The room was packed to capacity January 15, 2014, with concerned Danville Residents who came out to hear what is being planned for their community. The meeting was a collaborative effort of different groups all opposing the Danville 2030 Plan. SOS Danville, Citizens Town Hall and Friends of Danville were there to inform fellow residents about the 2030 Plan, EIR (Environmental Impact Report) and SAP (Sustainable Action Plan) being considered by the town. Almost 4,000 flyers were hand delivered announcing the town hall. Over 50% of the audience proudly held up their flyers when asked “How did you hear about the meeting”.
For those of you unaware of what is going on in Danville, I’ll give a brief background. Danville is in the process of adopting a 20 year general plan. This time line is twice the length of any previous general plans which has many concerned. In addition, the town is including in this plan language from a radical untested regional plan (referred to as the One Bay Area Sustainable Communities Strategy) that has not been completed, certified and will not even be adopted until June of this year.
Two unelected, unaccountable regional agencies MTC (Metropolitan Transportation Commission) and ABAG (Association of Bay Area Governments) are behind the One Bay Area plan and are threatening to withhold transportation funds from local municipalities if they don’t adopt this plan. MTC and ABAG are in control of $277 billion dollars of federal grant money and have been given the task of creating the first ever regional plan for the Bay Area.
This plan is a cookie cutter solution that will transform all of our cities and towns into high density, stack and pack housing next to mass transit to reduce VMTs (Vehicle Miles Traveled). Much of this includes the inclusion of very low to low income units to fulfill the social and environmental justice component of the plan. All of this is being touted as necessary to reduce the level of GHGs (Green House Gases) in California.
However, if you take the premise of the plan and apply it to Danville it is clear that this plan has no business being implemented in our town. Danville is not a transit hub or major corridor and adding high density housing to the town would increase traffic, VMTs, GHGs and destroy the small town atmosphere. The legislation behind this plan is AB32, SB375 and AB2785. These bills work together to effectively force development into compact areas, to ostensibly reduce greenhouse gas emissions while restricting the rights of owners of undeveloped private land outside of UGB (Urban Growth Boundaries) throughout the Bay Area and the state.
AB32 was passed in 2006 and calls for a statewide reduction in GHGs to 1990 levels by the year 2020. The CARB board is supposed to inventory and monitor these levels. The local towns are not required to implement Climate or Sustainable Action Plans, but many are doing so on their own. SB375 was passed in 2008.
This bill links transportation to land use and gives the MTC agency the task of creating a regional plan for how and where the cities and counties should grow over the next 30 years. MTC is responsible for the transportation portion of this plan and ABAG is handling the land use and population forecasts.
This type of regional blueprint has NEVER been done and the SB375 bill clearly states that the plan is not mandatory for local municipalities. AB2785 passed in 2010 defines a wildlife corridor system throughout California. The only problem with this is that these corridors include private property. This map is most egregious in that it contemplates the taking of private property by government.
What people don’t realize is that this map is NOT about preserving land (Open Space) for the animals and plants. These land masses that are being set aside are being incorporated into giant land trusts for the purpose of selling carbon credits in the trillion dollar Cap n’ Trade scheme that recently started in this state. A few large land trusts and foundations will be the beneficiaries of this giant piggy bank.
The CARB board has already stated that much of the credits will be given away. This is a fraudulent pay to play scheme and giant land grab not an environmental initiative. The map can be found at www.dfg.ca.gov/habcon/connectivity. The government agencies who prepared this map are DOT (Department of Transportation), CalTrans and DFG (Department of Fish and Game). I understand people want to preserve and protect the environment, but these bills are not about protecting the environment they are being used to socially reengineer the lives of the people of the people of California by implementing a new development model that will ultimately force people out of their cars and single family homes into high density human settlements.
Multiple speakers at Tuesday’s meeting covered different topics. The main points were to follow the lead of Corte Madera and disassociate the town from ABAG, remove the PDA (Priority Development Area) designation from the town and let the town decide where to build in the future, challenge the housing allocation values, remove all language of the unadopted regional SCS plan from the Danville 2030 plan, EIR and SAP and let the uphold the Measure S right to vote.
