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Press Release

September 28, 2005

Contact:
Seth Adams - Save Mount Diablo, 925-947-3535, cell 925 381-0905

Local Environmental Groups Warn 'Don't Be Fooled' by Developer-Sponsored Initiatives to Widen the Urban Limit Line

Urge "NO" Vote on Measures P & K

Representatives of Save Mount Diablo, the Greenbelt Alliance, the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society and the Native Plant Society stood unified today in asking voters to reject Pittsburg's Measure P and Antioch's Measure K - both initiatives which would expand the Urban Limit Line to allow developers Albert Seeno and Castle Companies to build thousands of new homes in East County.

According to statistics prepared by David Reid, East Bay Field Representative for Greenbelt Alliance, Pittsburg's Measure P would expand the Urban Limit Line by over 2,000 acres to allow developer Albert Seeno to build up to 4,000 new houses on top of the approximately 4,000 houses already in the pipeline, but not yet developed. In Antioch, Measure K would allow Castle Companies to build 1,000 new houses, in addition to the 4,500 homes already approved by the City of Antioch, but not yet built.

"Residents are looking at 13,000 new houses in these two cities if these measures pass. That means tens of thousands more cars on the roads and highways," Reid stated. "East County needs real growth control, not developer land grabs in disguise."

Seth Adams, Land Program Manager for Save Mount Diablo compared the "battle for the line" to the traditional story of David vs. Goliath, saying "The developers will spend millions to fool people into voting for these phony growth control initiatives."

"We can't compete with the developers big bucks, but we know voters will see though their campaign propaganda - and to know that the developers' Measures P and K spell nothing but trouble for area commuters," Adams said.

Knocking door-to-door and in personal phone conversations with voters, the Sierra Club will unleash it's volunteer network to get-the-word-out about the traffic nightmare that Measures P and K will produce.

"Developers will spend a lot of money trying to convince voters that Measures P and K are good for East County," said Mike Daley, representative of the SF Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club.

"Don't be fooled by the slick developer campaign that's on its way," Daley advised Pittsburg and Antioch voters. "They are hiding more houses and more traffic behind promises of growth control. But the bottom line is that Measures P and K just mean more traffic for East County residents," Daley concluded.

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For 50 years, Greenbelt Alliance has been the San Francisco Bay Area's advocate for open spaces and vibrant places, with offices in San Francisco, San Jose, Walnut Creek, Fairfield, and Santa Rosa. www.greenbelt.org