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Your Five Minute News Flash
Greenbelt Alliance * Volume 3, Issue 7: July 2004

Photo of the Month

FUA-1, Antioch
Photo By: Richard Rollins

In this edition
We've changed the format of the newswire—now it's all on one page. What do you think? Let us know at info@greenbelt.org. Thanks!
Feature: Victory—and Vigilance—in Antioch
Action Alert: Contra Costa Open Space Funding Measure—Vote YES by July 27th!
Feature: Simple, Effective Greenbelt Protection: Monthly Giving
Feature: Uptown Development Approved!
Alert: Threat to Alameda County Wildlands
Upcoming Outings & Events


Victory—and Vigilance—in Antioch
Thanks to more than two years of hard work from Greenbelt Alliance and local citizens' groups, Antioch's City Council's sprawl plan for the Sand Creek area is dead on arrival. In a resolution passed July 13, the council indefinitely suspended work on "Future Urban Area 1" (FUA 1), a plan to put 3,900 homes on a four square mile expanse of open space south of town. Ultimately, the council saw that local voters simply would not accept this giant sprawl development.

The area is not yet secure, though. Councilman Jim Conley actually told the Zeka Higgins developers that by voting to suspend work he was trying to save their project. And another developer has already come forward with plans for 1500 age-restricted homes and a golf course in the center of the planning area.

We will continue to oppose any development in this remote area where several endangered species make their homes. We will continue to push Antioch to build in the thousands of acres already available within city limits, instead of gobbling up more open space in a development that will require costly new infrastructure including roads, water, and sewage services.

Despite the remaining threats, the defeat of FUA 1 is a significant win for all the citizens and volunteers who dedicated their time and energy to this effort. It means that Antioch’s elected officials are finally getting the message that their constituents don't want sprawl. And that message is loud enough that other cities around the Bay Area are getting it too.

Contra Costa Open Space Funding Measure—Vote YES by Tuesday, July 27th!
Are you a homeowner in Contra Costa County? If so, you have the chance to cast a historic vote to protect open space! Send in your ballot by Tuesday, July 27, marked YES!

You'll be saying YES to protecting lands at the base of Mount Diablo and restoring local creeks, YES to funding science education and wildlife rehabilitation, and YES to ensuring effective management of parks all through the county.

The measure will provide about $8 million per year for Contra Costa parks—at a cost to homeowners of about $25 a year (or 50 cents a week). It's been 15 years since the last measure, and the parks need your help.

For more information, see www.contracostaopenspace.org.

Simple, Effective Greenbelt Protection: Monthly Giving
Want a quick, convenient way to ensure long-term protection of the Bay Area's greenbelt? Become a Greenbelt Guardian! Join our monthly donor club, the Greenbelt Guardians.

Just download a form here, fill it out, and send it in. For a list of Frequently Asked Questions, please visit our Greenbelt Guardians page.

As a monthly donor, your steady support ensures effective greenbelt protection.

And it's easy. Here's how it works: you choose an amount to donate each month, and sign up for automatic donations, either from your credit card or checking account. That's it! If at any time you want to change or stop your donations, just let us know and we'll do it right away. It's completely secure and frees you of the hassle of renewal reminders, stamps, checks, etc.

Because it's automatic—and so it's efficient—more of your donation goes directly to our programs, protecting the greenbelt and making the Bay Area a better place to live.

If you support Greenbelt Alliance's work, please consider becoming a Greenbelt Guardian.

Uptown Development Approved!
On July 21st, Oakland's City Council approved the Uptown Project, which will put 1,000 new homes and new shops and restaurants into Oakland's downtown near the 19th Street BART station. The project's approval is a major step toward making Oakland's downtown a healthier, more vibrant neighborhood.

Greenbelt Alliance supported this project as a good example of reinvesting in our existing cities and towns, instead of sprawling out on farmland and wildlands. In addition, the development's downtown location gives residents the option to walk, bike, or take transit instead of needing a car for every trip.

Greenbelt Alliance joined many of our partner organizations to successfully advocate for increasing the amount of affordable homes in the new development, so that people like teachers, firefighters, and retail workers can live in the community they serve. With the influx of new residents, local businesses will benefit from the increased number of customers, and as the sidewalks fill with people commuting, shopping, and strolling, the streets will become safer and livelier.

Alert: Threat to Alameda County Wildlands
The State Parks Department is now considering a massive expansion of the Carnegie off-road vehicle park into pristine grasslands and oak woodlands southeast of Livermore. The move would triple the size of the off-road vehicle area and would irrevocably damage more than 3,000 acres of wildlands.

Allowing off-road vehicles into this remote area would erode hillsides and creek banks, spoil water quality, and destroy habitat for rare plants and animals. And the impacts of this expansion would extend far beyond the additional 3,000 acres. The proposed expansion would effectively set up a barrier right in the middle of a wide swath of remote land—an important corridor for endangered kit foxes, birds, and other wild animals. This corridor is especially important to preserve as sprawl from both the East Bay and the Central Valley encroaches on these creatures' remaining habitat.

Residents of Livermore, Pleasanton, and Tracy are especially encouraged to get involved: this is your backyard!

To help protect these lands:

• Call Jennifer Buckingham at the State Parks Department: 916-985-8521, ext. 23. Tell her that you oppose the proposed off-road vehicle area expansion and you want to receive information about it.
  
  
• Email John Woodbury at the Bay Area Open Space Council to get involved in the campaign: john@openspacecouncil.org.
  
  

Upcoming Outings & Events
July 31:Greenbelt Outing, Rockridge to the Hills
August 28: Greenbelt Outing, Briones by Moonlight
September 6: Greenbelt Outing, San Francisco to Sausalito
September 11: Greenbelt Outing, Sonoma County Cornucopia
September 12: Greenbelt Outing, A Summer Day on Mt. Tam

Become a Member or Renew Your Membership
If you're not already a member or if you would like to renew your membership, we are just a click away! Your membership gives us the means to protect open space and promote livable communities. Start creating a better future for the Bay Area now. Just give us a call at 415-543-6771 or email Anita, at alalwani@greenbelt.org.

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