Opposition to Friends of Livermore Referendum

Per Steven Spedofski, Livermore City Council Member

The Community Group and Friends of Livermore are pitching their unrealistic downtown plan again. Their latest ad in the Independent shows an unrealistic plan that will cost taxpayers many millions of dollars more in capital expenditures and annual operating costs. They claim that the Council did not listen, yet after many years of trying to work with them to provide comments about their plan, they are not listening to reason.

1) Railroad will need to be widened to accommodate the turn radius into their proposed hotel location. Relocate utilities, add new roadway triggering storm water treatment = millions in extra cost. Probably around the $2-$3 mil range.

2) 33 "micro" units on site next to hotel where 90 units MUST go due to deed restrictions. No one throughout the outreach process asked for micro units.

3) Residential looking into hotel rooms and vice versa is bad planning.

4) East West Street not wide enough and lacks angled parking to slow down traffic. Speeds will be horrible.

5) Altering the Stockmen's Park layout yet again. If they don't have agreement from Stockmen's, they need to account for 100 more units.

6) Artisan market? Who will operate that?

7) Blacksmith square not extended or enhanced.

8) Parking garage in horrible location. 230+ spaces will generate FAR more traffic than a hotel.

9) Parking garage entrance on Livermore Ave will back up into the street. Enough to block Livermore/First Street intersection. It's a one lane road in each direction.

10) Beer garden and restaurant attached to City owned parking structure will be owned by City due to shared structure. The City is now in the restaurant/beer garden business. A beer garden on top of a parking garage is a bad idea.

11) A second crosswalk directly North of the Casa Croute crosswalk is bad design. Mid-block crosswalks that close to each other are never encouraged.

12) High density apartments next to parking garage and train tracks. Looks like micro units again at that footprint.

13) Poor/no circulation around L Street garage. One way alley is poor design.