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Greenbelt Alliance In the News

November 10, 2005

Property line votes draw debate

East County residents divided on new measures restricting growth

Voters appeared to take a mixed approach to urban-limit line measures in east Contra Costa County, approving two initiatives in Antioch and Pittsburg, but narrowly edging out Brentwoods Measure L.

Several thousand absentee and provisional ballots have yet to be counted and may change the outcome of the measures, said Steve Weir, county clerk-recorder.

Antioch and Pittsburg may now join San Ramon in fulfilling a Measure J requirement to have a voter-approved urban-limit boundary to receive return-to-source funds from the half-cent transportation tax.

Under Measure J, which Contra Costa voters approved in November 2004, each of the 19 cities and the county must have a voter-approved line in place by 2009.

Measure K would enable Antioch to expand its boundary to include about 700 executive-style homes in the Roddy Ranch area. Roddy Ranch had previously been inside the urban-limit line, but was moved outside when the Board of Supervisors tightened the line in 2000. We were very pleased with how strong Measure K was, said Antioch City Councilman Arne Simonsen. I think the voters here have declared their independence from the county with their vote.

Measure K included promises to halt any development until 2009 and earmark $1 million each for Vasco Road improvements and Antioch sports, music and performing arts programs.

The voters recognized that this was a measure that would lead to responsible growth, said Dan Boatwright, spokesman for Castle Cos., which sponsored Measure K.Meanwhile, Measure P in Pittsburg would pave the way for about 1,700 homes and pre-fund Highway 4 bypass projects. Measure P received late endorsements from Congressman George Miller, D-Martinez, and state Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, with a promise to preserve more open space.

Were very pleased that the voters decided to extend the urban-limit line in Pittsburg, (sic) said Sam Singer, spokesman for Albert Seeno III, the developer backing the proposal. It was important to have the citizens make the decision for themselves rather than have the county decide for them.

But environmental groups blasted the measures passage as anything but slow growth.

In Antioch and Pittsburg, the voters thought they were voting for growth control, said David Reid, East Bay field representative for the Greenbelt Alliance. We think theyll be disappointed when they see houses on the hills and traffic on the streets.

Ironically, Save Mount Diablo and the East Bay Regional Park District approved of Brentwoods measure because of built-in open space guarantees, but it failed to pass muster with voters. Preliminary election results had the measure trailing by 119 votes.

Seth Adams, director of land programs for Save Mount Diablo, said the Nunn family, which backed the measure that could have allowed development of up to 2,800 homes, ran an honest campaign. Not so for the other two parties who deceptively sold the measures to citizens, he said.

They voted for growth control measures in Antioch and Pittsburg. What theyre going to get is gridlock, he said.

Supervisor Mary N. Piepho, whose district includes Brentwood, said the city will now have to decide how to proceed.

Unfortunately, these elections are costly, but they do still have some time to revisit the issue, she said. I think the city needs to work on listening to the community in the designing and planning of the communitys future.

The Board of Supervisors is slated to put an urban-limit line measure on the June 2006 ballot, which several cities not seeking line expansion may elect to use on their ballots.

San Ramon was the lone city in Contra Costa to ask voters to approve an urban-limit line in a previous election.

It was a great feeling to know we were proactive and were exempt, said Mayor H. Abram Wilson. Were out there on our own, smiling. (sic)

Reach Rebecca Johnson at (925) 416-4882 or rjohnson@angnewspapers.com.

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