Pleasanton council to weigh need for tougher hillside protection regulations

On the heels of receiving 5,000 signatures on petitions calling for the adoption of a citywide hillside protection ordinance, the Pleasanton City Council will discuss the adequacy of the city's existing hillside regulations this week.

On Tuesday, the council will decide if there is a need to strengthen the policies and ordinances that address hillside development, perhaps by adopting a city-initiated hillside preservation plan.

The council's decision will impact the future of the "Save Pleasanton's Hills and Housing Cap" initiative that was submitted to the city last month and recently certified by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

Under the Elections Code, the council has to decide whether to place the initiative on the November 2008 ballot; adopt the initiative that would amend the general plan by prohibiting grading on slopes of 25 percent or greater or within 100 vertical feet of a ridge line; or request city staff to analyze the measure's potential impacts.

Some residents, including initiative co-sponsor Kay Ayala, wonder why the city waited until residents took hillside protection matters into their own hands before initiating its own hillside conversation — particularly after the council approved the controversial Oak Grove subdivision last year, which will bring custom homes to the city's southeast hills. "It's hypocritical of them to be coming up with a hillside ordinance now, after they have approved the Oak

Councilwoman Cindy McGovern originally requested information in November on a city-initiated hillside protection ordinance; the same night she cast the sole dissenting vote against the Oak Grove project.

A month earlier, Ayala and a group of residents had already begun circulating petitions for a hillside protection measure, noting that the general plan has called for the implementation of a hillside protection ordinance since the long-range planning document was adopted in 1996.

One goal of the general plan states, "Develop a ridge line preservation ordinance and scenic hillside design guidelines to improve the safety and reduce the potential negative visual impacts of development in hilly areas."

City Manager Nelson Fialho said he considers the citizen-initiated measure and the council's discussion as related, not competing, measures.

"We're not assuming that the council will initiate a council-sponsored (hillside) initiative," he said. "The (staff) report is clearly about all of the ways in which we can go about developing hillside regulations consistent with the general plan. Both discussions are related to one another, and it's timely and important that those discussions happen together."

He added that the council's discussion is not an assessment on whether a citizen-led initiative would be better or worse than a city-sponsored initiative.

"It's important for us to look at everything," Fialho said. "Then the council can make the best and most informed policy decision."

The staff report notes the city already has policies and regulations in place that recognize and preserve the beauty of the surrounding hills and ridge lines, including the Pleasanton Ridgeland Area Plan, the city's Urban Growth Boundary, the West Foothill Corridor Overlay District and the Vineyard Avenue Corridor Specific Plan. Nevertheless, Ayala said, had there been a citywide hillside measure in place the Oak Grove project would not have been approved and she would not be fighting the project's property owners, Jennifer and Frederic Lin, in court.

The Lins, who own the 562 acres in the hills above Kottinger Ranch, filed a lawsuit against Ayala and the city last year, after Ayala successfully gathered more than 5,000 signatures to have the Oak Grove project placed on the ballot for voter approval.

An Alameda County Superior Court judge disqualified the referendum petition based on the argument that Ayala and signature-gatherers for the referendum violated California Elections Code by not carrying all the documents related to the city statute.

Ayala, who has maintained that the group did nothing wrong, had asked the city to support her on the appeal. A majority of the council voted not to earlier this month.

"At this point, I just want them to honor the citizens who have asked for (a hillside ordinance) be on the ballot," she said. "They need to show they have good faith in their citizens."

Reach Meera Pal at 925-847-2120 or mpal@bayareanewsgroup.com.