Letter to the Editor: Oppose the Lund Ranch Development, Support the Referendum

Editor:

In 2008, Pleasanton voters passed Measure PP by a significant majority, the first words of which are “ridgelines and hillsides shall be protected.” Measure PP strictly controls the amount and nature of development that can occur on our hillsides.

The Lund Ranch project will build a 700 foot road across the hillsides behind Raley’s. To build this road, the developer will need to grade 1.6 acres of hillside. To do that, the developer will need to move almost 650 truckloads of dirt across our hills. All of this — the road, the grading, the truckloads of dirt — is in flat violation of the letter and spirit of Measure PP. To get around this, the Pleasanton City Council voted that Measure PP does not apply to roads, opening the door to roads developed up and down our Pleasanton hillsides.

The Lund Ranch project will also build homes on hillsides, which is again prohibited by PP. To permit this, the Council ignored the definition of ridgelines provided by its own Staff, and arbitrarily cut short the natural ridgelines in order to expand the area available for development. Again, this is the sort of decision that sets a potential precedent for future projects.

The City’s own Environmental Impact Report, prepared at considerable expense, recommended a different development plan as the most environmentally sound alternative — a plan that does not include a road across a hillside. The Council elected to disregard that Report as well.

Finally, and perhaps most disappointingly, the Council ignored its own history. Each of the three Councilmembers who voted to approve this development had previously voted that Measure PP prohibits roads on hillsides. That they previously voted that way isn’t surprising, as it is the most natural reading of the language of PP and was plainly the intent of Pleasanton voters. That these Councilmembers switched positions here, for the sole purpose of allowing this development, is surprising and upsetting.

Please support the referendum, which if passed will cancel the Lund Ranch development. Send a message to the Council that the voters meant what they said in Measure PP. Send a message for responsible development. Send a message to protect our hillsides. We have more information available at www.savepleasantonhillsides.com.

(A group of vocal Ventana Hills residents appears opposed to the referendum. We have invited them to join the referendum effort, as we think that all Pleasanton residents should be interested in protecting our hillsides, both for this project and future projects. Regrettably, it seems these residents’ concerns over their own neighborhood’s traffic overcame what should otherwise be a shared interest of all Pleasanton residents in sensible development and hillside protection.)

Signed,

David Melaugh

Previous Coverage:

• Letter to Editor: Former City Councilmember Opposes Lund Ranch Referendum
• Lund Ranch II Development Project Approved
• Letter to the Editor: Don’t Support Lund Ranch II Petition Drive
• Letter to the Editor: More Opposition to Lund Ranch II Referendum
• Letter to the Editor: Don’t Sign Lund II Referendum