Bay Area Growth Plan Full of Hot Air, Lawsuit Contends

The plan to reduce greenhouse gas in California by building high-density housing near BART stations in Walnut Creek and Lamorinda--approved last month by two regional agencies—violates state environmental law, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday .

A conservative group called Pacific Legal Foundation argues that Plan Bay Area violates the California Environmental Quality Act because it fails to consider “less restrictive” housing requirements.

“Plan Bay Area’s sardine strategy for development — its scheme to squeeze and stack people into high-density dwellings and business complexes — simply isn’t needed to reach government air quality goals,” said Damien Schiff, an attorney for the foundation.

Proponents of the plan, developed over three years by the Association for Bay Area Government and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, say that the anticipated growth in the Bay Area should be accommodated through the development of pedestrian-friendly areas that combine multi-story housing and retail near public transit. Such a plan, they say, will reduce the need for single-car commuting and the sprawl of single-family housing that encourages it.

But groups like Orinda Watch and Bay Area Citizens say the plan is nothing more than social engineering, dictating a kind of urban-based lifestyle that is inappropriate for quiet, upscale communities.

Local elected officials are not unanimous in their support for the plan.
“It is too early to say how beneficial, if at all, this will be for Walnut Creek or the Bay Area, but, in Walnut Creek, we have already seen a benefit from the establishment of Priority Development Areas,” said councilman Bob Simmons, referring to the West Downtown Specific Plan now underway. That plan envisions “transit-oriented housing” near Walnut Creek BART.

Councilman Justin Wedel says the plan takes away a city’s right to determine its own fate and imposes a regional agenda from unelected government agencies.

“The plan's one-size-fits all approach by definition removes our individuality and our ability to set our own direction, based on local control and our community needs,” Wedel told Walnut Creek Patch.

Plan Bay Area is a regional response to a state law that requires communities to plan for growth in California through 2040, while reducing the level of greenhouse gases. The plan calls for multi-family housing to be constructed in “priority development areas,” which in Lamorinda means mostly areas downtown near BART stations. In Orinda, there is also a move to increase the number of so-called in-law units in single family homes to accommodate the required mix of housing for moderate, low, and very low income residents.