Joe Montana may be a savvy multi-tasker, but he is not an expert on the effects of gas-burning turbines on the regional air basin — and didn't pretend to be this morning.

It was Montanarama in Hayward today as the Hall of Fame QB gave a pep talk at Cal State East Bay to a business summit crowd that included these folks:

And what, someone asked, did the retired football star think about the proposed gas-fired power plants that so many Haywardites love to hate? According to a reporter who was there (see his full story tomorrow), he answered:

"I'd have to defer that question as I don't know much about it."

Fair enough.

If you've been by Bayfair Center lately — and, hopefully, you have — you might have noticed that the food court is getting a makeover.

That's exciting news, judging by the fact that for years the food court only had about three restaurants and an awkward layout.

A Madison Marquette executive told me a few months ago that this was going to happen, and that the food court restoration was part of the mall's larger plan to make over the interior of Bayfair — just like the mall has been redone on the outside.

The new food court vendors haven't been disclosed yet, but look forward to a fall 2009 reopening.

The gate debate going on at Woodland Knolls, which we covered today, raises a more general question about city planning.

Should city governments be promoting or discouraging the creation of gated communities in their midst?

Woodland Knolls' Durham Way (photo of one of its homes at left) is a private street, though it used to be a public one. Proponents and opponents of the security gate there are gearing up to present their opinions to the Hayward Planning Commission tomorrow. And if you're really interested, you can see some of their written comments, petitions and a blueprint for the gate in this 102-page PDF.

But we're wondering what you think about gated communities generally. Do they improve or decrease real estate values? Do they work at reducing crime? What are the costs, or benefits, to the community as a whole? And what is government's role?

Here are a few of the highlights from the City Council work session Monday night on dredging the San Leandro Marina and choosing a master developer for the shoreline area:

In describing the scope of the work required for the city to begin dredging, Uche Udemezue, the city's engineering and transportation director, said the marina's conditions have worsened since the Army Corps of Engineers last dredged the two-mile federal channel. The reason: siltation. Which means the city would have a lot more material to remove if dredging took place, which also means the costs could grow to an even larger amount.

We were hoping we would just have to spot-dredge areas, but siltation is so widespread that that opportunity is lost.

City Manager John Jermanis later went on to say that the capital improvements needed at the boat harbor could get expensive. The harbor needs $10 million in improvements that the city can't pay for right now, he said, but the city could borrow money from the state and take on an additional $600,000 debt per year.

However, he said, the city does have $2 million in the bank to pay for relocating the small boat ramp. And the city intends to keep that service available for as long as it can, he added.

He also said revenue generated from the golf course, restaurants and hotel are all being used to subsidize the harbor operations.

But the costs associated with removing dredged spoils from the marina if it were dredged could basically trump any new endeavors the city wants to pursue out there, he said.

If it weren't for the dredging costs, we would be able to go forward.

Councilman Michael Gregory said he really didn't see how the harbor could sustain itself with all the costs involved. He said outright:

It doesn't look too sustainable.

Of course, there were people on both sides of the spectrum who spoke in favor of and against dredging.

Heidi Finberg, former San Leandro Chamber of Commerce CEO, said the reason the boat harbor had such a low occupancy rate was not solely because of dredging; it's because the city hasn't been advertising the marina properly. (The former Blue Dolphin restaurant still shows up in ads about the marina even though the place has been closed for decades, she said.) She also said boats are "scattered" throughout the marina because services are not consolidated, and the channel markers are not maintained.

Let's improve our own housekeeping instead of letting it go derelict.

A Folsom resident said people from outside of San Leandro only come to the marina because it is the southernmost part of the bay to launch a boat, so he didn't want to see the harbor close. His big idea: adding corporate sponsorship to the marina.

But longtime resident Howard Kerr didn't want to see dredging continued, and he urged the council to get something else started because the indecision is "keeping the community upset."

I want to see the boat harbor closed and developed into the first-class facility we've been waiting for for 20 years.

