Concord Council picking plan for Weapons Station uses
Choices: open space with smart growth - or sprawl
If the Concord City Council chooses well, the 5,100-acre former Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS) could provide a superb open-space resource for the people of Concord and the Bay Area, plus a model smart-growth community near the North Concord BART station.
As early as October the city could adopt a final reuse plan for the former base, one of the largest remaining developable areas in the East Bay. Much of the land is still open space, and through its heart flows Diablo Creek, a potential habitat for native trout and many other native species. The reuse plan must protect these precious resources.
The draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) includes seven possible plans. Plans 6 and 7 would preserve the most open space; Plan 7 would have the most, but Plan 6 would create a larger contiguous block. Other options could merely transfer the base to a private developer in under three years, bringing sprawl and traffic congestion. Plans 6 and 7 would create a compact development area with the economic viability for sustainable development that would allow individuals to both live and work in Concord, thereby reducing the traffic nightmares and pollution resulting from long commutes to the South Bay or San Francisco.
The Sierra Club is working with the Community Coalition for a Sustainable Concord, a group of housing, faith, environmental, and labor organizations that has developed a platform for developing the CNWS in a "world-class" and "sustainable" way.
WhatYouCanDo
Please write to the Concord City Council at:
1950 Parkside Drive
Concord, CA 94519
www.cityofconcord.org
Urge the Council to choose Plan 6 or 7, or a hybrid of the two, to protect all open space east of Mount Diablo Creek, and to cluster housing, jobs, and retail near the North Concord BART station. Insist on full clean-up of toxic chemicals at the site and adherence to the highest green-building standards.
Come also to the "Building Consensus" Alternative Evaluation Public Workshop on Sat., Sep. 13, in the Wisteria Room at Concord Senior Center, 2727 Parkside Circle, Concord, from 9 am to noon.
You can find the EIR at www.concordreuseproject.org Click at right on "Draft EIR".