High-Density Housing in Dublin
Many residents have noticed that Dublin seems to be building more higher density housing like apartments, condominiums, and townhouses compared to San Ramon and Pleasanton. Many reasons are behind this direction in our strategic planning. Here are just a few:
The Right to Home Ownership
As Mayor Janet Lockhart had recently explained to this year’s Dublin 101 class, the City of Dublin has a retail-based economy whose hard-working employees deserve a chance at home ownership in Dublin “just like everybody else.” Given that Dublin’s inclusionary zoning ordinance requires 12.5% of all new residential development be set aside at below-market-rate prices for low to moderate income households, the City Council and the Planning Commission believe that high-density residential developments offer a cost-effective way for Dublin to achieve a greater number of affordable homes, while maintaining our precious open space.
Stronger Communities
Dublin’s leadership feels that single-family residential neighborhoods are not conducive to building a strong sense of community. To promote community cohesiveness, our City Council and Planning Commission have strived to build more higher density residential villages so that neighbors would be encouraged to interact by sharing common areas, multi-unit mailboxes, and neighborhood parks in lieu of individual mailboxes and private yards. The City Council and the Planning Commission also believe that tighter shopping center entrances, narrower roads like East Dublin’s Brannigan Street, and more compact-sized parking spaces like those seen at Grafton Station promote general public safety, because these designs usually force patrons and residents to drive more slowly.
Development Fees
Many of the fees charged for new home development are calculated on a per home basis. Dublin, for example, assesses an impact fee of $90K per new housing unit. The more housing units per acre we build on a given parcel of land, the more one-time revenue we generate for the City of Dublin.
Federal Grants
Dublin recently won a $3.4M Federal grant from the Housing Incentive Program (HIP) for planning and approving high-density residential projects at both the East and West Dublin BART Station Transit Villages.
More significantly, another milestone that Dublin’s leadership has set its eyes on is to become an “Entitlement Community” so that Dublin can receive more direct funding from the Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program for providing services, benefits, and below-market-rate housing to lower income residents without going through the County of Alameda.
By adding about 3,000 more residents, which will bring Dublin’s total population to 50,000, and by ensuring that 70% of this federal funding benefits low to moderate income residents, Dublin will be eligible for the CDBG program as an “Entitlement Community” and receive sizable Federal grants that may potentially be used to redevelop the Downtown Dublin District and surrounding neighborhoods, build public facilities like a non-profit pre-school where Nielsen Elementary School used to be, and provide financial assistance to profit-motivated businesses to carry out economic development and job creation/retention activities. According to Paul Rankin, Dublin’s Administrative Services Director, how the Federal grants are appropriated will be the responsibility of the City Council.
What does the current direction in strategic planning mean for Dublin residents? In the short term, Dublin’s leadership is motivated to build higher density housing in East Dublin to expedite the addition of 3,000 residents, so the City of Dublin may become an “Entitlement Community.” In the long term, Dublin will likely be looking to provide additional public assistance, enhanced human services, and more affordable housing for residents either through the City or through non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
8:07 AM on October 21st, 2008
With all due respect John, but I find this hard to swallow, “Dublin’s leadership feels that single-family residential neighborhoods are not conducive to building a strong sense of community.” What makes them think that those of us who reside in SFR neighborhoods lack a strong sense of community? Have they followed us around on a daily basis to see how we interact with our neighbors? This is ridiculous!!
It seems like it’s all about the money and that’s why the city is motivated to build more units so that they can get their one-time $90 per new housing unit fee. Come on!!
What makes the city think that we are even going to get 3,000 more residents when we can’t unload the high inventory we currently have? And why should we become an entitlement community and risk ruining what could have been a fantastic town?
We’ve worked very hard to get to where we are and I don’t see why we should be the ones to give handouts to the low and moderate income folks. Is this city that desperate for money that we are willing to participate in the CDBG program at the risk of destroying this city?
My feeling is that if people can’t afford to live here, then they should find a way just like we did.
8:20 AM on October 21st, 2008
“To promote community cohesiveness, our City Council and Planning Commission have strived to build more higher density residential villages so that neighbors would be encouraged to interact by sharing common areas, multi-unit mailboxes, and neighborhood parks in lieu of individual mailboxes and private yards.” This doesn’t guarantee “cohesiveness” because I’ve lived in a condo and I had less contact with my neighbors than I do now. In fact, that’s why I moved. I currently live in a house and my relationship with my neighbors is great.
This explanation of being “encouraged to interact by sharing common areas” is silly because it’s not like we are all going to congregate at the mailbox at the same time and have a chat session. This is the city’s failed attempt of coming up with their real reason for wanting this type of housing. The motivating factor is money.
