The District brought forth the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) at the August 27th Board meeting.  Newspaper ads were placed in both the Alameda Sun and the Alameda Journal on two occasions.  Notices were mailed to the homes surrounding the perimeter and beyond of the Wood Middle School campus.  The public comment period was from August 28th to October 6th.  During the comment period, staff received 27 emails and phone calls.  Of the 27 comments, 4 were opposing the project.  The reasons stated included: increased noise and traffic, increased use of the fields, decreased quality of life, and lighting up the night sky.  The District conducted a public hearing on September 23rd.  Comments received at the public hearing were in support of the project. 

The MND prepared by the District’s CEQA consultant addresses the comments and finds the impact of the project to be No Impact or Less Than Significant Impact.

The CEQA report and MND set the outer bounds of the permissible after-dark use of the fields. The District will separately work on a joint use agreement with Alameda Little League which will set out the actual use of the fields within those limits. To the extent possible, the joint use agreement will also attempt to respond to the concerns of community members.

Staff recommends the Board approve the proposed MND.