Posted on 06/26/2009 9:46:54 PM PDT by Lorianne
State Attorney General Jerry Brown joined a legal challenge Wednesday to Pleasanton's 13-year-old limit on housing construction, arguing that the East Bay community is defying state housing laws and adding to urban sprawl, vehicle use and greenhouse gas emissions.
"Pleasanton's draconian and illegal limit on new housing forces people to commute long distances, adding to the bumper-to-bumper traffic along (Interstates) 580 and 680 and increasing dangerous air pollution," Brown said in a statement after filing suit in Alameda County Superior Court.
He said Pleasanton's housing shortage will worsen if the city adopts a revised general plan that calls for more office construction and the creation of 45,000 jobs by 2025 without allowing any additional housing to accommodate the employees. The City Council is scheduled to consider the plan July 21.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
You’d think there weren’t enough houses or something.
To reduce these problems state wide: deport illegals.
Which will never happen as the can vote in the DNC.
They can even run for president in the DNC.
Marxist policy move toward central government control.
The Association of Bay Area Governments sets “fair” housing goals for every community in the Bay Area. It tells each city how many housing units they are supposed to build by size. Our little town is completely built out, yet they still insist that we add a few more units every year as our “fair share.” They count “granny” units in the back yard as housing, i.e., very small units built to house your Mom and or Dad. If your town doesn’t comply, they sue and the costs of the lawsuits usually forces every town to comply, even if it means abandoning your general plan. The place is overrun with communists in government at all levels. But they are our betters and know best how we should run our lives, so we must listen to them. Barf.
And here I thought EBAYMUD was discouraging new construction due to the critical water shortages in the Tri-Valley area...
Well, hell! That's easy. Gubmint "revises [their] general plan" and -- viola! -- 45,000 more jobs. Unemployment whipped into line.
I skimmed the article and saw nothing in it about private property rights. Someone in state or city government should consider the rights of property owners to develop their land.
The part I don’t get is Californians VOTE for these authoritarian laws on themselvs ... but when it comes time to implement them, nobody wants them implemented in their backyard.
I’d be willing to be that the majority in Pleasanton voted for these laws to begin with. Now it’s time to comply with their own damn laws, and an uproar ensues.
Normally I’d be up for a fight for property rights, but in the case of Californians, I can’t muster the enthusiasm.
It’s a real shame that when Jerry the Fairy’s father was Governor when he was arrested for child molesting and his record expunged the same night!
It isn’t always a vote. The damn administrative agencies like ABAG, CARB and CEC are a fourth branch of government not accountable to anybody. Every year they grab more and more power. Nobody ever puts them in their place. Their members are appointed, not elected, so you can’t get rid of them. I don’t know how you get rid of these parasites.
Maybe Texas will secede and we can move there.
All they have to do is pass a Berkeley-style rent control ordinance that makes it impossible to rent out housing and make a profit, and all new building will automatically stop.
California may have a fight on it’s hands. In Pleasanton, the MenInBlack peaking over fences and chatting up neighbors know everyone who lives there and they want to keep it that way. Livermore Labs and all. Nice little town, btw.
IMO, Brown is way out of line here. This is related to ABAG’s (Association of Bay Area Governments) affordable housing “allocation” demands that it makes of the Bay Area cities.
I’m pretty familiar with Pleasanton and its recent planning and housing history. I lived there for a short while about ten years ago. This smacks of central control all over. Pleasanton is very close to several other communities that are more affordable (Dublin, Livermore, Castro Valley and even Tracy), and is also served by BART and AC Transit buses. The larger companies I believe also have their own commute shuttle arrangements.
It’s not like Pleasanton is out in the boonies.
Hi POF,
I wonder if we’ve met. :-) (I’ll FReepmail)
ABAG is a giant thorn in a lot of cities’ side.
Oh yes, and they’ll all have to be “green” units, too, right?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.