It’s so sad that this city is going to sell itself out like that. It’s also sad that the city feels it can’t do better and is willing to bend over and accept the conditions of the CDBG program in exchange for federal funding.
10:44 AM on October 21st, 2008
What a sell out!!!!! This is the nail in the coffin, I’m out of here. SFR is not promoting cohesive neighbors? Our kids play together, they will go to school together, parents will spend time together at soccer games, neighborhood BBQs and block parties. Singles and the young living in Condos/Apartments will want to hang out at the nightclubs, bars during their free time and not at the mailbox or common areas, what world are we talking about here, really?
My brother in-law and cousing both live in the Terraces, he is single, he has not seen any of his neighbors on the same freaking floor, he does not care to see any of his neigbhors, nothing in common. All he sees is the blank hallways and he does not mind, he is young and irritated to see a bunch of kids dominating the so call common areas, pool. In the meantime our family in a SFR knows the entire street, we have things in common like our neighborhood that we are proud of. Our kids play and go to school together. If that is not building cohesiveness than what is?
High Density must to go a Citywide vote in the next election as this has got to stop. Who are these politicians to tell residents whether our not we want to sellout for some Federal Grant? Are we that desperate as one reader stated? So desperate to bend over for a dollar or two?
John, are you telling me you are on board with this High Density argument too? Are we going to see Dublin Ranch Villages repeated over and over again until we are blue in the face?
What has Janet Lockhart brought us in her 8 years?
1) High Density and Higher Density, more to come
Killed any hope of a 2nd High School.
2) BMRs, higher than any of our neighbors
3) Continued growth of low paying retail jobs
4) No major corporate relocation to Dublin. Sybase was a one hit wonder. At the same our neighbors are welcoming newcomers regularly.
5) No major office development for high paying jobs, none in sight.
6) Our Class A vacancy is at an all time high.
7) Our downtown is still not a downtown, just a wish that BART will be that magical savior
9) Families are moving out to other towns due to item 8, 1 and 2.
You can’t blame it on the recession as it only started in late 2007. What about the other years from 2000-2006? While SR built thousands of SFR and yes some High Density, they have a wonderful balance and a new High School to brag.
I have friends living in Windemere, Gail Ranch, yes although it is in the middle of nowhere they have a sense of community. They love their community. It also has an abundance of community parks, but they also have yards to use if they choose to and can afford to buy.
Does anyone agree that the 8 points above does NOT improve the quality of life for Citizens? What quality of life when you have no high paying jobs growth, homes stacked on top of one another, elements from BMRs (not the teachers and fire fighters that this was intended for), kids having to be driven 25 minutes just to get to their highschool or parents would have to fork out thousands for private school, the 25 minutes could grow once the thousands of high density units are online a Camp Parks.
High Density at BART, East and West is Smart Growth. If we get some grant although it is just a one time shot then great. But building high density in places away from BART is not smart growth, it is called urban spraw at the max, worst than SFR urban sprawl as you are talking about thousand more residents than SFR would bring.
We need a petition drive to put a dead stop to all High Density housing outside of TODs and a repeal of our Inclusionary Ordinance, handouts. Whether politicians will ride this wave of opposition or sink and be buried under it.
What a Sell OUT!!! All we are asking for is a balance of our housing stock and not to continue to build high density away from BART.
We will be PACKING (sardines) 60,000 plus into an area 1/3 the size of Pleasanton. Pleasanton at buildout will have about 65,000 SPREAD out. Just a sad reality.
We need to clean house of the Mayor’s Office, Council and Planning Commission.
11:12 AM on October 21st, 2008
John – Do you support this above stance? Please let us know. And, who is running that does not? I want to know who and what I am voting for. High-Density is not for me. I live in the Villages, but feel no need for more like them to be built. Enough is enough.
11:15 AM on October 21st, 2008
John, is this really true or am I reading an article from The Onion?
I thought this was Dublin, CA, not France. An entitlement community? Are we trying to spread the wealth, so to speak, and becoming the most liberal city in the Bay Area?
Entitlement communities are the worst thing possible. I worked for PG&E, known for having generous entitlements for its employees. It bred laziness, complacency, and a sense of "why work hard, since they're going to do everything for me anyway?"
Janet Lockhart is becoming Janet Bleeding-Heart, as in liberal. She feels the need to gladly accept the leftovers in exchange for federal funds, not realizing that IF YOU ATTRACT BUSINESSES AND HIGH INCOME RESIDENTS, THE TAX REVENUE WILL FAR OUTWEIGH ANY FEDERAL GRANT MONEY YOU'LL GET.
So Dublin will become Dump-lin, where everyone dumps the people that classy cities like Alamo and Danville won't take. We'll be the dumping grounds for the Welfare crowd.
