Send this story Print this story

Adjust text size

Letter: Homes would be huge

Dear Editor,

To Pleasanton voters: Vote No on Measure D. Did you ever shop at the now-empty Domus store? The one which was Pleasanton's largest grocery store in the 1960s? It's about 8,400 square feet, which is the average size of the 51 homes authorized for the Oak Grove property. The largest homes could go to 12,500 square feet, so add another 50 percent to the Domus building. Of course, that does not count the multi-car garage, cabana house, or second unit.

A yard of dirt would be a good-sized load for a full-sized pickup truck. To build those 51 homes, it would take 620,000 such loads to move the dirt that the Oak Grove developers plan to cut off Pleasanton's southern ridges. To cut 43 feet off a hill top, a lot of dirt needs to be moved. Add a mile-long road on the just flattened ridge to service the 51 houses.

I have other concerns - the visibility of many homes from the valley floor, habitat destruction, fire danger to homes on hilltops surrounded by grasslands, significant distances and time delays for fire trucks, a truncated city hearing process before the approval, a developer lawsuit to invalidate this referendum, big money trying to buy this election.

Lastly, this project violates ridgeline protection (Measure PP) just passed by the voters in the last election. 

Vote to preserve our ridgeline. Vote to protect the environment. Vote No on Measure D.

Brian Arkin