The Contra Costa Times wrote an editorial on Thursday, January 15 about the City Council's choice of a Preferred Alternative for the CNWS Base Reuse calling it "Balanced Development".
The editorial hasn't been posted on their website - so I'm providing a link to a pdf version here.
As the editorial - and each of my colleagues have pointed out - this is not a final decision, but the next step in the planning process. Now the Navy can move forward with their own environmental studies and we can finish our environmental review (EIR). New information or issues may come to light that require us to modify the final plan before placing it in our General Plan and adopting implementing policies - so public participation and input is still vital as we move forward.
I'd like to thank the Community Advisory Committee members who spent countless hours reviewing public input and professional advice to arrive at their recommendation. The Council took both the majority and minority reports seriously. I also appreciated the patience and civility everyone who testified showed in presenting their ideas and concerns. As I said Monday evening - in recent history most large-scale development efforts have been developer/property owner driven. I am proud we were able to create a citizen driven planning process with a tremendous degree of transparency. You should be too. Stay tuned.