And, finally, Councilman Bill Stephens:

What I'd like to see is something happen. I'd like to see our jewel polished ... so that everybody can come to it. I'd like to see what the dreammakers [the potential master developers] can bring back to us, and I'm not so concerned with the color of the paint.

Click here for more insight.

Mayor Tony Santos mentioned something today at his monthly "Coffee with the Mayor" session that I've never heard before.

As he was fielding questions from residents at Mission Bay mobile-home park (a retirement community) about dredging at the San Leandro Marina, he said he feels people are now pretty much evenly split on whether the City Council should go forward with dredging the yacht harbor and two-mile federal channel, a process that now costs more than $5 million.

He also said he thinks an "anti-dredging" movement has begun to gain momentum, and that it is being led by Robert Leigh — a former Washington Manor Homeowners Association president who recently suggested in a letter to the editor that the boat harbor should be converted into a recreational lagoon so that the city could spend the money on other projects, such as fixing roads or completing the senior center.

(Note: This idea has been suggested before, and it is being looked at by the City Council Shoreline-Marina Committee as an alternative to dredging if the city decides to no longer pursue that process.)

City officials gave some more details Tuesday about the firms who have turned in proposals to be selected as potential master developers for the 40-acre shoreline area at the San Leandro Marina.

The city has stated before that the companies were selected because of their potential to bring mixed-used development to the marina, and because of their experience with waterfront development and working in public-private partnerships.

One of the developers, DEW Partners, was dropped from the city's list of potential candidates because officials determined it lacked development experience.

Officials also announced that the city is hiring a consulting firm to help with the financial aspects of the selection process.

So here are the candidates:

• Porto Bello Development Co., a major master developer throughout the country that is most known for its hotel project in the Pismo Beach area (San Luis Obispo County).
• The INNISFREE Cos. and Lanikai Management Corp., which developed the Tiburon Marina and San Leandro's Creekside Plaza.
• California Coast, which developed the Cabrillo Marina in San Pedro (Los Angeles Harbor).
• Madison Marquette, owner of Bayfair Center.
• Barry Swenson Builder, a popular San Jose developer.

The city of San Leandro just this week released the results from a survey conducted to gauge how many voters would potentially support a bond measure to pay for dredging and maintaining the San Leandro Marina yacht harbor.

The results were not surprising: San Leandro residents would not support a bond measure for the marina, the survey concluded.

What was surprising (or not, depending on how you look at it) about the survey were residents' responses to what they felt were the city's true priorities.

Ironically, the potential closure of the harbor was of the least importance.

It seems the survey didn't provide the city with any solutions for saving the 45-year-old boat harbor. Meanwhile, officials have been working on other plans to develop the shoreline recreation area, if the city decides it can no longer dredge.

Now that the survey is done, what else do you think the city should be doing?

So there is this church in San Leandro, Faith Fellowship, that has been asking the city since last year to allow it to move into a vacant industrial building.

To this day, the church has been getting the same response from the city: Sorry, you're not zoned for a house of worship.

The church sued the city and has been in litigation in federal court to get that industrial building. Whatever the outcome of the situation, it should be one for the history books because never in the history of San Leandro has there been a church that wanted to move into the industrial area of town.

So I thought it would be nice to provide a timeline of the series of events that have transpired since the church first began its quest.

Here's what has happened:

2005: Church leaders realize the congregation at Faith Fellowship has swarmed to more than 1,500 weekly attendees and that the church has outgrown its sanctuary at 577 Manor Blvd.

May 19, 2006: The city receives an application from Faith Fellowship to rezone the former MDL building, which has sat vacant for months, after church leaders meet briefly with city officials to discuss buying the property.

January 2007: Faith Fellowship purchases the former MDL building.

March 19, 2007: The City Council approves a newly created assembly overlay district, which rezones 13 potential sites in commercial and industrial zones comprising 197 properties throughout the city. Faith Fellowship is not included in the overlay district.

May 1, 2007: The assembly overlay district goes into effect.

April 12, 2007: Faith Fellowship's rezoning application is heard by the Planning Commission and denied.

May 7, 2007: Faith Fellowship appeals the Planning Commission's decision to the City Council. The denial is upheld.

