Alamo Residents Correspondence

Comments by AIA Board Members:

AIA’s concerns about the County’s Envision 2040 up-zoned properties in our Alamo downtown and along Danville Blvd. are about the nature of our downtown and important issues of traffic, utilities, and safety hazards.

These (proposed) very high residential densities would also extend well outside our downtown. The commercial and residential intensity in our downtown would resemble the more recent development in downtown Walnut Creek and would allow for an approximately 60% increase in the total number of residential units in Alamo.

Our public services and schools would be severely impacted, and our downtown’s road system would simply be overwhelmed.

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For decades governmental agencies at the state and local level have “planned” for an Alamo that looks pretty much like it does today.

The water, sanitary and other public utilities didn’t build their pipes, poles, wires and switching equipment for such high-density residential development and a very large increase in the number of residents.

The sheriff, roads department, fire department, parks departments and school districts based their capital budgets and hiring upon the assumption (set forth in the County’s own General Plan) that Alamo would remain semi-rural, with low-rise single-family structures, low police response requirements, and minimum public infrastructure.

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If a community decides that it wishes to grow (e.g., Walnut Creek decided in the 1970’s that medium rise office development should occur around the Bart station) it adopts a plan to accommodate that growth by upsizing utilities, widening roads, increasing public safety budgets, and examining public safety risks like seismic, wildfire or pipeline hazards.

Such a community adopts funding mechanisms, including higher taxes, capital improvement projects, environmental studies and recreation and parks programs. The community tells the school, water and sanitary districts to increase capacity by a certain percentage over an estimated timeline to meet future demand.

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It appears to AIA that developers and advocates for high density residential rezoning in our downtown and along Danville Blvd., in addition to current County planning consultants and including our CA. State Legislature, have this concept of urban planning reversed….as if we can put a lot more people where we didn’t plan to and then deal with this other stuff afterward.

The problem, among many, is that until our government gets to the “other stuff” later, the community suffers with poor service, congestion, public safety challenges and impacted schools.

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Please keep in mind that this is most assuredly not a debate about affordable housing.

Alamo “in fill” housing will never be affordable without government subsidies. No one in the County is even hinting that is a possibility.

As an example, a search of the multiple listing service (MLS) data base for new downtown townhouse/condo units located in Danville, Lafayette and Walnut Creek and sold during the last 12 months show a pricing range of $650-$1408/sq. ft and an average pricing of $903/sq. ft.

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AIA does believe in appropriate planning and that, as a community, we need to be prepared for more housing to be built in our town under the County’s new General Plan - which would be developed over the next twenty years AIA believes that in and around our downtown is the right place for this to occur.

However, we also believe that the residential densities and sheer number of units that would be allowable under the current draft Land Use Map of the new General Plan are extreme and utterly inappropriate.