Residents press council on license-plate readers, tobacco subcommittee follow-up and development notice rules

Several residents used the public-comment period at the June 2 meeting to raise three distinct issues: the city's use of license-plate-reading cameras, the status of a tobacco-sales subcommittee, and neighborhood notice procedures for development proposals.

Brian Martin said he had emailed the council about recent media reports concerning Flock license-plate-reading cameras and asked what the city is doing to ensure data are not shared with outside agencies or used across state lines. He requested a policy explanation and more information at a future council meeting. The city manager responded during the meeting that, per city policy, the city does not share the camera data for immigration enforcement and that the use is localized and governed by the staff report and council record that authorized the cameras.

Milen Michael, a junior at Albany High School, asked the council to reengage the subcommittee created a year earlier to explore ending tobacco sales in Albany. Milen said students have remained involved and want the subcommittee to report back. The city manager replied that Alameda County Public Health is conducting a public-opinion poll on tobacco control that the county had agreed to produce, and staff would coordinate with the city subcommittee to obtain results.

Dr. Steven Alpert urged the council to justify Albany's reliance on the state minimum notice radius of 300 feet for new construction, arguing that other California cities use wider notice areas for larger projects and that narrow notice "limits public discourse." He cited the 1600 Solano Avenue five-story project approved in 2022 as an example of limited notices and community concern. Council member Jordan read part of a letter from YIMBY Law during later discussion, cautioning that any policy that varies notice by project type could risk fair-housing violations under California Government Code section 65008 and could invite costly litigation.

Why it matters: The comments touch on municipal transparency (data sharing for automated license-plate readers), civic processes for health policy (tobacco-sales subcommittee), and public-notice practices for land-use decisions'all procedural issues…