On July 28, the Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted to recommend greenhouse gas emission reduction targets of 15% per capita below 2005 levels — exactly the level that Greenbelt Alliance and our allies suggested. This was a huge change from their initial suggestions of only a 3-5% reduction.

MTC’s recommendations are intended to guide the California Air Resources Board as it sets final statewide targets by September 30, 2010, as required by state law.

Commissioners who voted YES:

Dean Chu – Santa Clara
Ken Yeager – Santa Clara
Adrienne Tissier – San Mateo
Sue Lempert – San Mateo
Jake Mackenzie – Sonoma
Steve Kinsey – Marin
Chris Daly – San Francisco
Tom Bates – Alameda
Ann Halsted – San Francisco

Commissioners who voted NO:
Jim Spering – Solano
Bill Dodd – Napa
Amy Worth – Contra Costa
Federal Glover – Contra Costa

Commissioners who were not present:
Scott Haggerty – Alameda
Dave Cortese – Santa Clara
Jon Rubin – San Francisco

After offering a conceptual endorsement to the project in Fall 2009, Greenbelt Alliance’s Compact Development Team (CDT) voted to give The Ohlone of San Jose, mixed-use, transit-oriented 650-unit development, a full endorsement this July.

Situated on vacant land, The Ohlone project would be located along West San Carlos and Sunol Streets in San Jose.  The city is still reviewing the plans, but if approved, the project will provide new housing, retail and commercial space, access to buses and light-rail, and walkable streets and plazas to a transitioning area of San Jose.

The Ohlone will be constructed directly adjacent to a future light-rail station on the Vasona line in midtown San Jose and is within a short walk to many other transit options including VTA Bus and proposed Bus Rapid-Transit service. The project is also located within a mile of San Jose’s Diridon transit station, which services both Caltrain and Amtrak and is a future stop on the proposed California high-speed rail. With this level of service, The Ohlone is set to be the premier housing option near what will become one of the most important transit interchanges in the Bay Area.

Along with building a dense mixed-use development, the developers will dedicate a 4-acre parcel to open space, creating a park that will directly link the project to the Los Gatos Creek Trail. This transformation will provide the community with the green space that it sorely lacks, creating even more amenities in the public realm.

Concerns about the design previously brought up by the first CDT review were quelled by alterations made in the plan by Steinberg Architects, who offered a more appealing, versatile and open environment that interacts with the surrounding community.

Before the developers can begin construction, the City Planning Commission and City Council will review plans for The Ohlone this fall. Greenbelt Alliance hopes the review process will be expedited with the help of the CDT endorsement.

~John Fisher, sustainable development intern
Greenbelt Alliance

As expected, the San Ramon City Council voted 5-0 on Monday to place an item on the November 2, 2010 ballot that expands the city’s urban growth boundary to include 1,624 acres of the Tassajara Valley, opening the area for major development.

What surprised everyone was the amount of community members who came to show their opposition. The meeting room was packed and 15 of the 16 speakers urged the council to protect the Tassajara Valley by leaving the boundary in place. The Councilmembers also read emails urging them to “hold the line.”  The opposition’s participation was particularly important in shaping the press coverage, which will be critical to winning voter support in November.

Get involved in the campaign against urban growth boundary expansion into the Tassajara Valley. Become a fan of People Opposed to Developers Breaking San Ramon’s Urban Growth Boundary on Facebook. (Just click on “I like this.”) Fans can stay updated on the campaign and share information with other supporters and volunteers.

A legal review released July 1 shows that the proposed 185-unit “New Farm” project in the Tassajara Valley near San Ramon would, if approved, violate numerous local laws and policies. The legal review was conducted by Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP, one of the most respected land-use law firms in California, on behalf of Save Mount Diablo and Greenbelt Alliance.

The analysis finds the project is “inconsistent with numerous provisions of the (Contra Costa County) General Plan, including provisions adopted by voter initiative. Therefore, it would be unlawful for the County to approve the Project as proposed.” It also concludes that approval of the “New Farm” project would violate Measure J of 2004, making the County ineligible to receive its return-to-source portion of the half-cent sales tax for transportation projects authorized by the measure.

