Excerpt:

The City Council voted Wednesday to approve an exclusive agreement with Alameda Point Partners to negotiate a deal to develop a 68-acre waterfront town center at the former Naval Air Station, despite opposition from residents who think the lame duck council should wait and let the new council decide.

“This is a tough decision. But stalling is not the answer to a tough decision,” Vice Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft said.

Council members, who voted 5-0 to approve the agreement a few minutes after midnight Wednesday, said they needed to respect the two-year public process they’ve engaged in to develop a plan for the Point and select developers to fulfill it – a process they said demonstrated the public’s interest in their plan to redevelop Alameda Point.

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Mayor-elect Trish Spencer and Councilman-elect Frank Matarrese both asked the council to delay the decision, saying they should have the opportunity to give input on the agreement when they’re seated in a few weeks instead of waiting until a completed development plan and agreement come back to the council for approval.

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Ott said that the city is pausing an effort to select a developer for a second, 82-acre site where a corporate campus is anticipated. She said neither of the developers the city is negotiating with is willing to offer money upfront for roads and utilities, as Alameda Point Partners has done.