The bottom line is there is no proof that the One Bay Area plan will save GHGs in Danville. There is no proof that low income housing has any relationship to the reduction in GHGs. Danville is not a transit hub or transit corridor and the nearest BART station is 7 miles away. The people of Danville are upset that unelected unaccountable bureaucrats are making decisions about how and where there city will grow and are showing up in ever increasing numbers to oppose this plan.
Danville residents have the right to decide how their town will grow and they aren’t taking this overreach lying down. Standing room only crowds are showing up to Planning Commission meetings. I don’t think the town of Danville has seen this much action in a while. It’s nice to see people coming together to fight for a good cause. This is not about right and left. This is about right and wrong. And this plan is wrong for Danville.
To learn more about the fight in Danville go to www.CitizensTownHall.org.
Also attend the next Planning Commission meetings January 22nd and February 12th at 7:30pm at the Danville Community Center, 420 Front Street.
Bill Gram-Reefer is Editor & Publisher of Halfway To Concord, founded in 2004. Halfway To Concord is the leading online source for community-driven political news, events, and opinion for Contra Costa County and the San Francisco East Bay.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Bill,
Thanks again for the good posts on this topic.
The big question that a lot of us have is exactly how much money Danville would lose if it ignored ABAG requirement and ignored State of California affordable housing requirements. It’s easy to simply oppose these things, but I think the debate would be much more productive if we all knew exactly how much money was at stake. Are selling our sovereignty for pennies or is half of the Town budget depending on these funds.
Nobody has thrown out specific numbers and it seems to me that the actual dollars at stake are a critical part of the discussion.
Good question. The number is hard to pin down because it’s never been done. As far as i know there is a few hundred thousand dollars for designating the whole town a PDA. Then there is Measure J funds from the County. These were 1/2 cent sales tax funds that were voted on by the public in 2005 for our roads. These funds amount to about $600,000 which is being held hostage until we comply. These amounts are small compared the amount of money that is unfunded for schools, fire, safety and other items that will need to be paid for if all of these units are built in the town. Also, private property owners next to these high density developments will see a decrease in property value. Can’t measure how much, but would guess based on housing prices in Danville more than what we are getting or will lose by doing this.
The proposed plan by Danville council really is a shambles. They are ignoring measure S that states they must ask the people of Danville to rezone land. The council are taking direction from ABAG- an unelected Non Governmental Organization that is holding some purse strings alongside MTC. Surely such shadowy behaviour has no place in America! Danville should get out of ABAG and keep control at the local level. Any changes should happen locally and organically, not as dictated by NGO’s behind the scenes…
Yeah but property taxes from the new units would pay the bills for schools, police, etc.
Really, this whole mess is several big issues piled on top of each other and most people I talk to in town are very confused.
First, there is the issue of ABAG and the State of CA imposing development guidelines on towns and holding them hostage with $$. This is a big-picture issue that is far beyond Danville. As basically a libertarian myself, I’m not happy about how this works.
Second, there is the question of whether Danville should follow those guidelines or not (regardless of whether we like them). This is an impossible question to answer unless we know exactly how much money is at stake. It it would mean laying off police and closing the libraries and parks, I think most people would agree that it’s in the town’s best interest to follow the guidelines. This is clearly the way the Council feels but they’ve done a terrible job of explaining the consequences to the residents.
Third, there is a lot of fear-mongering over the impact of affordable housing downtown. And a lot of nimbyism. The truth is nowhere near as bad as some people may think. I did analysis of Dublin’s program here that should put people’s minds at ease.
http://www.bayarearealestatetrends.com/2013/01/understanting-affordable-housing-in-downtown-danville/
I’m grateful to you and your blog for keeping on top of this story. I’m hoping we can get some real numbers from the Town Council at some point.
