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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
November 16, 2005 Sierra Club to challenge development By Sarah Jane TribbleSaying that Bay Area voters sent a clear message to builders last week, environmentalists vowed Tuesday to fight an expansion of Pittsburg's developable land. Voters went to the ballot box last week and rejected developer-sponsored measures that would expand urban limit lines in two of four East Bay cities. The environmentalist group claimed its biggest victory in Livermore where developer Pardee Homes failed to convince voters to move the city's boundaries and allow up to 2,450 new homes. The measure failed by a 3-to-1 margin. A move to expand the boundaries of Brentwood also failed. In the far eastern cities of Pittsburg and Antioch, however, voters approved measures to move their development boundaries and allow up to 2,750 more houses. Antioch's measure, which included a developer agreement with entitlements to 700 houses, passed overwhelmingly. Pittsburg's Measure P, which was sponsored by longtime developer Albert Seeno III, won by a slim margin. "The fight is not over in Pittsburg," said John Rizzo, chairman of the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club. "... We will fight this development proposal at every step." The measure allows more houses, but does not give specific approvals for housing projects. Sam Singer, spokesman for the Pittsburg initiative, feigned surprise at the news that the Sierra Club planned to fight their development proposals: "Gosh, I'm shocked, shocked!" he said, adding "they just got their hat handed to them by the voters of Pittsburg perhaps the gracious thing for them is to accept the rule of the people." Rizzo, along with the group's conservation director Mike Daley, said Measure P proponents resorted to "thuggery" to win the election and accused them of stealing signs and misleading voters about the impacts on traffic. The group is talking with attorneys about its options, Daley and Rizzo said. Singer said Yes on Measure P ran a "fair and square campaign." Regardless, Rizzo said this election marks the first time several developers in the Bay Area used ballot-box measures to get approval for specific projects. He called the tactic unsuccessful and said voters are setting a precedent of rejecting developers. Elizabeth Stampe, spokeswoman for the Greenbelt Alliance, agreed: "Developers will not be able to do this again. It won't work."
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