A petition to save Parcel C

The effort to save Parcel C

 #26 in a series of occasional reports

Parcel C is in peril, and with it, the entire vision for Hercules, the plan on which we have been working since the Charette of 2000.   A citizens’ group is circulating a petition which demands that the Planning Commission refuse the zoning change which would be necessary for the ruination of Parcel C.   

Saving Parcel C is an essential part of ensuring a future for Hercules;  the petition is, for now, our primary means of accomplishing that salvation.   The petition can be read, and signed, at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/488/291/263/safeguarding-the-future-of-our-community/      

On June 12, City Manager Steve Duran managed to convince his four councilmen to pass a resolution authorizing him to execute a PSA whereby the city would sell Parcel C to Dave Sanson’s DeNova homes.    (Myrna de Vera was the sole councilmember to use her own judgment and not Duran’s; for that reason, she voted No.)   Parcel C is the site on which WalMart had intended to build a store, and is the site on which the community intended to build an essential component of the city’s master plan with a mixed retail/commercial/residential development.    DeNova intends to build a community of 350 apartments, with no retail.       In order to build their gated apartment village, DeNova needs a change in the zoning of Parcel C, to allow residential construction.    That change would come from the planning commission.    It is urgent that we let the commissioners know of our opposition to this zoning change, and to the consequences which would ensue from it.    We can be confident that Steve Duran and Dan Romero have already been pressuring the commissioners with their spin.    Now is the time for the community to speak. 

The signed petition will be presented to the planning commission on the date (not yet decided) that Parcel C rezoning is agendized.    Please try to attend that meeting.    (When a date has been determined, I will advise you all.)    After that, the petition will be presented to the councilmembers at the city council meeting to be held eight days later.    Please try to attend that meeting.   Please contact John Delgado and Bill Wilkins and let your wishes be known:    John, especially, appears to be open to hearing from the public before doing the bidding of the city manager.   If you can convince John and Bill to join Myrna in saving Parcel C from Duran and his developers, then Mayor Stalin will be isolated with only his reliable rubberstamp, Gérard, for company; and so, they will be, at long last, overridden.   The council has the power to ignore the recommendation of the commission, and that's why it's important to reach John and Bill.   Dan Romero has already indicated that the planning commission's recommendation will not stop him from doing what he wants to do.   Le Weasel has demonstrated, since December, that he'll do what Dan wants him to do.   Laurel and Hardy, but without the laughs.

Steve Duran’s Parcel C scheme was concocted in secrecy, with the community excluded from participation in decision making.    The above-mentioned commission and council meetings will provide us with our opportunity to make our wishes heard, and be heard by (some) people who want to listen.    Finally.