Far from a credible development proposal, the project is being advanced by development consultant Tom Koch and his client, foreign speculator Samir Kawar, as a scare tactic to convince San Ramon voters to expand the city’s urban growth boundary.  The driving force behind failed Measure F in Brentwood, Koch is no stranger to land-control scare tactics.

“The Koch-Kawar proposal is a lot of sound and fury, signifying that sprawl developers want to scare San Ramon voters,” explained Senior Field Representative Matt Vander Sluis. “Developer Tom Koch tried the same dirty tactics earlier this month in Brentwood with Measure F. Voters knew they were being manipulated. They understood their quality of life was at risk and overwhelmingly rejected Measure F. Sadly, this fall, Koch is at it again, even though residents have repeatedly supported protection of the Tassajara Valley.”

On Monday, July 19, the San Ramon City Council will vote on whether to approve the urban growth boundary expansion — key to the success of the “New Farm” development — in General Plan 2030. After the Council’s (expected) approval, the voters will have to approve the General Plan in the November 2010 election.

This November Santa Rosa and Cloverdale can set some good boundaries.

City councils in both Sonoma communities voted this week to put urban growth boundary measures on the November ballot. The measure in Cloverdale is especially notable because Cloverdale is the only Sonoma city without a voter-approved urban growth boundary, a policy tool which curbs sprawl. In Santa Rosa, the urban growth boundary ballot measure is a renewal of the existing boundary which corresponds with the updated 2009 General Plan.

The Cloverdale City Council voted 4-1 in favor of the boundary. In Santa Rosa, the Council voted unanimously, 7-0, in favor of the urban growth boundary measure renewal.

Thank you to all the great residents of Cloverdale and Santa Rosa who spoke for the urban growth boundary at City Council meetings and emailed City Councilmembers to urge them to support the boundary!

Stay involved with the campaign through November by visiting srurbangrowthbonudary.org or emailing Greenbelt Alliance Field Representative Amanda Bornstein.

Wednesday, the Cloverdale City Council decided to delay the vote on the urban growth boundary to a special session on Monday, June 28.  The reason: Council directed city staff to adjust the language to protect the agricultural use of the north and west sides of the Asti Winery.

The City Council agreed that no one wants to see wants to see a strip mall or a hotel in Asti, but Councilmembers did want to preserve the “tourist commercial” zoning in order to retain jobs and businesses.  Council asked staff to adjust the language to keep expanded uses within the “historic winery/vineyard” category.

For more details, read the Press Democrat’s coverage of the June 23 meeting.

Thank you so much to those who came out on Wednesday! Council definitely listened to our requests, but we need to have a presence at Monday’s meeting. Please come to the June 28 meeting to reiterate our position to Council. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. (not 6:30!) and the urban growth boundary is the first item on the agenda [PDF].

On June 2, the Cloverdale planning commission voted in favor of the draft urban growth boundary. This is great news because the planning commission took our requests into consideration. Commissioners sent the draft urban growth boundary back to staff to add:

1. Language that supports no new development in Rains Creek.
2. Stronger language that dictates how the Western Hillside land will be secured, protected, and managed.
3. Tighter zoning in the Asti exception area, which could require the existing buildings and uses to remain the same because of their historic importance to the community.

We’ll keep you posted on developments with the urban growth boundary language, but the planning commission’s vote in favor is a big step toward protecting Cloverdale’s character and open space.

Now the City Council has to vote in favor on June 23!

You can’t get a break in the open space protection business.  You defeat one measure and soon enough another, ahem, develops.

Amongst other campaigns, our attention is now turned to the Tassajara Valley, a natural gem in Contra Costa County, that provides important habitat for rare and endangered wildlife as well as recreational and aesthetic open space.

Powerful developers are pushing Contra Costa County officials to approve a 193- unit housing development in the Tassajara Valley called “New Farm,” a cleverly marketed subdivision plan that is not a farm. They’re also mobilizing a campaign in November to convince voters in San Ramon to expand its urban growth boundary to include the northern part of the Tassajara Valley in the city limit—making it vulnerable to substantial urban development.

