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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

February 16, 2005

Supervisors back Plan C for limit line

The decision, which puts the board at odds with a few of the county's largest cities, comes toward the end of six months of difficult negotiations about where to draw the county's urban limit line.

The line is intended to keep home building and commercial projects corralled inside existing urban and suburban neighborhoods and thereby combat sprawl, protect open space and ease traffic problems.

"We need to continue to hold the line until such time as the infrastructure is in place" to support more growth, said Supervisor Federal Glover, who represents Antioch, Pittsburg and Oakley.

The county and its 19 cities are under the gun to come up with a new urban limit line plan as mandated by voter-approved Measure J. Starting in 2009, the $2 billion transportation bond will withhold millions of dollars for street improvements from any city that fails to abide by "a mutually agreed upon urban limit line."

To reach a countywide ballot, the new urban limit line has to pass muster with 75 percent of the city councils representing 75 percent of the county's population and four of the five county supervisors.

So far, the county board and cities from west and southwest contra Costa County have approved what's become known as Plan C. It was drafted by a coalition of business leaders, home builders and environmentalists.

Plan C fixes in place the current urban limit line but allows movement every 10 years if a review committee finds that there is not enough land inside the line for 20 years worth of residential and commercial development. Any changes would be subject to voter approval.

The plan "holds the line for now" so that traffic improvements linked to Measure J have time to take effect and provides "a real and rational process for changing the line," said David Reid of the Greenbelt Alliance, an environmental group that helped write Plan C.

Over the past several months, East County leaders disagreed on which of many plans to endorse.

Central County, however, appears to be leaning toward Plan B. That plan would allow some cities to move land within the urban limit line after a few specific road projects are complete. In Concord's case, the city could expand if the federal government releases control of about 1,600 acres on what's now the Concord Naval Weapons Station.

The supervisors' Tuesday decision to endorse Plan C puts them in direct opposition to several cities that proposed expansions of the line, most notably Pittsburg, Clayton, Antioch, Concord and Brentwood.

Brentwood Mayor Brian Swisher said that while critics are painting his city as greedy for land, the county actually has thousands of acres in three East County pockets that are inside the line but inappropriate for development. Brentwood is suggesting that the county place outside the line all of the property around the Byron Airport, Discovery Bay and Bethel Island.

More than any of the other cities, Brentwood and Antioch appear likely to abandon the process and go it alone if they can't win broad support for their line adjustments.

Any city can opt out of the countywide process to draw a line. If any do, however, they must propose their own line and win their own voters' support for it in order to collect all their Measure J money.

While she voted for the "hold the line" plan, Supervisor Mary Nejedly Piepho, who represents Brentwood, San Ramon, Danville, Byron and Discovery Bay, said the board still has a responsibility to try to work with the cities to reach a compromise.

"We must do all we can to keep every city at the table ... if this falls apart, then we've all failed," Piepho said.

Elected officials, environmentalists and business leaders from around the county will meet in Walnut Creek on Feb. 26 to try to find a compromise plan that can make it to the ballot.

Reach Kiley Russell at 925-952-5027 or krussell@cctimes.com.

SUMMARY OF GROWTH PLAN

PLAN C

-- Freezes the urban limit line where it is now.

-- Establishes five-year reviews of residential and commercial development inside the line by the City-County Relations Committee. If the county and cities are falling short of a 20-year supply of land for development, the committee will recommend changes to land use designations, policies and programs.

-- Establishes 10-year reviews of residential and commercial development. If the committee finds the county and cities are falling short of a 20-year supply of land, it will recommend changes to land use designations and/or expansion of the urban limit line.

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