A spread of only 254 ballots out of 13,450 votes cast Tuesday in the Measure K referendum is both decisive and divisive.
It was decisive in that Greenbriar Homes Communities can now build 43 homes on 17 acres it owns on Lund Ranch. At the same time, it can file the necessary paperwork to follow through with its pledge to donate the rest of the 195-acre site to the city of Pleasanton in perpetuity to preserve as public open space and trails.
However, the measure also proved divisive, pitting two neighborhoods against each other — a first for Pleasanton. They must now work together with the help of city and civic leaders to repair the split, resolve their differences and restore the strong camaraderie we enjoy as a community.
Much of the debate that led to Measure K was over Measure PP, which voters approved and now governs land-use decisions in Pleasanton. Still it’s unclear if PP, which restricts hillside development, applies to roads — the dominant issue in the Lund Ranch development.
Is a road a structure like a house and subject to PP rules? Or is it infrastructure like water and sewer lines and can be built on hillsides? Measure K didn’t decide that question, but it provides a path for making those decisions on a case-by-case basis without the cost and agony of another referendum.
Those involved in Tuesday’s referendum spent a lot of time and effort to present their positions in public hearings, at the farmers market and on social media.
Some favored the City Council’s decision to approve the Lund Ranch development; others did not. Those who opposed the development had the right and were able to referend it. Now we live with the outcome.