This is a complex issue. You say that the new units will pay for the taxes, but did you know that much of the 14 areas (35 acres) the town is looking to rezone are already revenue generating businesses like podiatrists, doctors, dentists, bowling alley, etc. What about them??? When we replace tax generating businesses with residential units just for the sake of social justice there is a problem. Danville can provide it’s fair share of affordable housing in so many ways without drawing a bulls eye around the town and rezoning businesses out of existence. I don’t know if you were at the last planning meeting, but it was a dismal display. The planning commissioners, for the most part, had no idea what a PDA was and why we needed it? The audience appeared to be more informed than the commissioners. This is a scary thought. The staff appeared to be running the meeting and leading the commissioners. This is not about the fear of affordable housing in Danville. People are upset about unelected, unaccountable regional bureaucrats dictating, through coercion, how our town should grow in the future. This is not an isolated instance. This is happening all over the Bay Area. MTC and ABAG have been working with NGOs and stakeholder groups for almost 2 decades behind closed doors to form this plan. The public has not been involved and has been shut out of the process. If this is such a great plan then let the people of Danville and the 9 Bay Area counties vote on it.
If you follow the money you will find that big $$$ is behind this and where the money flows so does the corruption. This is not about saving the planet as we are being led to believe. This is about control and money. Big development in partnership with Big govt and Big labor are all going to benefit from this plan. The tax payers deserve a say. Local control is what the people of Danville deserve. No one wants to have their future decided for them.
“. The tax payers deserve a say. Local control is what the people of Danville deserve. No one wants to have their future decided for them”
I agree. But without knowing how much money we are getting or losing by participating in these programs, there is no way for anyone to make a rational decision.
As far as those businesses, they will be fine. Just because a property is rezoned for higher density doesn’t mean that the existing business will get kicked out of town. I would expect most of the development near downtown to have retail/businesses on the first floor with residential units above.
And, even though I would sad to see the bowling alley go, the person who owns that land has rights too.
I wasn’t at the last meeting, but I know some people who went. I heard it was bad. However, I also know that a lot of the residents aren’t that well-informed about the entire General Plan & development process. Having said all of that, the council members may not fully understand it either.
I would urge people to understand that nobody on the town council is “selling out” to special interests. There are real financial benefits for Danville’s participation. They’ve done a lousy job explaining that to the public.
I see two types of people opposed to the plan… First, the libertarian/Tea Party types who are opposed in principal to outside groups influencing our town. This is a legitimate perspective, but without knowing the actual dollars at stake we can’t make a definite claim that participation is bad for Danville. NOT participating might be worse.
Second, the nimbyist types who are terrified that affordable housing will turn Danville into Oakland. In the link I posted above I explain how affordable housing would actually work, including the number of units (around 30) and the income requirements (still around $100,000). This group, to me, is simply not well informed.
I am not speculating on these businesses. It is a fact that many of these types of businesses are being pushed out right now because the owners of the properties that are being rezoned know that their properties are worth more and are not renewing leases. My doctor and podiatrist were just told they had to leave because their leases were not being renewed. They offered to pay more but the property owner declined. The business owner are being shut out for $$$. I can’t fault the owners of the properties because they would be stupid not to sell to a developer for a big profit. The developers will then get bonuses for higher densities, lower incomes, environmental waivers and will also be able to violate building height limits, decrease parking and ignore setbacks. As a developer you build what makes sense and if you are being given big incentives to build high density as opposed to single family or other projects you will follow the path of $$$ and least resistance.
You keep mentioning money. I would love to see the exact amounts in a spreadsheet. We have asked for this. The ABAG and MTC folks don’t care how much any of their pie in the sky stuff costs. I’ve been using the same logical argument you have for several years. People must be given the facts about what all this will cost in order to make a logical decision. Without that information we should not commit to a regional plan that has not even been adopted and does not exist. If the regional agencies who are pushing this plan can and won’t give numbers then why should we comply? Come to the next planning meeting and ask for real numbers. Let’s put the facts on the table and then let the residents of Danville take a vote. I’m all for it.
I will. It’s a date.