Waterfront Visioning Process

The City  initiaed a proactive, community-driven planning process to develop a common vision for the future of the waterfront, when and if the racetrack were to  close. Per City Council direction, the City's Waterfront Committee took the lead on this visioning process, including recruitment and recommendation to the City Council for selection of a qualified environmental planning consulting firm to conduct the visioning process.

Request for Qualifications (RFQ) Process

In December 2007, a request for qualifications was sent out to approximately 25 local planning firms. A total of 4 qualifications submittals were received by the City. During public meetings, the City's Waterfront Committee reviewed the qualifications received and selected three planning firms to interview. Interviews were held in February 2008. The Waterfront Committee voted to recommend Fern Tiger Associates as the selected planning firm based on its qualifications(PDF, 8MB) . The next step of the process will be the preparation of a draft scope of work (revised 4/9/08)(PDF, 291KB) by Fern Tiger Associates and the Waterfront Committee.

Fern Tiger Associates has a history of working with non-profits, community organizations, public agencies, foundations and select corporate clients, creating projects dealing with public information and education, development, marketing, and community relations. Please visit Fern Tiger Associates website to learn more.

Scope of Work Development

The selected planning firm, Fern Tiger Associates, provided a draft scope of work (revised 4/16/08)(PDF, 291KB) for the Waterfront Committee to review in March 2008. Based on comments from the Waterfront Committee at their April 15th meeting, FTA submitted a revised scope of work (revised 4/16/08)(PDF, 296KB). City Council is scheduled to review this item at their April 21st meeting.

Public Participation

The Waterfront Visioning process was a community driven process. As such, public comment, participation, dialogue and community building were all extremely important to this process. For additional information about the future of the Albany waterfront email com-dev@albanyca.org or phone the Community Development department at 510-528-5760.