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Greenbelt Alliance In the News
August 8, 2007
Piepho defends
study beyond urban limit line
Developer proposes
193 homes in Tassajara Valley
Jordan M. Doronila
Contra Costa County's approval to study a development
of 193 homes
outside the urban limit line in the Tassajara Valley, east of
Danville, has sparked a wave of controversy.
But District 3 Supervisor Mary N. Piepho maintains the study is for
clarifying county policy.
"It doesn't change the urban limit line," Piepho said. "It doesn't
do
anything to (it)."
FT Land LLC of Hillsborough proposed a study on developing 193 homes
in 770 acres of land east of Danville and San Ramon - beyond the urban
limit. The developer's New Farm project entails building homes in
clusters while keeping agricultural land. The study will cost
approximately $1 million.
The urban limit line was passed last year to protect anything beyond
the border from development and retain open space. Nonetheless, the
supervisors voted 4-1 on July 24 in favor of the study for the New
Farm project. Supervisor Susan Bonilla of Concord, representing
District 4, dissented.
"This is a clear attempt to break the urban limit line by finding a
loophole," said Christina Wong, East Bay field representative for
Greenbelt Alliance, a Bay Area nonprofit group dedicated to protection
of natural areas and farms.
"There is a huge amount of money to be made by breaking the urban
limit line," she added. "Developers are finding loopholes to find
ways
to break the urban limit line."
"To me, it's astonishing," she added.
Wong noted on Tuesday morning the supervisors were considering
changing the urban limit line for a proposed development in El
Sobrante, but they voted against the plan that day, Aug. 7. She said
residents who showed up had affected their decision.
Piepho said she agreed to the Tassajara Valley study because she aims
to understand county policy in clear terms.
"From my view, I'm asking a question and buying an answer," she said.
" We are looking at it from a policy perspective. We want to define it,
and we're doing it at someone else's expense."
Piepho said she needed to know if the study's findings comply with
the county's general plan, which involves development. She also said
the developer's proposal offers efficient land use for farmers by
clustering the homes.
"It's not easy as black and white," she said. "There are little
nuances. Frankly, I have to look at it. We aren't interested in
development."
"The board needs to look at their overall policies regarding the
urban limit exceptions and defining the developing issues around the
urban limit line," Bonilla said. "I feel that we need to have a clear
policy position of what we are going to do going forward."
She noted that her dissenting vote two weeks ago demonstrated her
concern about the developer's project influencing policy. The study,
which involves an environmental review, may take 18 months before it
goes back to the public, she said.
"We need the public to be aware," Wong said. "We need residents
in
Danville and San Ramon voting. We need the community to be involved."
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