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The Livermore City Council recently approved the framework for a potential residential project spanning about 50 acres of open space near the Springtown neighborhood.
Located at 3658 Las Colinas Road, the overall site of about 122 acres is poised for permission to feature 605 to 900 residential units in the developable area at a density of eight to 30 units per acre.
A future project would be obligated to feature associated improvements such as common open space, a neighborhood park, stormwater treatment facilities, private internal roadways, pedestrian and bicycle trails and on-and off-site infrastructure.
The council unanimously endorsed an ordinance at its July 27 meeting authorizing the execution of a development agreement with landowner Adventus to instate the development framework as well as vesting rights.
No specific project or physical development has been approved, so community concerns are slated for future addressing at the time of a formal proposal.
“This is giving Livermore an opportunity to get some really good community benefits,” Councilmember Evan Branning said. “Any of the concerns that have been brought up should be mitigated as we get to a real project.”
More than 20 years ago, the Las Colinas property was slated to feature a Catholic high school under Adventus.
The not-for-profit public benefit corporation received the Livermore Planning Commission’s approval of a development agreement in 2005 for the high school project.
But, according to the staff report prepared by Livermore senior planner Shannon Pagan, Adventus said a school is no longer viable on the property.
Adventus President and Dioceses of Oakland CFO Attila Bardos did not respond for comment at the time of publication. Officials at the Diocese of Oakland did not respond to requests for comments either.
Fast-forward to July 27 and the city agreed to alter the land-use designation of the property from open space to allow limited residential development as part of the General Plan 2045 update.
As part of the development agreement, Adventus agreed to contribute $6 million toward the city’s community benefit fund to support infrastructure and amenities in the Springtown area.
Adventus plans to later sell the property to a developer.
The land outside of the approximately 50-acres of developable areas would be preserved as open space or “improved consistent with the Agreement”, the staff report states.
During the public comment period, nine of the 13 speakers criticized the proposed development agreement.
Siding with the minority opinion, Board Chair Kimbrely Gruidl of the Livermore Valley Chamber of Commerce lent her support to the development agreement.
“This is an important infill opportunity that allows our city to grow in a balanced and intentional way,” Gruidl said.
On the other side of the argument, multiple Livermore residents express concern over traffic and safety issues potentially caused by the use of an unpaved access road.
“Nobody’s going to be building a development supplied by a 23-foot dirt path,” Mayor John Marchand replied.
“This sets up a process to develop a final plan,” he said of the development agreement.
Also critical of the proposed development agreement were two speakers from labor unions.
Brian Werner, representative for a local chapter of the Sheet Metal Workers, suggested additional language in the development agreement to support standards such as the inclusion of state-approved apprentices in a future project and the provision of healthcare.
“Nothing that’s putting us in that language makes it more difficult for the Diocese to sell or move the property,” Werner said.
Bardos later expressed opposition to changing the proposed development agreement.
“Trying to put a new, substantial condition on the development agreement at this stage is just simply unacceptable and would fundamentally alter that balance — years of work, years of trust, years of compromise, years of good faith and I don’t want to see that thrown out the window,” Bardos said.
Shy of altering the development agreement itself, Branning successfully proposed an amendment to the council’s ordinance that detailed a pre-existing recommendation to a future developer for engaging with labor organizations for local hiring, the inclusion of state-approved apprenticeships, standard wages and employer-supported healthcare benefits.
In addition to approving the ordinance July 27, the council adopted a resolution finding that the development agreement is covered by the certified General Plan 2045 environmental impact report.
A future development requires separate approval of a neighborhood plan, planned development zoning, tentative map or maps, site plan review and project-level environmental review. It would also be subject to development impact fees.
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