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TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS _ Costa
FROM: DENNIS M. BARRY, AICP
County
INTERIM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
DATE: OCTOBER 14, 1997
SUBJECT: TRANSPAC LETTER REGARDING PITTSBURG SOUTHEAST AREA SPHERE OF
INFLUENCE AMENDMENT AND ANNEXATION PROJECT
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION =
RECOMMENDATION
ACCEPT the report from the Community Development Department Director in response
to the letter from TRANSPAC regarding the City of Pittsburg's proposed Southeast Sphere
of Influence Amendment and Annexation project.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
On September 23, ,1997, the Board referred to the Interim Community Development
Director a letter from TRANSPAC regarding the proposed Pittsburg Southeast Sphere of
Influence Amendment and Annexation project. Their letter states TRANSPAC's belief that
the project's inconsistency with the Urban Limit Line merits the attention of the Board. The
letter urges the Board to carefully analyze the project as a precedent setting proposal, and
to reaffirm the Board's commitment to the voter approved measure and policies contained
in the County General Plan.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: _9 YES SIGNATURE
ACTION OF BOARD ON October 14, 1997 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER x
The following persons addressed the Board regarding this matter: Julie Pierce, TRANSPAC' & City of
Clayton; and Pete Lawrence, City of Clayton. The Board discussed the issues and took the following
action:
1. APPROVED the recommendation of the Interim Community Development Director, as set forth above; and
2. REAFFIRMED the Board's support of the concept of the Urban Limit Line as depicted in Measure C and
the County's General Plan
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT -------- ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE
SHOWN.
Contact: Catherine Kutsuris (510/335-1237) ATTESTED October 14, 1997
Orig: Community Development Department (CDD) PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF
cc: Dennis Barry, Interim CD Director THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Val Alexeeff, GMEDA Director AN NTY ADMINISTRAT
Ernie Vovakis, CDD
B
CK/:aW Christine Wampl er
J:Vroupstdadpoo14udmy0W.bo
TRANSPAC LETTER REGARDING PITTSBURG SOUTHEAST AREA SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
AMENDMENT AND ANNEXATION PROJECT
October 14, 1997
Page 2
BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS (continued)
Proposed SOI/Annexation Project
The proposed SOI/Annexation Project area encompasses 2,745 acres extending southeast
from the City of Pittsburg boundary. The project includes the "pre-zoning" of the area
which would allow for a range of 454 to 1329 residential units on a 313-acre portion of the
site, and 20-acre ranchettes on 1340 acres of the site. The remaining area is comprised
of the Keller Canyon open space lands and the PG&E transmission line corridor. The 767
acre Keller Canyon property, that was purchased as an open space buffer for the landfill,
is included in the project to provide for a contiguous annexation area.
County General Plan and Urban Limit Line:
The County General Plan*designates the majority of the project site as "Agricultural
Lands." The remainder of the site is within the "Open Space" and "Landfill" General Plan
designations.
As referenced in the letter from TRANSPAC, the majority of the project site is located
outside of the Urban Limit Line. According to the EIR prepared by the City of Pittsburg,
approximately 2100 acres (81 percent of the project area) is located outside of the Urban
Limit Line. As shown on Figure B, the Urban Limit Line runs east-west through the site,
and includes all of the area that is within the existing Sphere of Influence. The Urban Limit
Line was placed such that it included all of the land within the Pittsburg Sphere of
Influence.
Issues Raised by TRANSPAC:
TRANSPAC states in their September 12, 1997 letter that the project's inconsistency with
the County Urban Limit Line warrants the attention of the Board. The County General Plan
includes the following text which describes the purpose of the Urban Limit Line:
"In general, the purpose of the ULL is twofold. (1) to ensure preservation of
identified non-urban agricultural, Open space and other areas by establishing
a line beyond which no urban land uses can be designated during the term
of the General Plan, and (2) to facilitate the enforcement of the 65/35 Land
Preservation Standard."(Co GP, pg. 3-13)
Measure C-1990, which established the Urban Limit Line, includes the following text which
addresses annexations:
"The Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) shall be advised to
respect and support the County's 65/35 Preservation Standard, Urban Limit
Line and growth management standards when considering requests for
incorporation or annexation to cities or service districts"....(Co GP, Measure
C-1990, Section 4, Item 8)
The County General Plan includes additional text addressing this issue:
To the extent legally permitted, advise LAFCO to (a) respect and support the
County's 65/35 Preservation Standard, Urban Limit Line and growth management
standards when considering requests for incorporation or annexation to cities or
service districts..."(Co GP, Implementation Measure 3-v, pg. 3-45)
TRANSPAC LETTER REGARDING PITTSBURG SOUTHEAST AREA SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
AMENDMENT AND ANNEXATION PROJECT
October 14, 1997
Page 3
TRANSPAC's letter references this project as a precedent setting proposal in that the
project would allow for the urbanization of lands outside of the Urban Limit Line. This
issue was raised by a number of agencies and public interest groups who responded to
the City's Draft environmental impact report prepared for the project, including County staff
and the Executive Director of LAFCO.
