Dublin and Livermore at odds over land between both cities

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Following months of discussion between the two Tri-Valley communities, Livermore and Dublin hope to collaborate over a contentious land-use issue that would impact both cities.

Representatives from the two cities have expressed interest in working together to find an agreeable solution on how to move forward with a 180-acre parcel of unincorporated, privately owned land known as the Crosby property. While Dublin is looking for a portion of the land to be developed, Livermore is pushing to keep it entirely open space.

“The property is located in Alameda County and currently protected by Measure D, which has a goal of preserving agricultural lands and protecting open space, watersheds, and wildlife habitat,” Livermore officials told the Weekly. “In addition, the City of Livermore’s 2003 General Plan includes policies for establishing a greenbelt buffer in Doolan Canyon, preserving scenic viewsheds, and protecting open space.”

“Consistent with these policies, Livermore would support maintaining an agricultural or open space designation on the property with a staging area and trail access into Doolan Canyon,” they added.

Last month, Dublin City Manager Linda Smith outlined Dublin’s major goals for the land in an open letter to the city of Livermore.

“The City of Dublin, like the City of Livermore, has great interest in seeing Dublin Boulevard extended to North Canyons Parkway,” Smith wrote. “This is an expensive and needed improvement for the cities, and it will also serve the region by relieving I-580.”

Dublin has said that developing the area surrounding the planned Dublin Boulevard extension into an industrial and business region would help to offset the costs of the approximately $166 million project.

“The Crosby property from east to west is nearly 3,000 feet. Dublin is certain that implementing a 200-foot-wide view corridor can easily be addressed through continued discussions between Dublin and Livermore,” Smith added. “Dublin’s objective in considering non-residential, business park development of the Crosby property relates to reducing the cost of the extension.”

Dublin city staff also stressed the value to the entire Tri-Valley of the Dublin Boulevard extension — which both cities are on board with.

“We should not downplay the economic importance of the extension to the entire Tri-Valley region, as it will open approximately 5.3 million square feet of new development, add close to 14,000 permanent new jobs, bring more industries, and address the lack of a continuous I-580 reliever route from Dublin to Livermore along the north side of I-580,” Smith continued in the letter.

The Alameda Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) — the state-mandated local agency that oversees boundary changes of cities or special districts — is the entity that will ultimately decide how to move forward with the Crosby property.

LAFCO requires cities to obtain approval before entering contracts or development plans with private individuals or owners, such as the Crosby property owners.

Livermore and Dublin have the ability to present a proposal to LAFCO individually or together, yet the goal is to present a joint solution to the agency, Livermore city staff said.

The item was further discussed at the Nov. 13 Livermore City Council meeting.

Livermore senior planner Ashley Vera explained that in October, LAFCO sent out a municipal service review to both cities.

“As part of that survey, staff requested a sphere of influence (SOI) amendment to preserve the existing open space,” Vera explained. “This was after learning that the city of Dublin made a similar request with the intent to permit development within this area.”

Recently, the Dublin City Council had asked city staff to draft language for a ballot measure that would address developing the area. However, staff did not move forward with the task after the property owner requested additional time for outreach and planning.

Around the same time, Livermore opted to conduct a citywide poll to gauge residents’ thoughts about what to do with the land.

Held from Oct. 30 through early November, the survey found that Livermore residents are strongly opposed to developing the open area but do support the Dublin Boulevard extension project.

“The poll results showed a high level of support for maintaining open space between the two cities,” Vera said. “In addition, the majority of residents strongly supported the Dublin Boulevard extension project, (but) respondents were more likely to support the roadway connection if the surrounding land remained as open space.”

The city of Dublin conducted its own resident survey in which the results differed from Livermore’s — 71% of Dublin residents polled showed support for the roadway project alone and 59% of residents support the development plan along with the project.

During last week’s Livermore council meeting, Mayor John Marchand expressed his desire to keep the area open.

“It is critically important to have that open space between the cities. We have this urban growth boundary — that helps define Livermore,” Marchand said.

“I absolutely support the continuing negotiations. We need to come together with a plan and take that to LAFCO as something that we’ve both agreed to. I look forward to finding a workable solution that works for everybody,” Marchand added.

Other councilmembers echoed Marchand’s sentiment.

“I agree with the priorities,” Councilmember Evan Branning said. “We’ve made it clear that we want to see the Dublin Boulevard extension finished, but we do want to preserve as much open space as possible. We do want to make sure that we have a seat at the table in a negotiation with Dublin and not simply one side or another because it is a contested area.”

Vice Mayor Brittni Kiick emphasized the intent to collaborate with the city of Dublin.

“Our goal is to come to a good place with Dublin,” Kiick said. “Rather than coming to LAFCO with two opposing proposals, we (should) make a compromise with one agreed on proposal. Our goal here is to come together as two cities.”

Once a proposal is submitted, LAFCO should take three to four months to process the materials and come to a decision, according to city officials.

Livermore staff said that at this time, they are coordinating a meeting with the city of Dublin to further discuss the Crosby property. No other immediate action is planned from either city.