Measure B CAPP Initiative Gives Up Livermore Control

By Thomas E. "Tom" Vargas

The CAPP initiative will remove control of North Livermore and lead to County development at our doorsteps.

The CAPP initiative is like a peach sitting on the dish looking succulent. As you pick it up and begin to peel it you discover that part of it is bad, so you cut off that bruised section. You continue to peel the skin away and discover that there is more of it that is rotten and you continue to remove the bad fruit. Pretty soon all you have left is the hard pit....that is what this initiative is for the citizens of Livermore....THE PITS!

As voters learn about the CAPP initiative they will recognize all of the negative impacts created by this initiative. They will not let Livermore lose control of the North Livermore area. I know Livermore residents don't want Alameda County supervisors from Oakland and Berkeley and elsewhere dictating land use in our backyard and taking all of the revenue.

The County now has an adopted general plan that will allow over 60,000 people in North Livermore. If we withdraw from the planning process under CAPP, we loose legal control and the county can develop North Livermore. They can tie up agreements before any initiative in the county could be voted on. Our protection lies in the settlement agreement and the joint planning process.

Instead of a plan that keeps 80% in open space and protects over 10,000 acres from development permanently, we could have only 16 % of that. It is most likely that the County will develop it too much higher density to meet the regional housing needs and financial feasibility of a county sponsored project. Besides, the rest of the county would love to have the tax revenue to support West county services at the expense of our quality of life!

Only low-income housing projects will be exempted from the vote. Developers will likely gravitate to build those, as water flows to a crack in a wall. We will loose the balance of quality housing we currently enjoy in Livermore.

Traffic impacts on I580 and our neighborhoods will get worse if CAPP Passes. We will loose $17.25 MILLION in development fees and the opportunity to leverage that to $69 MILLION in matching funds.

With current planning developers have agreed in writing to fully construct new schools. With CAPP we will see a $10 MILLION high school shortfall and the need to make up $20 MILLION in total, probably with more taxes or bonds on existing residents. An average home of $300,000 will pay $60.00 more per year in measure L property taxes!

The Current North Livermore Plan is projected to net $2.7MILLION to the City general fund to enhance our quality of life. The CAPP plan is a drain of $700,000, a $3.4 million difference!

CAPP will jeopardize our ability to attract quality jobs, restaurants, shopping and most importantly, our efforts to redevelop downtown with the Hotel and conference center.

CAPP will lead to piecemeal planning with few benefits.

Then there is the legal boondoggle from a measure so flawed, erroneous and ambiguous in the way it is written that it will likely be under multiple attacks, which we, the taxpayers, area obliged to defend...How many Millions will this cost us?

It is critical that we educate the voters as to the true impacts of the CAPP initiative. Residents who have been in Livermore know the division that existed for 20 years over growth/no-growth issues. They will remember how Livermore had no upscale restaurants and lost all of it's shopping. They can remember school closures and pothole pocked streets.

The consensus that has been built over the last few years has led to vineyard preservation, a downtown rebirth, quality housing, and pride in our community as a great place to live, raise a family, work and shop. We completed the North Mines Road extension and are building a new Highway 84. It will only get better!

The hearing process is working and the residents are being heard. An example is the ADT auto auction, which was rejected by the City Council.

An informed voter will Vote NO on the CAPP initiative and keep Livermore in control of It's future.