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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
May 18, 2008 Pittsburg to consider suspending hillside ordinance work CITY PLANNERS OPPOSE DEVELOPMENT Paul BurgarinoAfter roughly two years of thorough examination, a controversial guideline for building on city hills and ridges may be postponed indefinitely. The Pittsburg City Council will be asked tonight to either suspend work creating new hillside development criteria or proceed with a costly environmental review and potential legal ramifications. Staff members are recommending tabling the issue because of strains it would put on city funds. Before the hillside decision, city leaders will be asked to choose a conceptual design for a remodel of City Park. Proposed plans for the city's oldest park call for the addition of several ball fields with all-weather field turf, the addition of an 8-foot-high wrought-iron fence around the park's perimeter, and the removal of large eucalyptus trees. Some residents have circulated fliers saying the city didn't offer enough public outreach. Seven meetings were held on the issue, including an April City Council meeting. The draft hillside proposal would amend the city's Municipal Code, addressing questions on how many homes should be allowed at certain heights; at what height development should be allowed and where; and which areas of land should be included. After several speakers opposed the ordinance at a City Council meeting in April, Pittsburg leaders directed staff members to revise the standards and bring them back at a later date. The changes requested by the public and Councilwoman Nancy Parent and Councilman Michael Kee included establishing 300 feet as the height where the ordinance would take effect instead of 500 feet; requiring a 100-foot vertical setback from ridgelines; and restricting grading to areas less than 800 feet. Most of the changes sought would not only modify the hillside ordinance but affect other zoning, subdivision and grading ordinances. The ordinance is also subject to the California Environmental Quality Act, and would require a certified environmental document to proceed. Because of complex public demands and disagreement among council members, city planners say a more thorough and complex environmental analysis should be conducted, associate planner Kristin Vahl said. The cost associated with an environmental impact report for the ordinance is estimated at close to $250,000. Because of Pittsburg's budget deficit and the turbulent economy, "staff recommends against the investment of several hundreds of thousands of dollars from the general fund," Vahi said in a staff report. Pittsburg would still have a series of regulations in place for future development. In addition to current provisions in Hillside Planned Development and general plan documents, any new development on hillsides would require CEQA compliance, which could entail a complete environmental review. " Staff's recommendation doesn't mean we don't think hillside protection is important; we take it very seriously," City Manager Marc Grisham said. If the council agrees to spend money on the project, staff members are requesting clear and detailed direction on how to proceed, Vahl said. Representatives of Save Our Hills in Pittsburg fear that protections will be lost without a new ordinance. " We're really disappointed the city doesn't think they can afford it," group member Dennis Linsley said. "The council decision (in April) went a long way to strengthening protections on the hills. We don't want it put on the back burner." Linsley also questioned the city's cost estimate for an environmental impact report. Land conservation groups Save Mount Diablo, Greenbelt Alliance and the Sierra Club have also raised concerns. " There was an overwhelming sentiment to create a stronger ordinance," said Seth Adams of Save Mount Diablo. "It's curious staff would ask to table it. The city either doesn't want hillside standards or is thinking in terms of the November election." Adams mentioned recent grading by Seeno's Discovery Builders on the Pittsburg hillside as an example of what an ordinance would prevent. To suggest postponing the ordinance on the heels of that grading "is pretty shocking," he said. ### |
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