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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

March 9, 2006

Never wanted to stop all housing

Letter to the Editor

Reporter Editor:

In a recent editorial The Reporter urged city planners to heed Councilman Steve Hardy's words about the need for affordable housing in Vacaville ("Affordable housing: Less costly developments should be priority," The Reporter, March 6). I could not agree more.

The editorial goes on, however, that "there remains a constituency that would have us halt all residential construction, regardless of price range." I'm not sure just to which constituency the editorial refers. The Friends of Lagoon Valley, of which I am a member, would halt only one thing: subdivision development in Lagoon Valley. We have never spoken out against residential construction in the North Village, Southtown, Villages on Vine, Portofino or any other local development. Only Triad Communities' proposed subdivision in Lagoon Valley. We're pretty much a one-issue group.

The Solano Orderly Growth Committee, of which I am not a member, would continue to halt rampant housing development in the unincorporated areas of the county, thereby maintaining some countryside in this once rural place. They would confine large housing developments to the cities and have encouraged infill development for both low-income and affordable housing. I do not believe they have ever come close to suggesting a halt to all residential construction.

The Greenbelt Alliance, of which I am no longer a member, would likewise halt unchecked urban sprawl and would encourage livable communities, which they equate to open space protection, affordable housing choices and good transit. I'm quite certain they have never urged a halt to all residential construction.

Not one of these groups would have Vacaville "halt all residential construction, regardless of price range," so I'm not sure where that particular comment is coming from.

Marian Conning, Vacaville

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