This article was originally published in the October 2, 2014 edition of the Contra Costa Times.
Contra Costa Times editorial by Bay Area News Group
Developers trying to undermine Dublin’s new open space law are pitching a competing measure dubbed “Let Dublin Decide.” The decision is obvious: Vote No on Measure T.
Every Dublin City Council member and every local environmental group — including the Tri-Valley Conservancy, Save Mount Diablo, Sierra Club, Greenbelt Alliance, Friends of the Vineyards, Ohlone Audubon Society and California Native Plant Society — agrees: Vote No.
Add us to the list.
Here’s the back story: Earlier this year, environmentalists collected signatures to place an initiative on the ballot restricting development in Doolan and Collier canyons, rural land between Livermore and Dublin.
Rather than put it up for a vote, the City Council wisely and unanimously adopted it. The building limits were long overdue. Every Contra Costa city, as well as Livermore and Pleasanton, was covered by a growth boundary. Dublin finally has the same.
In 2013, Dublin was the state’s third-fastest growing city. The area needs smart growth, not sprawl into pristine hills.
But developers want to expand Dublin’s line by 1,650 acres (roughly 2.5 square miles) to build 1,990 homes. They concocted an initiative, Measure T, to undo the building restrictions.
The developers dressed it up to look like an environmental measure. It’s not. It’s just the opposite. Vote no.