July 12, 2007: Faith Fellowship sues the city in federal court, claiming the city's denial of the church's rezoning application violates the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). The church asks for a preliminary injunction allowing it to occupy the industrial building it purchased.

Sept. 5, 2007: A federal judge temporarily denies Faith Fellowship's request to get a preliminary injunction, essentially siding with the city.

Dec. 6, 2007: The Board of Zoning Adjustments holds a public hearing after Faith Fellowship submits a conditional use permit to the city to allow the church to move into the former MDL building. This time, on the grounds it operates "entertainment activities," a legality in the city's zoning code that says assembly uses are allowed in industrial areas. The conditional use permit is denied.

Some quotes from Tuesday night's marathon "mini-loop" battle at Hayward City Hall that didn't make the paper:

"They're waiting for two weeks, the night the crematorium will be before you."
–Frank Goulart, on why more of his Prospect Hill neighbors aren't out in force to protest the loop

"I brought a midnight snack, thinking this would be a long meeting."
–Jerry Feiger, who also earned the night's first round of applause (9:46 p.m.) for bringing a prop showing the loop as two funnels attached together at the wide ends. In another words, a bad idea.

"I'm getting a little punchy. It's getting late."
–Councilman Bill Quirk, about 11:08 p.m.

"It was very quiet. It had jack rabbits."
–Councilwoman Doris Rodriquez, describing the Hesperian Boulevard of years past

"It would be hard to change California."
–Councilwoman Barbara Halliday, because California has so many cars

"This doesn't create any more pavement. We're not going to be widening any roads."
–Councilman Kevin Dowling. (except for where they're widening roads and laying down pavement?)

"It seems to me that Hayward has a problem making decisions. We need to make decisions."
–Myrna Truehill, former school board trustee

"Let's stop talking about traffic in Hayward if we're never going to do anything about it. Another 40 years is a long time, people."
–Betty DeForest, who some decades ago joined the first class-action suit to stop the Foothill Freeway

"This is one of the positive aspects of the project."
–Public Works Director Bob Bauman, showing landscaped gateways. Wait: There are negative aspects?

"I don't understand why you want to barrel traffic through Hayward."
–Elie Goldstein, owner of Kraski Nutrition store

"I will survive longer than Bob will, or Jesus."
–Rudy "the Cobbler" Grasseschi, on how the loop is a terrible idea but not because it will ruin his 75-year-old shoe business. He is referring to loop architects Bauman and Jesus Armas (former city manager)

"I will survive."
–Jesus Armas, responding (in speech, not song). Later, he placed a cup of Gatorade on the photo-projector to make a half full-half empty argument. While artful, he and Feiger both appear to have violated the "No food or drink" rule in council chambers. Full disclosure: I once ate a cookie there

"I probably should have stayed at home."
–Sherman Lewis, who successfully sued to stop the Foothill Freeway

Mayor vs. Mayor:

Former Mayor Roberta Cooper: Says council must be "bold," show leadership, support "dynamic" project, and if they don't, "you may not be on the council" after the next election.

Current Mayor Mike Sweeney: Voting against the project Tuesday, he said on Wednesday that he rejected advice of "one of the least popular former officials" in Hayward. Says: "I think her threatening council members really didn’t go very far ... I think most people feel better off without her support than with it."

Politeness award goes to:

"I know you all have the best interests of the city in your heart."
–Marlene Herndon, of Herndon Chiropractic (she's just not too thrilled about that loop, she says)

It seems as though more and more megachurches — those churches, usually Protestant, with congregations of 1,500 or more — are becoming business-minded these days.

This is according to a recent New York Times article that reported how an increasing number of large churches across America have become catalysts for economic development in their local cities, defying the age-old notion that churches don't contribute financially to cities because they don't pay taxes.

This got me thinking about Faith Fellowship Church, a megachurch here in San Leandro that has been locked in a battle with the city to move into an industrial-zoned building. The city blocked the church from moving into the building for several reasons — the main reason being that city officials want to preserve San Leandro's future tax base.

The church contends that it fully Read the rest of this entry »