The Pittsburg Final EIR correctly states that if annexation is allowed, the policies of the
County General Plan, including the Urban Limit Line, will no longer apply to the project
area. The letter from the LAFCO staff in response to the Draft EIR, emphasized that the
Urban Limit Line is an important issue. Their letter stated in part, "the ULL is a serious
factor of consideration in any sphere amendment or jurisdictional change. For instance,
in reviewing a major sphere amendment in the Cowell Ranch area last year, the City of
Brentwood requested that 5,500 acres be added to its SOI boundary. In its determination,
The Commission added only the area (2,185) within the ULL to Brentwood's SOI.... Clearly,
the ULL conflict will have to be addressed."
The City of Pittsburg Planning Commission will hold a hearing to consider the Final EIR
and prezoning of the project area on October 14, 1997. After their recommendations have
been approved by the City Council, the City would process an annexation proposal
through LAFCO.
FIGURE A - Existing Pittsburg City Limit And Sphere Of Influence
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77.
i KELLER `--
CANYON
LANDFILL
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CONCORD
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+-4_-, ._..i BLACK DIA'ONO MINES
CLAYTON r•ti i �� REGIONAL PRFZSERVE _r
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FIGURE B Urban Limit Line _ - WA HI
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BLACK DIAMOND MINES
Co to !., 'uL os - t+' REGIONAL PRESERVE
PR
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LEGEND
CITY LIMITS
SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
•##### URBAN LIMIT LINE
PROPOSED SOUTHEAST ANNEXATION AREA
KELLER CANYON OPEN SPACE BUFFER NORTH
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P.G.&E.RIGHT OF WAY
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•TRANSPAC Transportation Partnership and Cooperation
Clayton, Concord, Martinez, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek and Contra Costa County
• 100 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill, California 94523 (510) 671-5250
September 12, 1997 Fg- R EC E I VE D
The Honorable Mark DeSaulnier
Chair EP 1 51997
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
651 Pine Street MG K BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Martinez, California 94553 CONTRA COSTA CO.
Dear Chair DeSauhder:
As you may be aware, TRANSPAC is very concerned about the City of-Pittsburg's Proposed
-Southeast Area Sphere of Influence Amendment and Annexation project. Individually and
collectively, our representatives have worked with the City of Pittsburg to review the project and
have made a number of comments and suggestions on the technical aspects and administrative
processing of the project.
One issue which we believe merits the direct attention of the County Board of Supervisors is the
project's inconsistency with the County Urban Limit Line (ULL).
TRANSPAC believes that the Board of Supervisors needs to review the impact of this project
relative to the ULL and Measure C-90, the 65/35 Land Preservation Standard which was
approved by Contra Costa voters in 1990 and subsequently incorporated into the County's General
Plan. Under ULL policy, portions of the project proposed for developed are to remain as
agricultural land and open space. While we understand that the City of Pittsburg's General Plan
does designate the project for urban development, the area is currently unincorporated and within
the County's jurisdiction. We urge the Board to carefully analyze the full impacts and
implications of this precedent-setting project in the context of established County policy.
TRANSPAC requests that the Board reaffirm its commitment to the voter-approved measure and
the policies contained in the Contra Costa General Plan. We also request that the Board consider
this matter in a timely fashion relative to the City of Pittsburg's.schedule for action on the Project.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require additional information or have questions
regarding this request.
Sincerely,
q�_V C'ev
Julie Pierce
Chair
cc: Dennis Barry, Interim Community Development Director
Annam mama ' Perrella, Executive Officer, Local Agency Formation Commission
TRANSPAC Representatives
TRANSPAC TAC
C:MEANAaw %TmnMaVk uiban.r=.vpd
RECEIVED -,.:
WILLIAM WAYNE & TINA GALLETTI-THOMAS
Thomas Ranch Lama & Livestock
• OCT 1 41997 4723 Suzanne Drive
SUPE
Pittsburg, California 94565
COSTA CO. (510) 432-7552
October 14, 1997
Contra Costa County
Board of Supervisors
651 Pine Street
Martinez, CA 94553
Re: SOUTHEAST AREA PREZONING. Z-92-16 .
SOUTHEAST AREA SPHERE OF INFLUENCE AMENDMENT
AND ANNEXATION PROJECT
Dear Chairman and Members of the Board:
The City of Pittsburg proposed SE Area Prezoning; Sphere
of Influence Amendment; and Annexation into the City will
facilitate development of unincorporated Rangelands from the
area ' s present agricultural uses; will encourage urban sprawl
permanently changing the historic agricultural character of this
area rendering it incompatible with our agricultural operations
and activities, making it impossible for us to sustain the
agricultural use of our properties .
The COP has failed to identify significant impacts , and
has failed to perform certain studies and/or has neglected to
include such in the EIR. The EIR is incomplete and inadequate.
We are here today to support the Board of Supervisors
continued commitment to uphold the Urban Limit Line so over-
whelmingly approved by the voters of this community. And to
also ask if we can count on the County ' s opposition when the
project goes before LAFCO.
Thank you for your time, dedication, and consideration.
Yours truly,
d
Will Wayne Thomas
Tina Galletti-Thomas