Livermore - protecting open space and developing the downtown

The struggle to establish an urban growth boundary (UGB) in Livermore has been so intense over the years that the political atmosphere has often resembled a civil war.

Today the areas known as North Livermore and South Livermore both have UGBs in place, and peace has come to the city at last. Vineyards and wineries are springing up in South Livermore. North Livermore, where the conflict has been the most intense, still has issues to resolve. A proposed cemetery is a current threat to the agriculture-oriented planning many wish to see. There's little talk any more, however, about full-scale urbanization of North Livermore. Even Tom Vargas, a former Livermore councilmember and once a UGB foe, says he now supports the UGB. (Vargas is a possible candidate in the City Council election this November.) The current thrust of planning is in the direction of preservation. How can North Livermore be permanently preserved in agriculture and open space? That is the question of the moment.

There has been talk about zoning the area for 20-acre agricultural parcels. Crops would be grown, horses boarded and the like. Vintner Philip Wente says the area is suitable for vineyards. As if to push his case, a 90-acre vineyard has been planted on a North Livermore hillside, visible to all who pass on I-580. Nearby on North Livermore Avenue, a Laotian immigrant family has been growing and selling plump, tasty strawberries, further displaying the area's crop growing possibilities. Water is the key to the much desired revitalization of agriculture, it's believed, and studies are underway to determine how the needed water can be obtained and how it can be provided at affordable cost to the growers.

The struggle to save this area from massive development goes back almost 40 years. First there was a huge proposal known as Geldertown, after Danville realtor Harlan Geldermann. A shift in the Alameda County Board of Supervisors balance of power in 1976 caused Geldertown to fall. When the power shifted back to the developers four years later, Geldertown was resurrected under the name Las Positas New Town, only to be rejected 2 - 1 in a countywide vote in 1984.

The UGB issue was ferociously fought in the election of 2000. Alameda County Measure D provided for a UGB to prevent development of unincorporated lands in the county, including North Livermore, and the voters passed it. To prevent developers from annexing their lands to the city and getting development authorized that way, Livermore activists then wrote up their own municipal version of Measure D, complete with UGB, and had it enacted via the initiative process in 2002. A pro-UGB City Council approved the initiative on its own, rather than placing it on the ballot. Foes screamed foul and made the UGB - or rather the way the UGB was approved (they seemed to be afraid of arguing directly against the UGB itself) - a flaming issue in the 2003 mayor/City Council election. They lost in a complete sweep.

The greatest victory was yet to come.

Pardee Homes, out of Los Angeles, spent $3.3 million in the 2005 Livermore election in an attempt to breach the North Livermore UGB and build 2450 homes. The voters rejected the project by a 72% margin: 7663 yes, 19,678 no. It was a sweep, too, for the candidates opposed to Pardee.

A post-election editorial by the Livermore Independent observed that in a series of elections over some three decades, the voter mandate has stood steadfastly opposed to suburban sprawl. This election, with its 72% majority, was the most resounding rejection ever. The editorial concluded, "One reason for the increased percentage, we believe, is that the `no' this time was more than just a rejection of a developer's proposal. The UGB is in place, offering an alternative to the growth that was formerly thought to be the area's inevitable destiny. The `no' this time was also a `yes' - a yes for preservation of the UGB and its twin goals of agricultural renewal and downtown revitalization."

So here we are today. The North Livermore UGB is solidly in place. Mayor Marshall Kamena and the majority of the City Council support the UGB. To be viable before the voters, Council candidates have to pledge allegiance to the UGB.

Foes used to argue that measures such as the UGB would bring stagnation and drain the community's vitality. That has not occurred in Livermore. Indeed, the UGB appears to have invigorated the community. This is especially evident in the downtown area. Livermore's sleepy old downtown is booming. The construction of a performing-arts theater is nearing completion. A 13-theater Cineplex opened in December. New restaurants and shops seem to open every day. Attractive high-density housing is going up all through the area. Cars used to be the main street life visible in downtown Livermore; now you see people. While the open spaces of North Livermore are off-limits, developers are finding that the city's existing urbanized areas are abundant with opportunities.

Robert Several

Robert Several is an editorial writer for the Livermore Independent and has been personally active on these issues for decades.