UPDATE: Despite vocal community objection, the San Ramon City Council voted 5-0 in favor of progressing the developer-backed Tassajara Agriculture Preservation Agreement.
On November 10, The San Ramon City Council convened a hastily scheduled “special meeting” (prior to the seating of newly elected council members) to discuss the developer proposed Tassajara “Agriculture Preservation Agreement” (APA). This came just weeks after the Town of Danville voted to formally oppose the Tassajara Parks Project and East Bay MUD registered its formal opposition to the Tassajara Parks development to the County Planning Commission. The purpose of the APA is to enable the county to justify the approval of the Tassajara Parks 125 home development outside the voter approved Urban Limit Line (“ULL”)
Public comments were numerous and overwhelmingly against the proposal, with formal statements against the APA submitted by: Tassajara Valley Property Owners Association (TVPOA), Sierra Club, Greenbelt Alliance, Tassajara Valley Preservation Association, and many local residents and petition supporters.
The single, lone public comment in support of the APA came from Seth Adams of Save Mount Diablo (SMD) who emphasizing the 94% to 6% acreage ratio of the developer’s proposal. Mr. Adams stated to the City Council that “We think it’s an incredibly positive precedent for how to do small adjustments to the urban limit line”.
Save Mount Diablo’s support for the Tassajara Parks project is significant as it represents the first time ever that SMD has support a developer breach of the voter-approved Urban Limit Line, which is increasingly hard to reconcile with SMD’s own land use policy which states “ULLs are an important part of the Save Mount Diablo toolkit, and we are always looking for ways to strengthen them, as well as potential threats that may require us to come to their defense.” This helps to explain why the normally collaborative environmental organizations have all sided against Save Mount Diablo on this issue. (https://www.savemountdiablo.org/advocacy/land-use-policy)
Following comments, The San Ramon City Council then unilaterally (5-0) rejected the many detailed and specific objections from the numerous concerned organizations, residents, and its sister city Danville and instead insisted on promoting the benefit of securing the land for East Bay Parks District “as a good neighbor for San Ramon”. The Council also once again propagated the false narrative that the Tassajara Parks development will create a permanent buffer and a “greenwall” that would prevent any future development in the Tassajara Valley , This egregiously ignores the property gateways in the Tassajara Valley, many of which are also owned by developers who would surely be eager beneficiaries of a new “precedent” to breach the ULL facilitated by Save Mount Diablo and the City of San Ramon.
Watch the San Ramon City Council Meeting here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_9EM-kF-vc&t=1093s
Seth Adams comments begin minute 17:45, City Council rebuttals begin minute 54:50
Calls to Action:
(1) Be prepared to make your voices heard on November 24th – Voice your opposition to the San Ramon City Council’s plan to push this thru. Details to follow.