San Ramon 2020 General Plan Obscured - Glasses Required
SUMMARY OVERVIEW COMPREHENSIVE ZONING ORDINANCE UPDATE WITH GENERAL PLAN 2020
Beautiful San Ramon Royal Vista Golf Course
Canyon Lakes Country Club With Spectacular Vistas of Mt. Diablo and the San Ramon Valley
The San Ramon Golf Course and the Canyon Lakes Golf Course are slated to be re-zoned from P (Parkland) to CR (Commercial Recreation) with an increase in the building intensity from .10 FAR (Floor area ratio) to .35 FAR. For example, the San Ramon Golf Course is 129 acres multiplied by the .35 would allow for 45 acres of development. The land uses are varied and include: Waterslide, Arcade, Bowling Alley, Co-Generation Plant, Homeless Shelter, Transitional Housing, Recycling Center and a multitude of other land uses.
The City of San Ramon Planning Commission is in the midst of putting together the final proposal for the City wide zoning changes. Below is a direct link to the draft zoning ordinance proposed changes.
www.ci.san-ramon.ca.us/zoning/ZO2005Draft/zocoverpage.html
The City claims that these changes are required and need to be consistent with the General Plan 2020 document that was voted on, and approved in March 2002 by the citizens. It was a special election on the ballot as (Measure P). This measure was approved by only 5,600 approximate voters during an off-year election, (out of 46,000 residents in 2002).
San Ramon Government Officials Fail To Legally Inform Public Of Public Hearings
The City of San Ramon originally scheduled three Public Hearings with the Planning Commission before a vote is taken, and, then brought before the City Council for final approval. The original dates were January 3, 2006; January 17, 2006 and February 7, 2006.
These Public Hearings are required by law prior to the Planning Commission proposing these changes to the City Council for final approval. These Hearings allow citizens to voice their concerns or opposition to these proposals at this time.
The Public Hearing Notice shows a Negative Declaration Period (your opportunity to challenge) from December 16, 2005 to January 23, 2006.
The City has failed to follow the State Government Code for the legal notification requirements for the first and second Public Hearings. Under Government Code 65091(3), the City is required to place a Public Hearing Notice (1/8 page Ad in the local paper) at least ten days prior to the hearing for changes that affect more than 1,000 people.
The City Clerk, Pat Edwards and the Planning Division Manager, Debbie Chamberlain admitted that the City failed to legally notify the public for the first two Public Hearings for the approval of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance Update. At the February 7th Public Hearing, City Attorney, Byron Athan admitted it was due to human error for the non-compliance for January 3rd. On February 10th we discovered that the City has also failed to legally notify residents of the January 17th Public Hearing as well.
Proposed Zoning Changes Cover All Of San Ramon
This update affects all of the land in the City of San Ramon and is a huge document online at the City's website. There are many other changes in the zoning code that may affect you.
Public Notice was not provided by the City, as a result, you have not had an opportunity to participate in the first two Public Hearings. The Planning Committee continued the Public Hearing for one additional meeting on February 21, 2006, (time and 7:00 PM, location to be announced) to voice your concerns before it goes to the City Council.
As a result of the City's illegal activity, the Planning Commission needs to reestablish a new Negative Declaration Period along with an extension to the Public hearing to allow the public to look at and understand the changes and modifications in this document.
We have been asking the Planning Commission to give us more time to decipher this information, and comment before a vote is taken, but we need more people to do the same.
The first meeting of January 3rd included the Consultant's power point presentation to the Planning Commission regarding their proposed recommendations and changes to the City's zoning code. We have requested they include this presentation at the February 21st Public Hearing because no one saw the presentation at the January 3rd Public Hearing.
We also feel that it is vital for the City to give the public the capability to cross-reference the Proposed Zoning Ordinance changes document to the General Plan 2020. This capability is not yet available on the City'’s web site and, must be provided so that the citizens of San Ramon can attempt to understand these changes.
We need speakers to stand before the Planning Commission on February 21st to ask for more time to review these documents and proposals. We must hold the City accountable for failing to follow legal notification guidelines to notify the residents of San Ramon, of these proposed zoning ordinance and land use changes.
The residents that live on, and around the San Ramon Golf Course, (formerly known as the Royal Vista Golf Course) never received notification from the City either. It was a stroke of luck that we came across it on January 18, 2006. The San Ramon Golf Course Neighborhood united and, at the February 7th Public Hearing we had 36 speakers with a total of 230 residents from our neighborhood speak out on the rezoning issues. There was not a single speaker for the Canyon Lakes Golf Course.
We have set up this Blog website sanramontalk.blogspot.com (A web log (or "blog") is similar to an online journal), as an open forum for the residents of San Ramon.
We could use your help and assistance. We need speakers to address your concerns with the process and the proposed zoning changes at the February 21st Public Hearing and support our request for more time. These changes affect all of the residence of San Ramon.
Summary Statement
Note: This could take away the last open space in South San Ramon and turn the San Ramon Vista Golf Course into anything from a co-generation plant to low income high density affordable housing. Impacts overall infrastructure with increased traffic, over-crowding of schools, negative impacts on the environment, air quality, population density over-crowding, impacts to migratory animals, and totally goes against the San Ramon 2020 General Plan of Neighborhood Preservation.San Ramon eMail contact srcommunity@gmail.com
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