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The proposed ballot measure set to go before the Dublin City Council tonight would ask voters whether or not the city should seek to modify a provision of its General Plan “in a manner that would allow future approval by the City of limited commercial development on certain property east of the City limits owned by Livbor-Manning LLC,” according to a staff report prepared by outgoing City Manager Linda Smith.
The property in question is a developable portion of the 180-acre Crosby property situated between Dublin and Livermore, which has been the subject of ongoing debate between the two cities, with Livermore seeking to retain open space between the two cities and a view of the hills as its neighboring city seeks to allow for commercial development along the planned Dublin Boulevard extension.
“If approved, the measure would allow the City Council, in the future, to approve development of the site,” Smith wrote in the staff report. “Future development approvals would require, potentially among other things, environmental review under CEQA, general plan amendment, prezoning/zoning, amendment of the City’s sphere of influence, annexation, and site development review.”
The Dublin Open Space Initiative of 2014 called for the city to conduct a study on the potential of commercial development 10 years after its adoption, considering whether or not development would be necessary to fund the Dublin Boulevard extension’s construction and maintenance and to evaluate the feasibility of water and wastewater services for any potential developments.
Consultants for the city from Keyser Marston conducted the study last year, concluding that commercial development would benefit the city economically with approximately $1.1 million in annual revenue for maintenance of the extension and $16 million in one-time construction revenues.
Following the study, the question of water and wastewater services remains unanswered.
“As part of its assessment, the City engaged in discussions with the Dublin San Ramon Services District (DSRSD) to determine whether water and wastewater service is assured,” Smith wrote. “Given that this first step of asking the voters is not an annexation request, DSRSD was unable to provide the analysis until such a request is made to the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO). This evaluation would occur after the voters of Dublin decide whether to amend the current boundaries.”
The proposed ballot measure would be entitled the “Dublin Traffic Relief, Clean Air/Open Space Preservation measure,” asking voters whether the city should adopt an ordinance to amend the 2014 Open Space Initiative to allow the city to accept a land donation that would accommodate a 1.5-mile road extension connecting Dublin Boulevard and North Canyons Parkway that would include bike lanes and pedestrian access, pointing to the potential to improve traffic flow and emergency response times in the area, preserving 100 acres of primarily undevelopable land as open space “while maintaining voter approved housing development restrictions in exchange for potential limited commercial development on the adjacent 80 acres.”
The Dublin City Council is set to meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday (July 16). The agenda is available here.
