Limiting Urban Sprawl

By Ralph Hoffmann

Again, at the October 23 SRVFPD Board Meeting, the Directors refused to comment on whether to amend the General Plan as proposed in the Camino Tassajara DEIR

The Town of Danville Town Council and Planning Commission held a joint meeting and Public Hearing on the Draft EIR for the Integtated Project and plans to submit extensive comments to the County of further problems with this project by the October 6 Comment Deadline.

The SRVFPD Board of Directors in an unagendized item at their September 27 Board Meeting revealed through a staff report that an attorney and some staff members are belatedly working on some comments to submit to the County, but these will apparently not be reviewed at a Board of Directors Meeting or Public Hearing prior to the October 6 deadline.

Bear in mind that the Integrated Project lies predominantly within the Urban Limit Line of the County. We have not been talking about the entire Tassajara Valley. The residents of this valley are entitled to an environment somewhat similar to that which existed when they moved here.

The Voters of this County are not required to make Billionaires out of land speculators on land that has always been zoned agricultural.

The SRVFPD cannot maintain its excellent 4-5 minute response time and top 5% in the nation performance rating if there is insufficient water or water pressure to fight fires because of sprawl and if traffic delays and queue lengths at critical intersections so fire trucks and ambulances cannot get through because of sprawl.

Each SRVFPD Director present at the SRVFPD Board Meeting on September 27 abstained from voting to praise the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors for its unanimous decision to change the Urban Limit Line.

In contrast, if elected, as a first order of business I pledge to agendize, and move a resolution praising the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors for their unanimous vote bringing in the urban limit line.

The SRVFPD Board of Directors belatedly sent 4-5 pages of comments on the County Draft EIR on the 1387 home proposed development along Tassajara Road. The comments were backdated to September 27 the Day of the Board Meetimg, even though I was at this entire meeting, the only mention of comments being under a staff report under work in progress and could not possibly have been approved and sent off on that very same day. The comments should have been signed by Chief Rick Probert instead of a Fire Inspector of the District.

We need more affordable housing in the core areas of our towns and cities in the San Ramon Valley provided through infill of undeveloped land and redevelopment of underutilized property to provide nearby homes for our firefighters who protect our homes and lives, our teachers who teach our children, and nurses and other helping professionals who take care of us when we are sick. The advantages of building in the core areas is of course that the water is already there, the fire infrastructure is already there, and the streets can handle the short trips needed.

No candidate for Director of the SRVFPD, except myself, has spoken at either of the two Joint Commission Hearings to give testimony on the County DEIR Camino Tassajara Combined General Plan Amendment Study. I clearly have spoken on several occasions against amending the General Plan, citing references to the DEIR, of which I have read every word of every page, and with further qualifications, have demonstrated the professional abilities to analyze this complex subject.

This strategy of hiding from the public view of its constituents is consistent with the years long policy of conducting the affairs the public by the SRVFPD Board out of view of the public and taxpayers. Who do you know that has ever attended a Board Meeting of the SRVFPD? When have you ever seen a regular meeting of the SRVFPD Board Noticed in advance in the Press? When have you ever read an article reporting news of the outcome of an SRVFPD Board Meeting? Do you even know where and when Board Meetings of the SRVFPD are held? Do you realize that when you dial 9-1-1 in an emergency to request ambulance services, you will receive a rather large bill from the SRVFPD, in spite of the fact that your property taxes already go to support the SRVFPD? Think about why you have been kept from knowing the answers to these questions and then vote wisely November 7!!