HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 10231984 - 2.7 c;�, 7
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
COfl
FROM: SUPERVISOR SUNNE'WRIGHT MCPEAK County Costa
DATE' October 16, 1984 Wunty
SUBJECT: Proposed "Safety valve" Plan
I
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(SI & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION
Approve exploration of a "safety valve" plan to relieve traffic
congestion and refer concept to County Administrator' s Office,
County Transportation Advisory Committee, County Planning
Department, County Public Works Department, Mayors Conference,
Contra Costa County Development Association and area Chambers
of Commerce for review and comment to the Board of Supervisors.
Receipt of the input should be coordinated by the CAO through
the County Transportation Advisory Committee.
BACKGROUND
Traffic congestion in many parts of Contra Costa County is reaching
intolerable levels during peak hours . There must be aggressive
action to assure the county residents that adequate transport-
ation and circulation facilities will be constructed to accommodate
such traffic levels and that the traffic congestion will not get
significantly worse before such new facilities are in operation.
The matter is complicated by the fact that there are 18 different
local jurisdictions - the county and 17 cities - responsible for
local land use and transportation/circulation planning.
Several steps have already been taken by the Board of Supervisots
to respond to the traffic congestion problems including:
- securing key freeway interchange and expansion approvals
in the State Transportation Improvement Plan in a record
period of time. (some construction has already begun)
- obtaining approval for the I680 - Hwy 24 interchange
improvement with the help of Congressman George Miller
and other federal officials (moving the .needed construction
up in time by several years)
- working diligently to obtain approval for the Hoffman
Freeway (Knox-Miller) and North Richmond Bypass.
- vigorously advocating for BART extension to East County.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT- X YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S)
ACTION OF BOARD ON October 23. 1984 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER X
REFERRED same to the Contra Costa County Transportation Advisory Committee. Input is
to be solicited from the agencies as noted above as well as COLAB, BIA, BAC and the Planning
Commissions.
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT I ) 1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
AYES: NOES: AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. ,/
CC: CCCTAC ATTESTED �.C; J ao0• 19?`t'
Director of Planning Phil Batchelor, Clerk of the Board of o 16
Public works Director Supervisors and County Administrator
County Administrator
M282/7.80 BY �_ .Jv" �� DEPUTY
Page 2
SUPERVISOR SUNNE WRIGHT MCPEAK - October 16, 1984
- Working through a coordinated local committee with CALTRANS
and State officials to obtain completion of Hwy 4 .
- Preserving the SP right-of-way and moving to explore the best
use for the County residents .
- Requiring major transportation and circulation improvements as
conditions of approval on new development (including requiring
TSM measures and developer transit associations ) .
- Supporting the formation and operation of CCCTA .
- Consistently pushing for expansion of the Martinez-Benicia
Bridge .
Further , many cities are considering additional measures . Concord ,
for example , adopted a plan for arterial street fees .
Although substantial steps have been taken and more action is planned ,
we cannot allow new building to run far ahead of the necessary facili-
ties to accommodate the congestion . This is not fair to the people
who live and work here now . Yet , we should not take arbitrary action
to undermine the value of property or to stifle economic investment .
Therefore , there is a need for a "safety valve" plan to relieve traffic
congestion and assure citizens that it will not get appreciably worse .
A "safety valve" concept to relieve traffic congestion would involve
at least a three point approach:
1 . A stepped-up public-private coordinated effort to advocate for
State and Federal action on needed transportation and infra-
structure facilities and to identify the requisite local share
funding;
2. An aggressive transportation systems management (TSM) program
to encourage employer coordinated transportation, car-pooling
and flex-time; and
3• A city-county coordination plan to release building permits
and occupancy certificates only as sufficient transportation
and circulation facilities exist to accommodate the traffic .
A coordinated plan to control the release of building permits and
occupancy certificates would require a city-county committee to:
(a) assess the regional and sub-regional facilities (as the County
Transportation Advisory Committee has begun); and (b) assign a fair ,
proportionate share of building permits and occupancy certificates to
be issued by the County and cities in the region or sub-region. The
advantage of using the building permits and occupancy certificates as
the major "safety valve" mechanism is that the action can have a more
immediate impact and it avoids problems of inverse condemnation through
blocking approval of projects . Yet the effect will be to assure citi-
zens that they will not have to bear any more of the frustration of
new economic development while the construction of new transportation
and circulation facilities catch up with the current building in Contra
Costa County.
If a building permit and/or certificate of occupancy control program
were developed as part of a "safety valve" plan to relieve traffic
congestion , developments which have implemented a TSM effort as a con-
dition of approval (aimed at reducing trip generation by 40%) should
be exempt from permit restrictions .
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