Court upholds protection of Franklin Canyon

The Contra Costa County Superior Court has upheld Measure M in Hercules. This initiative, written collaboratively by the Friends of Franklin Canyon (now Friends of Hercules) and the Sierra Club, designates the treasured ridgelands along Highway 4 as open space, suitable for agriculture, outdoor recreation, and very low-density residential use. The measure protects the lands from the devastation of a proposed residential development that would have cut more than 3,000 oak trees and strip-mined more than five million cubic feet of ridgetops.

The project proponent, GreenPark, together with its financial partner Empire Companies Land Development, both of Southern California, campaigned vigorously against the measure, spending almost $300,000. Even before the initiative passed with an overwhelming 63.2% of the vote, GreenPark filed two lawsuits.

One suit accused the city of Hercules of trying to sabotage the project by delaying on the Environmental Impact Report. The other claimed that the initiative constrained the use of the land to the degree of constituting a "taking", and that therefore the city owed compensation, possibly in the tens of millions of dollars. On. Jan. 28 the court summarily dismissed the first suit, but the plaintiffs have appealed. On April 26 the court denied the second suit on all counts. The developers have 60 days from then if they wish to appeal.

Now the Friends are working to open discussions with the East Bay Regional Park District and the Muir Heritage Land Trust about the possibility of negotiating for the purchase and permanent protection of this wonderful habitat.

Steve Kirby