDA’s new Planning Director, Aimee Chambers, we stressed the following two points:
1. the CSHCA wants Comprehensive Planning for the 10k housing units and 7m sq ft of commercial space we’re seeing and
2. we want the Community Benefits funds from these huge developments to “mitigate the adverse impacts of large developments on the local community”, not affordable housing in general.
Our message was clearly heard. In follow-up discussions, however, a message got muddled. It was stated that the BPDA could, and should, use some of the Community Benefits money to fund Comprehensive Planning. That message was challenged by some of us and really left unresolved. The Planning Director may have left the meeting unsure of where the CSHCA is relative to using CB money for Comprehensive Planning. I ask that the E Board discuss this (ie our position on using CB money for Comprehensive Planning) at our upcoming E Board meeting (6/13/23). We should all be on the same page.