Politics & Government

City Council Approves General Plan Updates

With a 4-1 vote, City Council OKs General Plan 2030.

The City Council approved updates to the general plan after months of discussion and controversy.

In a 4-1 vote Tuesday - with City Councilman Scott Perkins opposing – General Plan 2030 became San Ramon’s official planning constitution.

Sierra Club representative Jim Gibbons threatened to sue the city over its decision. The plan, he said, too closely resembles a version that went to the ballot last fall as Measure W, which voters rejected with 71 percent of the vote.

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Measure W would have expanded the San Ramon's urban growth boundary by more than 2,200 acres on the east and west sides of the city.

Many residents and environmental groups opposed the plan at the time because they said expanding the growth boundary into the Tassajara Valley would have paved the way for more development. The city said it was just trying to gain control of the undeveloped valley, which lies in county jurisdiction.

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More recently, some residents criticized the plan because it would allow the city to pursue redevelopment of a northern part of the city – transforming it into a destination retail district.

The general plan allows the city to develop – with public input – the North Camino Ramon Specific Plan, a blueprint to turn the heart of San Ramon into a retail destination district.

Kevin L'Hommedieu, who owns a car repair shop in that area, attended most City Council and Planning Commission meetings since last fall to object to the city's plans to rezone some 160-plus acres in the heart of San Ramon from service-commercial to mixed-use to make way for homes and big box retailers.

On Tuesday, he thanked the city for working with him and acknowledging the importance of service-commercial businesses.

The city agreed to retain the existing land-use designation within the North Camino Ramon Specific Plan area. L'Hommedieu, who was worried the land would have been rezoned beneath his business and force it out, said he appreciates the city's willingness to work with him.

Perkins cast the lone dissenting vote because he wanted to put the general plan on the ballot again.

Some City Council members said they have heard the same repeated complaints and were ready to move on and approve the plan.

"The people of San Ramon elected me to make decisions and I'm very tired of hearing over and over and over about the same things each time," said City Councilman Jim Livingstone. "So I'm going to support this plan."

Gibbons said he will ask a judge for a three-month stay on the city's deicision to implement the plan so he has time to file a lawsuit. Mayor H. Abram Wilson abruptly cut him off after he spoke well over his allotted three minutes during the public comment section of the meeting.

Planning Commissioner Eric Wallis said he fully supports the City Council's decision to OK the plan as it's written. Wallis was allowed to speak for nearly 30 minutes.

To read more about the general plan, go to www.ci.san-ramon.ca.us.


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