Pleasanton - City officials believe they're closer to settling a dispute that's dragged on for years over construction of Pleasanton's first municipal golf course.
The City Council approved an environmental study Tuesday night for a 102-home subdivision that Greenbriar Homes Communities proposes building east of the intersection of Alisal Street and Happy Valley Road.
Many Happy Valley residents, who live in an unincorporated area south of Pleasanton, object that the development is too large. Greenbriar officials say they intend to scale the project back before filing a formal application to build it.
If the city and Greenbriar can agree on an acceptable number of houses to build in the area, the subdivision would help pay for a $10 million bypass road to carry golf course traffic. Happy Valley residents sued Pleasanton in October, 2002, when the city went forward with construction of the golf course without finalizing plans for the bypass road.
Pleasanton's Callippe Preserve Golf Course is scheduled to open next year. But the fate of the bypass road has been in limbo since October 1999. At the time, the City Council approved the golf course and 97 homes, but rejected a plan for 78 homes on property next to the golf course owned by the Spotorno family.
City staff members advised the council that the plan, by SummerHill Homes of Palo Alto, required too much grading and left some homes in danger of landslides.
Without a guarantee that the bypass road would be built, residents of Happy Valley narrowly rejected the city's plan to annex the 811-acre area into the city.
Happy Valley residents filed suit after the city successfully annexed a smaller, 530-acre area south of the city. The area the city annexed included the golf course property, but left existing residents in unincorporated Alameda County.
The city so far has been successful in arguing that it fully intends to work with developers to build a bypass road through the Spotorno property to handle golf course traffic.
The sticking point has been if and when a developer would come forward with a plan for the 158-acre Spotorno property.
Although Greenbriar has now unveiled some details of its proposed development, the plan has not been well received by Happy Valley residents.
One issue is that to avoid areas with a potential for landslides, Greenbriar proposes concentrating 97 of the 102 homes in a 33-acre area known as "Spotorno flats."
The Spotorno flats area, which is immediately east of Alisal Street, is designated as suitable for 22 homes in the Happy Valley Specific Plan, a legal document adopted by the city, governing land use in the area.
Greenbriar's plan also calls for building the bypass road west of the original route mapped out in the Specific Plan.
That route, like the original route, would connect to Sycamore Road and is expected to pose engineering and environmental permitting challenges.
In order to approve Greenbriar's plan, the City Council would have to amend the Happy Valley Specific Plan and the city's General Plan. The General Plan is now being revised -- a process that's not expected to be completed until December 2005.
Although the City Council had previously decided it would not consider new housing developments requiring General Plan amendments before then, it decided not to hold up consideration of Greenbriar's plan.
In a 3-1 vote, the council agreed to hire a consultant to conduct an Supplemental Environmental Impact Report evaluating the potential impacts of the Greenbriar plan for the Spotorno property. Greenbriar will reimburse the city for the cost of the study, estimated at $93,500.
Councilwoman Jennifer Hosterman voted against the study, saying it was inconsistent with the council's earlier decision not to consider plans requiring a General Plan amendment.
But Councilman Steve Brozosky said only a minor amendment amounting to a "density transfer" would be needed to allow Greenbriar's project. Although more homes would be built in a smaller area, the total number of homes is within previously designated limits, Brozosky said.
The council's decision to allow the environmental study does not affect its ability to deny approval or negotiate for a smaller project when Greenbriar submits a formal development application.
A Greenbriar representative said that when the application is submitted, it will call for less than 97 homes in the Spotorno flats area.
Source: Tri-Valley Herald (Pleasanton, Calif.)