The area targeted for the “New Farm” development lies between Danville and San Ramon, and the proposal attempts to skirt the County’s requirement to protect areas outside the urban limit line from urban uses. The County has begun processing the application for “New Farm,” and the environmental review process is expected to begin this summer. If the project is approved, it would break the line, opening the door to further development in the Tassajara Valley and setting a dangerous precedent.

The second tactic is even worse. If San Ramon voters approve the expansion of the city’s boundaries to encompass the same area, the amount of inappropriate development that could occur within this recklessly expanded city limit would dwarf the size of “New Farm.” Both of these efforts reflect a significant gambit to test the strength of Contra Costa’s urban limit line and residents’ commitment to directing growth into cities by maintaining the lines they’ve drawn.

If the developers are successful, Tassajara Valley’s natural beauty will be lost forever—as well as the other values the land provides, including clean drinking water and a home for wildlife. Nearby communities would be snarled in traffic, creating longer commutes and more global warming pollution. And it would put many other currently protected lands at risk, as developers feel emboldened to undermine more voter-approved lines and push for more poorly planned development on our farms and natural areas.

If you are interested in getting involved with the campaign to stop this land grab in the Tassajara Valley, contact Senior Field Representative Matt Vander Sluis.

Victory! On June 8, Brentwood voters soundly rejected Measure F, the urban limit line expansion that would have sacrificed 740 acres of valuable agricultural lands to sprawl. With 100% of precincts reporting, Brentwood voted down Measure F 57-43%.

“This vote underscores a commitment to protect farmland and to put new growth in its proper place—within existing cities and towns,” says Jeremy Madsen, Greenbelt Alliance Executive Director. “And it sends a message to sprawl developers to respect voter-approved boundaries that protect open space.”

The Measure F defeat was a hard-earned victory.  Measure F opponents were outspent 35 to 1, and Brentwood residents were inundated with glossy Yes on F campaign mailers for weeks before the election. “David won by handing out flyers and talking to neighbors while Goliath spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a slick misinformation campaign,” says Matt Vander Sluis, Senior Field Representative for Greenbelt Alliance. Greenbelt Alliance worked closely with our allies Save Mount Diablo and People Opposed to Developer Measure F.

The victory in Brentwood is great news for Greenbelt Alliance’s Grow Smart Bay Area vision. To achieve a region that balances protection for farms, forests and watersheds with investment in climate-friendly and affordable cities, every acre matters. The defeat of this developer land grab saves 740 acres of key wildlife habitat, ranchland and natural beauty for the benefit of all Bay Area residents.

An Endorsement from the Contra Costa Times also boosted the No on F campaign.

Read a little more about the history of Measure F in Brentwood.

Public hearings will take place June 2 and June 23

Cloverdale is the only city in Sonoma without an urban growth boundary — a line that clearly defines where development should and should not go in the city.  But after years of community input and urging by Greenbelt Alliance, the City Council is now poised to place an urban growth boundary measure on the 2010 ballot.

In June, the City of Cloverdale will hold two public hearings on the draft urban growth boundary, the first on June 2 with the Cloverdale Planning Commission, and the second, and final, hearing on June 23 with the City Council.

Now is the time to take action: Tell Council that Cloverdale wants an urban growth boundary! However, before the measure goes on the ballot, the City Council should:

• Remove the Asti winery exception area from within the urban growth boundary.
• Limit the type of development at Asti, if it stays inside the line.
• Allow no new development in Rains Creek and the Western Hillsides.

Take action: Speak up for the urban growth boundary at the June 2 or June 23 public hearing.  If you can not attend a hearing, send an email to Council or write a letter to Council: P.O. Box 217, Cloverdale, CA 95425.

Hearing details:
What: Cloverdale Urban Growth Boundary public hearings
When: Wednesdays, June 2 and 23, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Cloverdale Senior Center, 311 N. Main Street, Cloverdale