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Home Resource Center In the News Home Greenbelt Alliance in the News |
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Greenbelt Alliance In the News
June 5, 2003 Plaintiff: More studies needed for Blue Rock
Decision on subdivision expected within weeks By Michelle Meyers STAFF WRITERHAYWARD -- The proposed upscale Blue Rock Country Club development on Walpert Ridge has been debated, in various incarnations, for more than a couple of decades. What's another couple of weeks? That's about how long sources guess it will take for Alameda County Superior Court Judge Bonnie Sabraw to rule on a case she heard Wednesday alleging the city-approved plans for Blue Rock weren't given adequate environmental review. It's also close to the scheduled hearing on June 20 for another legal challenge against the development -- this one disputing federal agencies' opinion that Blue Rock won't jeopardize critical habitat for the endangered Alameda whip snake and California red frog. Blue Rock is planned as a 614-home gated community and 18-hole golf course on a ridge where Fairview Avenue turns into Hayward Boulevard. Developer Hayward 1900 also is building an adjacent park and school -- the first new school in Hayward in more than 40 years. The lawsuit before Sabraw was filed in October by three groups focused on preserving open space, among other things. They include the Hayward Area Planning Association, Greenbelt Alliance and Hayward Hills Property Owners Association. The defendants in the case are the city, developer Hayward 1900 and two other organizations with property interests -- the East Bay Regional Parks District and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland. Stuart Flashman, the attorney for the plaintiffs, started off the two-hour hearing Wed-nesday by arguing two procedural motions and summarizing his clients' main complaint, that the city should have done additional environmental studies on the project before approving Blue Rock last fall. The city completed an extensive Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on Blue Rock in 1998, but Flashman said the project and surrounding conditions changed significantly between then and the project's final approval. Before the City Council approved the project, planning association leader Sherman Lewis asked the coun-cil to go back and examine the environmental impact of the changes, and other residents expressed traffic concerns, Flash-man said. "But the city closed its ears and said we're not listening to any of those changed circumstances. We're going ahead," he told the judge. Lawyers for the city and developer argued, however, that they did listen, but their experts ruled that the changes were not substantial enough to warrant more environmental review. "That's far from saying we're not going to listen to you," said Phil Atkins-Pattenson, repre-senting Hayward 1900. And in looking at the big picture, the project has been scaled back with fewer homes and more open space. "There were a great many of the changes that are a benefit to the environment," said Assistant City Attorney Maureen Conneely. "All of the changes should be considered." One of the changes Flashman cited as significant was a dramatic increase in property value, which makes it feasible to build a smaller development without a golf course, Flashman said. "Between 1997 and 2002, property values have just gone through the roof," he said. The approved development also has a parking structure with almost twice as many parking spots as was earlier proposed, allowing the clubhouse to host large functions without having to obtain a special permit, Flashman said. The earlier traffic studies looked at a potential of 200 cars parking there, not 360, he said. In concluding, Flashman said the changes will have significant impacts that need to be studied, and the city should "go back and do it right." Atkins-Pattenson questioned the kind of precedent a ruling in the plaintiffs' favor would set. If you can go back and revisit mar- ket conditions and prior alternatives after the fact, "you'd be on an endless treadmill of environmental review," he said. Sabraw didn't give a specific time frame for making her decision, just that she'd make it soon. "I know everyone involved has been working on this for many, many years," she said. "I intend to make my decision promptly." E-mail Michelle Meyers at mmeyers@angnewspapers.com . ### |
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