Hillside Protection and Initiatives PP & QQ and the Voter Approved Housing Cap

By Cindy McGovern

Measure PP, the Citizen's Save Pleasanton's Hills & Housing Cap Initiative protects our ridge lands and our voter approved Housing Cap. Measure QQ was placed on the ballot to defeat Measure PP. Measure QQ includes a POISON PILL clause that nullifies Measure PP even if PP passes by a majority of the voters. To Protect Pleasanton's Hills and Housing Cap Vote YES on Measure PP and NO on Measure QQ.

Pass Measure PP the Citizens' Save Pleasanton's Hills & Housing Cap Initiative establishing the ridgeline preservation ordinance and a definition of a housing unit to protect our Southeast Hills ridgelines and our voter approved housing cap. Once the initiative is passed by the voters, it would take another vote of the people to overturn it. This is where the real protections are established, the City Council can not change the requirements.

To read the full position on PP please click the following link: http://www.reelectcindymcgovern.com/yes-on-pp.html

NO ON QQ (Council Initiative for Hillside "Preservation")

Measure QQ states that its process will, "Identify specific ridges, based on engineering considerations related to view lines, geotechnical conditions, elevations (in the Southeast Hills in particular) and other relevant data, where development will occur". This seems to give the committee established too much leeway as to which ridges to count and which ones not to count. How will they ultimately decide which ridge is important and which ones don't meet the committee's criteria for protection? Measure QQ states that, "such ordinance/design guidelines must be drafted as expeditiously as possible and by no later than the end of November 2009." Measure QQ requires only a draft by November 2009 with no environmental review of the draft having been completed as required in Section 2, B., and subset d. Here it states, "Such ordinance/design guidelines would be subject to public environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This may well push the adoption of any ordinance developed by the process of Measure QQ into 2010. This gives ample time for a council majority to approve development in the Southeast Hills prior to the adoption of any ordinance developed by the process of Measure QQ.

To read my full position on NO on QQ please click the following link: http://www.reelectcindymcgovern.com/no-on-qq.html