Friends of Crown Beach (FCB), a group that opposes the plan to transfer land from Crab Cove to a private developer, filed a petition with the Alameda city clerk’s office Monday, Feb. 10.

The petition is classified as a "notice of intent to circulate petition." It reads, "Notice is hereby given by the persons whose names appear hereon of their intention to circulate the petition within the City of Alameda for the purpose of amending the zoning of the surplus federal property adjacent to Crab Cove." The group is trying to block the city from rezoning the land to residential.

The city has until Wednesday, Feb. 26 to review the petition and submit it back to FCB with any revision recommendations, according to City Clerk Lara Weisiger. If the city approves the petition and/or FCB makes the revisions, FCB will be able to strategize how they will get its initiative on a future ballot.

If FCB wants to have its initiative on the next general election ballot they would need to gather signatures from 10 percent of all registered Alameda voters within 180 days from when the city attorney hands them the approved petition, according to Weisiger.

If they want the initiative on a special election ballot, they would need to gather signatures from 15 percent of all Alameda voters within 180 days. There are about 41,000 registered voters in Alameda, according to Weisiger.

Three members of the organization were named in the petition: Douglas L. Siden, a representative on the East Bay Regional Park District board, Wai-Kuan Woo and Karin Lucas. FCB worked with Bradley W. Hertz of the Sutton Law Firm to create the appropriate language for the petition. Hertz drafted the language in the ballot measure that prevented the construction of homes on the Chuck Corica Golf Course.