Federal suit aims to secure Alameda street through eminent domain
“The federal government has filed a lawsuit against the state of California and the East Bay Regional Park District in order to use eminent domain to secure McKay Avenue, the street leading to the Crab Cove Visitor Center that borders the site where a developer wants to build homes.
The lawsuit, which was filed April 17, follows federal representatives putting state officials on notice earlier this year that they believed developer Tim Lewis legitimately acquired the surplus federal property through an open auction and that McKay Avenue needs to be upgraded.
The approximately 1.4-acre street, which links Central Avenue with Crab Cove, needs to be acquired for the continual operation of the Alameda Federal Center at 650 Central Ave., as well as for “other related purposes of the government such as a sale of a portion of the property,” according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California.
The move by the developer to build homes on the approximately four acres of surplus federal property, which it acquired through a General Services Administration auction, has triggered community opposition, as well as a lawsuit by the park district over the city of Alameda’s decision to rezone the neighborhood as residential.
Known as Neptune Pointe, the property is located along McKay Avenue and west of Robert Crown Memorial State Beach. Park district officials want the property to expand Crab Cove and the beach.”
Hegarty, Peter. San Jose Mercury News 30 April 2014.