Measure W Defeated, According to Unofficial Results

More than 70 percent of the votes cast in Tuesday's election were against Measure W, an update to the city's land-use guide, according to unofficial election results.

Some 8,533 votes were against the measure, and 3,334 in favor, with all precincts reporting.

Opponents to the measure celebrated in an office space the campaign rented in San Ramon.

Those who fought to pass it said they believe they didn't stand much of a chance against the opposition's $100,000-plus campaign against it.

"The bottom line is we were outspent 20-to-1, $125,000 to $6,000," said San Ramon Planning Commissioner Harry Sachs, who supported the measure. "Their message is 'we don't believe in city government.'"

. Aside from the school and fire district elections, it was the only city-specific contest on the ballot, given that San Ramon holds its City Council elections in odd years.

The measure is a proposed update to the city's land-use guide, General Plan 2030.

Some changes from the old plan include adding an air quality component, extending an ordinance to protect local hillsides and ridgelines and keeping in place a provision that requires a supermajority vote by planning commissioners and the City Council to amend the general plan in the first place.

It would also rezone almost 300 acres in the northern part of the city near Bishop Ranch to a mixed-used designation, so about 6 million square feet of office space and 1,500 housing units could one day get built.

But the change that upset environmental groups was one to include 1,626 acres of the undeveloped Tassajara Valley inside the city's urban growth boundary. The city said it was necessary, to take control over the land's future from the county. Opponents to the measure said it paves the way for massive development.

Conservation groups including Save Mt. Diablo and Greenbelt Alliance poured in cash to the "No on W" campaign, giving opponents nearly $100,000, including non-monetary donations, as of election day, to fight the measure.

Proponents, many of them on the City Council or other city commission, barely pulled in more than $6,000 by the end of the election cycle.

It wasn't until the few weeks before the election that supporters really started campaigning for Measure W. By contrast, organizers of the "No on W" campaign said they had their eye on the issue before it even got a name.

"We've always fought to protect the Tassajara Valley," said Seth Adams, part of Save Mt. Diablo, told San Ramon Patch before election day. "This is nothing new for us."

He said when slow-growth and environmentalist groups saw the first inkling of the city's plan to include the valley inside its boundary line more than a year ago, they started preparing for battle. At that point, though, it wasn't clear what it was they were fighting, Adams said.

"We were prepared for developers to come out full force in support of the measure," he said a couple weeks before the election.

But the developers didn't seem to pay much attention to the Measure W debate. Donations for the general plan update came mostly from city officials and residents.

Read the entire General Plan 2030 on the city website.