Danville council looks to formally oppose Tassajara Parks housing development

The Danville Town Council is set Tuesday to consider issuing formal opposition to the Tassajara Parks housing development proposed outside the town limits, a project that town staff argue would raise “both policy and environmental issues.”

The Contra Costa County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors are debating the Tassajara Parks project, which proposes to create 125 single-family homes at the north end of the Tassajara Valley in the unincorporated area east of the town of Danville.

“The town has raised valid policy and environmental concerns related to the Tassajara Parks project for the past several years. Residents living on the east side of town stand to be most directly impacted by the downstream impact that the project will generate,” Town Manager Joe Calabrigo said in a staff report to the council.

The Tassajara Parks project proposes a 54-acre development footprint (of the property’s 771 acres) that includes 125 single-family homes in the project’s northern site, public streets, related grading, a neighborhood park, drainage facilities, staging area and other improvements, according to Calabrigo.

“As currently proposed, the project would require voter approval to expand the (county urban limit line),” Calabrigo said, adding that the project presents “inconsistency with growth management principles built into Measure J (i.e. focusing housing and jobs around transit centers and downtowns).”

In addition to being inconsistent with the Danville 2030 General Plan, Calabrigo argues the project presents potentially significant environmental impacts, growth inducing impacts and has a lack of any viable water service provider.

The Danville Town Council’s special meeting is scheduled to be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesday on video teleconferencing application Zoom, which can be accessed using Webinar ID 890 1256 1842.

Residents can have public comments read into the record by contacting the city clerk at 314-3307 or cityclerk@danville.ca.gov prior to 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

In other business

* Council members are also set to hear the “Mid-Year Library Services” report, which this year will primarily discuss how the financial shortfall associated with the coronavirus pandemic has affected library services.

“Like other sectors of the economy, local government operations continue to be significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” assistant town manager Diane Friedmann wrote in a staff report. “The 2020/2021 Budget and CIP were subsequently adopted anticipating that the Town would experience an approximately $5 million revenue impact with offsetting reductions in operating expenditures and fund transfers.”

In anticipation of the budget shortfall, the Town Council opted for the base library service option for its 2020/2021 budget, which Friedmann said would result in a “$101,419 cost which helped to offset the town’s overall pandemic related revenue loss.”

* Council members are set to receive an update on Innovation Tri-Valley and iGate by Lynn Wallace Naylor, CEO of Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group and Brandon Cardwell, executive director at Daybreak Labs.

* City Clerk Marie Sunseri will also be on hand to provide the council with an update on efforts to recruit a Danville resident to serve as a representative on the Contra Costa County Library Commission, to fulfill a term ending June 30, 2022.

* To close out Tuesday’s main topics of conversation, the council is scheduled to hear its quarterly presentation on town investments by Chandler Asset Management, which will have representatives on-hand to touch on the local economic effects of the pandemic.

“The outlook for the economy remains uncertain and i s largely dependent on the course of the pandemic, the amount of additional fiscal relief, and the timeline for a vaccine, in our view,” Chandler Asset Management staff said in its report to the town. “However, we believe financial markets are poised for increased volatility through year-end due to the upcoming election, a resurgence in virus cases, and an unclear outlook for additional fiscal relief.”