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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

March 13, 2005

County growth war building

With the appointment of David Piepho of Discovery Bay last week to the Local Agency Formation Commission, a more developer friendly majority has taken control of the board that governs city expansions.

The commission has, for the past five years, honored the urban limit line even though it is under no legal obligation to do so. Today, only two of its seven members fully embrace the existing line.

Meanwhile, talks have slowed to a near stop on the next generation urban limit line.

The cities and the county must have a line in place by 2009 and respect it, or forfeit their shares of road repair money in the half-cent sale tax that voters approved last year.

That opens a five-year gap to developers and cities with an eye on expansions.

It could help landowners such as Albert Seeno Jr., who owns vast acreage outside the line near Pittsburg; Ron Nunn, who has plans for senior housing near Brentwood; and the new owners of Roddy Ranch outside Antioch, who bought the land from bankruptcy court late last year.

RIDING HIGH: Piepho, an elected member of the Discovery Bay Community Services District, was selected by fellow members of special districts like Contra Costa Water, Moraga-Orinda Fire Protection and San Ramon Valley Fire Protection.

He won the seat with the help of influential lobbyist Tom Powers, also a former county supervisor.

Powers called special district representatives last week and urged them to vote for Piepho.

Piepho says he didn't ask for the help. Instead, Piepho lobbied hard on his own behalf, making numerous phone calls and appearances at district meetings.

He didn't need to ask.

Piepho describes himself as open-minded to environmentalists and developers, although he has publicly stated that he favors loosening the county's growth boundary.

And he supports Antioch's long-sought southeast annexation of Roddy Ranch, where the city wants to see executive housing around an existing golf course.

That's bound to please the ranch's new owners, Pacific Coast Capital Partners of Sacramento, Black Mountain Development of Pleasanton, and Castle Companies, a Bay Area builder. It will also brighten the prospects of dozens of investors that sunk $52 million into the beleaguered project.

INTERVENTION: Meanwhile, Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond has asked for a legal opinion that could effectively slam the LAFCO window.

According to Gioia's preliminary read of the sales tax measure, if 75 percent of the cities, four of the five county supervisors and the voters adopt a new countywide urban limit line in 2006, it would apply even to the remaining 25 percent of cities that refused to participate.

The uncooperative cities would have to pass a line of their own in order to override the countywide line.

If the interpretation holds, it would stop cities from delaying votes on their own urban limit lines while they pursue annexations.

WHEN PIGS FLY: That scenario assumes that county supervisors and leaders of three-quarters of the cities will ever cut an urban limit line deal.

Eastern and Central Contra Costa city officials meet Wednesday to hash out a possible counter-move to the supervisors' hold-the-line stance.

"We need to keep the county from picking us off one by one," said Clayton Councilwoman Julie Pierce. Clayton wants a measly 66-acre expansion of the line.

Ah, the sweet words of peace.

PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE: If the cities attempt to expand the urban limit line, environmentalists vow to beat them to the ballot and place a far more restrictive boundary before voters in November of this year.

The enviros agreed, along with homebuilders and businesses leaders, county supervisors and west and southwest Contra Costa cities, to a plan that would keep the line where it is today. But it would also allow expansions in the future if cities demonstrate a need for more jobs or housing.

"The possibility for expansions goes away if we put a line on the ballot," said Greenbelt Alliance spokesman David Reid. "That was a compromise."

Voters, get ready. We could see a growth war in this county unlike any that have come before.

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Lisa Vorderbrueggen writes on politics each Sunday. Reach her at 925-945-4773 or lvorderb@cctimes.com. You can also reach her through her on-line forum at www.contracostatimes.com. Click on "Talk to the Times."

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