City Council OKs bypass road recommendation

A recommendation to realign a bypass road for the public to reach Callippe Preserve Golf Course in southeastern Pleasanton was given the OK in a 5-0 vote by the City Council Tuesday night.

The decision didn’t come easy, however.

“This is probably one of the two most difficult decisions we will have to make on this council,” said Councilman Matt Sullivan, the other being whether to keep the Stoneridge Drive extension in the General Plan, which will be debated at a City Council workshop next Tuesday.

“I believe it has been a promise of the city to build the bypass road,” he said.

“This is extremely difficult. You’re obviously emotionally attached to this issue,” Mayor Jennifer Hosterman told the audience.

“It’s not perfect, but it gives us the opportunity to more forward,” she said. “We have a lot of work left to do. This is just the beginning.”

Plans for a bypass road to keep traffic off Alisal Street in Happy Valley are included in the 1998 Happy Valley Specific Plan. The latest recommendation was made by the Happy Valley Blue Ribbon Committee, formed last June. The plans include closing Westbridge Drive, a temporary street that leads from the golf course to the L-shaped junction of Alisal and Happy Valley Road. Cars now using that road would be shifted to the new road that would connect from Sycamore Creek Way.

While council members said they were grappling with the decision, they said the approval of the recommendation only means that the city will start exploring the bypass road and its feasibility as well as conducting an environmental impact report. Nothing is set in stone and the public will have plenty of opportunities to be involved in the process, they said.

But the emotionally charged issue starkly divided two neighborhoods that border the golf course and will be affected by the decision.

Residents of Happy Valley said approving the recommendation was a no-brainer.

“The Happy Valley loop was never intended to handle that traffic,” said resident Kellen Aura. “Sycamore (Creek Way) was. It has sidewalks on both sides. It’s lit.”

But residents of the newer communities of Bridle Creek and Sycamore Heights, where the bypass would go, said they felt cheated by the developer they bought their homes from and asked the city to sympathize with their concerns of safety, noise and traffic.

“We are the ones who will take the brunt of this,” said Sycamore Creek Way resident Phyllis Lee. “None of us in Bridle Creek knew that this would be the road. How was I, an out-of-town buyer, supposed to know?”

Sherri Howard, who has twin 2-year-old girls, said the newer residential community has 50 children who live there.

“The traffic circles that are there now do little to slow people down,” she said. “I’m concerned about impaired drivers–golfers who have drinks after their game.”

Debi Frost shared the language of a Bridle Creek promotional flyer, saying it describes the neighborhood as tranquil and picturesque.

“Funny, I never thought I would see 1,800 cars going by my kitchen window,” she said. “We will not be muzzled and we are considering our options.”

Happy Valley residents, while slightly outnumbered in speakers, shot back.

“Not taking the time to read what they’re signing is their own fault,” Aura said. “Sycamore Creek Way has been a route for cyclists and hikers for many years.”

Patrick Costanzo, executive vice president of Greenbriar Homes, which developed Sycamore Heights and Bridle Creek, said his company has acted appropriately, despite some homeowners’ claims.

“We have provided to the city all the legal documents. We believe legally we disclosed all the right things,” he said. “Unfortunately I don’t think you’ll get consensus on this because you have two different neighborhoods.”

Some also attacked the formation of the Blue Ribbon committee. They said the committee was “stacked with special interest,”comprised of mostly Happy Valley residents and the developer. Only one member represented Sycamore Heights and Bridle Creek, they said.

City staff, responding to Councilwoman Cindy McGovern’s questioning of the committee’s formation, said the public was noticed that the committee would be formed as well as before each meeting was held. McGovern said she felt it was normal to have a developer be a representative on a committee.

It’s their land, they should have a say-so, she said.