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Pittsburg Hillsides

Photo courtesy of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Digital Visual Library

These hills are threatened.

For over a year and a half, Greenbelt Alliance and allies from Pittsburg Save Our Hills, Save Mount Diablo, ACORN, and Sierra Club have worked hard to help the City of Pittsburg improve its proposed hillside ordinance, which would govern hillside development. The City claims this ordinance will protect Pittsburg's hills from development. Unfortunately, instead of protecting Pittsburg's hills, this ordinance actually would have scenic and landslide-prone hills open up for development.

Development in this area could mar the major ridgeline between East and Central Contra Costa County, even as Concord plans for protection of its side of the ridge at the Naval Weapons Station. Houses in this area could be visible from as far away as Antioch, Walnut Creek and Martinez—and everyone would notice the approximately 15,000 daily car trips that this development would pour onto local streets and highways, including Willow Pass at Highway 4, Kirker Pass, and Bailey Road.

Greenbelt Alliance and allies were making huge strides in improving the hillside ordinance until the City Council abruptly stopped working on it.

Unfortunately, now the City of Pittsburg is undermining the public process again by continuing to pursue developing the hillsides by going through the obscure municipal review process conducted by the Local Agency Formation Commission to bring in the hillsides into the City’s boundary. The City of Pittsburg asked the Local Agency Formation Commission to expand water, wastewater services, and the city’s sphere of influence boundary to include the hillsides. In an unprecedented move, LAFCO agreed to the City of Pittsburg’s request and approved the expansion. Now that the services and sphere of influence are expanded, Greenbelt Alliance and its allies are waiting for the expected development project proposal and the City's application to annex the land. Greenbelt Alliance and its allies continue to be vigilant on this process and will fight to protect these hills.

What's at Stake

The City of Pittsburg skirted the public review process of expanding the City’s boundaries through the Local Agency Formation Commission instead of the normal City process. Normally, cities hold several public hearings to change the sphere of influence, but the City of Pittsburg bypassed this step and went straight to the Local Agency Formation Commission. Now that the commission has expanded the city's boundaries to the hillsides, the developers are one step closer to marring these important ridgelines.

We need your help to protect these hills. Please help us watch for the upcoming development project proposal and annexation request, to be released any day now. Gear up for a fight to protect these hills.

What You Can Do

Get involved in the effort to protect Pittsburg's hillsides!

• Connect with Save Our Hills, a local group working with Greenbelt Alliance to protect the hills. Their "How To Help" webpage is regularly updated with new tips and resources for getting involved.
  
  
• Contact Mayor Michael Kee and City Council members Nancy Parent and Will Casey, and let them know that you oppose any further development of the hills. You can email the Mayor and City Council, or write to the City Council by mail at: Pittsburg City Council, 65 Civic Avenue, Pittsburg, CA 94565.
  
  
• Write a letter to the Contra Costa Times opposing hillside development. The letter should be 150 words or less. Send your letter to letters@cctimes.com.
  
  
• Read a letter submitted by East Bay Field Representative Christina Wong on May 22, 2007 on the Hillside Ordinance Development Standards and Design Guidelines here.