Home > Resource Center > In the News Home > Greenbelt Alliance in the News

Greenbelt Alliance In the News

February 26, 2005

Expansion of urban limits debated

Elected leaders, homebuilders and environmentalists to meet

Mayor Brian Swisher walked the unseen barrier one recent day, surrounded on one side by the few remaining bucolic hills he remembers from his youth and on the other by former orchards and cow pastures covered by rows of cookie- cutter homes.

Who knew something invisible would become the biggest headache of his young political career?

"It's such a nightmare," 33-year-old Swisher said.

That all-important barrier is called the urban limit line, and it surrounds Brentwood and every other city in Contra Costa County, defining the point beyond which they cannot grow. The line encompasses about 46 percent of the county's land.

It also is the heart of a contentious debate over how to control sprawl in one of the Bay Area's fastest-growing counties.

The question of expanding the line into the region's hills and farmland to make room for houses has brought name-calling and bitter nastiness, pitting politician against politician and neighbor against neighbor.

The heated dispute continues today in Walnut Creek when everyone from county supervisors and city leaders to environmentalists and home builders gather in hopes of ending the 15-year fight by finally agreeing on what to do.

Of course, no one really believes they will get that far.

"At the very least, I'm hopeful we'll have a conversation about it," said David Reid of Greenbelt Alliance.

There's a lot at stake, especially in east Contra Costa County, home to the some of the Bay Area's fastest-growing cities and longest commutes.

A final decision on the line will determine everything from how many more homes are built and what they're worth to how long residents will commute each day and where farmers can raise crops.

Some leaders like Swisher want to see the line moved to give Brentwood --

the second-fastest-growing city in the region and the state -- more room to grow in coming decades. Others, including all five county supervisors, want to wait for Caltrans to widen clogged roads like Highway 4 to catch up with current growth.

"Let's get the infrastructure in place that supports the growth and development before we move the line," said Supervisor Federal Glover, who represents eastern Contra Costa.

The county's population jumped 18 percent during the 1990s. The Association of Bay Area Governments predicted that 1,257,300 people will call the county home by 2030.

Other cities, including Pittsburg, Concord and Antioch, want to expand the line to take in about 6,300 additional acres.

Concord city leaders want to convert a portion of the Concord Naval Weapons Station into housing and a business complex complete with a shipping hub.

Pittsburg favors building high-end homes in the hills. Antioch wants to use property known as Roddy Ranch, which environmentalists say is a key reserve for wildlife, for executive housing.

In Brentwood, Swisher, who was raised in the once-sleepy city and remembers riding horses to friends' houses, identifies a recently tilled plot of land that he hopes to one day see converted to housing and industry.

The city has a two-year waiting list for some new homes and has built right up to the current boundary.

"If we stop building now, when the homes are already going for $810,000, imagine what they're going to be in 10 years," Swisher said. "If we don't keep growing, our kids are going to have no place to live."

Environmentalists, however, say cities should use the undeveloped land within their limits and redevelop tired downtowns before looking beyond the line.

"Let's use what we've got before we start asking for more," Reid said.

In the end, county voters will decide the fate of the urban limit line --

and, ultimately, how much sprawl they want to live with.

Brentwood farmer Tom Bloomfield, who grows wine grapes and alfalfa, would like to see the line moved, even if it could mean less farmland.

"I remember as a kid when you needed shoes, you had to go to Concord," said Bloomfield, 62. "Growing up like that, you tend to kind of revel in what we have here now."

Contra Costa's urban limit debate began in 1990, when politicians, environmentalists and landowners first fought to bring the issue before voters. In 2000, county supervisors readjusted the line. Cities, in turn, sued.

This time around, the county hired a consultant to mediate the discussions. To date, there are seven proposals for the line, ranging in title from Plan A to Plan Z.

County supervisors back Plan C, devised by a coalition of environmentalists, home builders and business leaders that leaves the line in place but allows adjustments every decade if there is not enough land for homes for the following 20 years.

Voters have until 2009 to decide on the limit line. If they can't, local governments would lose millions in transportation money owed to them through Measure J, a half-cent transportation sales tax passed in November.

Not willing to risk the loss, officials are already feeling pressure. They hope to place the issue on the 2006 ballot so they can bring it back to voters two years later if it fails to pass the first time.

If there is no mutual decision today -- or soon -- cities could draw up their own lines and ask voters to approve those instead of embracing a collective plan decided upon by the entire region.

"That's not what I recommend," said Don Blubaugh, hired by the county to manage the debate. "I'd like people to be a little more willing to budge."

E-mail Cecilia M. Vega at cvega@sfchronicle.com.

©2005 San Francisco Chronicle

###