Excerpt:

The outpatient clinic and columbarium, plus a regional VA benefits office, will take up about 112 acres.

The rest of the site will be wetlands and a wildlife refuge to protect the endangered California least tern as it migrates along the California coast.

“I think this is a great project,” Alameda Planning Board member Ron Curtis said Monday, when the board gathered public comment for a draft Environmental Impact Report. “It’s an honor for Alameda to have this project on its (former) base.”

Construction of federal facilities by federal agencies is typically exempt from local land use regulations and review. But the VA wants to build an access road that would connect with West Red Line Avenue and two storm drains across city property, prompting the need for an EIR.

As a federal project, however, it will not come before city officials for design approval, said Allen Tai, a planning services manager with the city.