Council waits on changing permit process
( By Sarah Rohrs, STAFF WRITER, 04/11/2002 03:01 AM PDT)
[Daily Ledger]

ANTIOCH - Concerned that city planners would be making too many land-use decisions outside the public eye, the City Council on Tuesday tabled a proposal to change the zoning ordinance as a way to streamline the permit process for merchants.

After listening to concerns from council members and two residents about the proposed changes, City Manager Mike Ramsey said, "Maybe this is a solution looking for a problem. There's no reason to fix something that's not broken."

Council members said some of the proposed changes may have merit and that they wanted to examine the proposal more closely during a study session, which could be scheduled in the next few months.

6:58:35 AM     

District board considers sale of Ambrose Park
( By Glenn May, STAFF WRITER, 04/11/2002 03:01 AM PDT)
[Daily Ledger]

BAY POINT - No one has made an offer to buy Ambrose Park yet, but board members of the Ambrose Recreation and Park District want to find out what the land is worth before someone does.

District board members are to vote tonight on getting an appraisal of both Ambrose Park on Bay Point's south end and a smaller piece of land the district owns on Clearland Drive in central Bay Point.

While tonight's vote will not address whether to sell the properties, it signals that the board is considering the possibility of selling some or all of the land.

"We're looking at not necessarily all of the park, but maybe a portion of it," said Ambrose Recreation and Park District General Manager Patti Lambert.

6:52:09 AM     

Options for smart growth unveiled
( By Lisa Vorderbrueggen, CONTRA COSTA TIMES, 04/11/2002 03:01 AM PDT)
[Bay Area - Local]

OAKLAND - The Bay Area can grow without paving over farmland, polluting the air and water or sentencing workers to hostile commutes, according to a study unveiled Wednesday.

Sponsors of the Regional Livability Footprint Project released three "smart growth" options for housing and jobs for the additional 1 million people expected to call the Bay Area home by 2020.

"There is a resounding understanding that we can grow in a lot smarter way with less impacts," said Sunne Wright McPeak, director of the Bay Area Council and a former Contra Costa County supervisor. "Let's challenge the pattern of dumb growth."

Footprint authors -- Bay Area Council, the Association of Bay Area Governments, and regional air quality, conservation and transportation agencies -- assembled the options after a series of meetings last fall where more than 1,000 people debated how and where the Bay Area should grow.

Each uses the principles of smart growth, which challenge the pattern of continuously building on the urban fringe and forcing people to drive farther and farther to work."

6:44:03 AM