Development of Delta island stopped...

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UPDATE: RENEWED FIGHT AGAINST DELTA DEVELOPMENT IN Contra Costa co.

10/1/2009--Great news! Greenbelt Alliance won its lawsuit to protect farmland in the City of Oakley, a fight that began in 2006. In an important decision announced October 1, Superior Court Judge Barry Baskin ruled against the Contra Costa County town, denying its request to move forward with its plan to build 5,000 houses in an unsafe area on important farmland. In a strong statement, he repealed the environmental impact report for the East Cypress Corridor project, effectively blocking the development and ordered Oakley to address the loss of agricultural land.

"This is a huge victory for the Bay Area and the state, because cities will have to pr

http://www.greenbelt.org/regions/eastbay/camp_oakley.html

http://www.greenbelt.org/resources/press/clippings/clip_2009oct2_CC.html

Oakley must now re-evaluate its environmental impact report for a second time to show how it will offset the loss of 828 acres of farmland in the Hotchkiss Tract.

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Greenbelt Alliance Fights Delta Development

http://www.greenbelt.org/resources/newswire/2009aug.html

On July 24, 2009, Greenbelt Alliance pressed ahead with its lawsuit against the City of Oakley to block plans to build more than 5,000 new homes below sea level.

With Eastern Contra Costa County already hard hit by foreclosures and underwater home values, the proposed development on a Delta island is unnecessary and unsafe. If built, air quality would suffer and more than 1,600 acres of agricultural land would be lost.

In 2006, Greenbelt Alliance prevailed in its litigation against Oakley, and the City was ordered to address the loss of farmland. Unfortunately, it later readopted the plan without compensating for the lost agricultural land. Greenbelt Alliance is asking the court to order Oakley once again to set aside its approval of the plan. The hearing is set for Thursday, August 6.

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from Greenbelt Alliance April 2009 newsletter--On March 10, Oakley approved the sprawling 3,585-acre East Cypress Corridor Project along the delta. Much of this unwise and remote development sits five feet below sea level on farmland. Climate change and predicted sea level rise of nearly five feet, as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, make this a foolhardy plan that poses a grave risk to the lives and property of its future residents.

Greenbelt Alliance sued over the project in 2006, winning a requirement for the City to mitigate for lost farmland and poorer air quality. The lawsuit forced the City to redo its environmental analysis but unfortunately, the requirements were unheeded. This senseless development should not go forward.

Read the full story here: http://www.greenbelt.org/resources/newswire/2009april.html#subheading3