If Janet wants low income residents so badly, then that's what she'll get. Because if this city becomes what she wants, the people reading this blog will skip town to San Ramon and Danville.
11:38 AM on October 21st, 2008
We should unite with the people behind stopping Grafton Towers from being 21 stories. They genuinely care about the direction this city is going in.
http://stopgraftontowers.org/index.html
11:47 AM on October 21st, 2008
This is really sad to read. I have been so proud of Dublin for many years, answering to all my snobby Pleasanton friends that “Dublin is up and coming”- I am saddened to think that we’re catering to low-income now, which sounds very noble, but in reality, invites the worst to come seek a free handout- Don’t think so? Take a look at San Francisco, which is loaded with druggies, bums, riff-raff and others… They come to SF because of the free handouts (there are more of them in SF than LA, Chicago or any other large city which doesn’t cater to them.. Now in Dublin we’re gonna sell 12% of our homes? I hate to admit it, but with that being the charter, I am out of here as soon as the housing comes back up. I will look to move UP, away from Dublin.. Goodbye–
12:40 PM on October 21st, 2008
I wish I had known this before buying our Toll Bros unit; this is ridiculous. John, what’s your take on this? This seems so unfair that our past and present city leaders decide what’s best for the residents without having a forum to provide input.
12:52 PM on October 21st, 2008
Not to pour gasoline on a fire that is clearly growing…those of us who live at Sorrento were well aware of the fact that Toll Brothers hosted Mayor Lockhart’s 60th birthday party at our clubhouse back in April this year. As explained by Mr. Charles Templeton, one of the Vice Presidents at Toll Brothers, at the Sorrento Master HOA meeting, it was a small gesture to thank the mayor for her help and support through the years. I think some of our elected and appointed officials may be getting too cozy with the developers they are supposed to regulate.
1:26 PM on October 21st, 2008
My family liked the city so much when we came here to explore fo the first time. We were planning to move to Dublin next spring… I have two school age kids…2 years of getting ready to buy a house in Dublin now will go completely wasted…I refuse to live in the Condoland. I guess I’m back to square 1 and it’s time for me to re-direct my research to Pleasanton and San Ramon. It’s very very sad…
1:57 PM on October 21st, 2008
Hi Anonymous Readers,
Thank you for your passionate responses. The Around Dublin Team is not nearly as talented as the writers at the Onion. What we are trying to do is to report the facts as we see and hear them to the best of our abilities, so residents throughout Dublin may become better informed and help shape the development of our beloved city in a way that we can all be proud of at built-out. John will be reviewing all the comments this evening and responding to the many excellent points raised. Thank you again for your continued support and patience.
2:28 PM on October 21st, 2008
I can not agree more with the other posts written about the city of Dublin and low-density housing. I have to say this is all wrong and this city is moving in the wrong direction. My husband and I regret buying a Toll Brother’s home here for many reasons…the quality of our unit is awful. We can not wait to sell it and move to San Ramon into a single family home in a residential community.
2:34 PM on October 21st, 2008
It is almost like a Japanese game show, how many people can you stack and pack into a mini couper to win a prize. Janet Lockhart and friends are betting on how many people they can pack into the City of Dublin to win a one time prize. No matter what the prize it Janet, it is not worth it!
As one reader put it, bring in high paying jobs and single family homes so they can live and work here and the town will thrive more many more years than a 1 time Federal Grant for taking the unwanted riff raffs that are waiting for handouts from naive soles such as the City of Dublin, I mean dumpling.
We already have Santa Rita, Federal Women’s Correctional, Federal White Collar Correctional facilities. At least they are locked up. Janet has now effectively opended Dublin up for the same elements, only now they are on this side of the fence roaming our streets. Sideshows coming to a Dublin street near you.
High Density has its merits, especially at the transit villages but not in the numbers that Dublin is inviting in and at the locations where they have been built or planned.
I’d rather be fast food central than Condo/Apartment Thug Central which we are headed to.
Who did Janet confer to send us in this slippery road to Haywardville, Antiochville, Richmondville? All this for a prize from the Feds.
What good does a new downtown built on this Federal Prize do us when it is overrun with Thugs?
I believe in BMR for our own City workers, teacher, firemen and policemen. Not for all the unwanted that no one else wants. Go to Dumpling my friends, they’ll take you and give you handouts. Continue your way of not working hard and contributing to society. The hard working people of Dublin will sacrifice and provide for you.
WE ALL NEED TO UNITE AGAINST HIGH DENSITY AND THE INCLUSIONARY ORDINANCE. CONTACT EVERY ELECTED OFFICIAL OF THE CITY AND DEMAND A STOP TO THIS STUPIDITY. Direct question to each elected official and candidates, how do they stand. We will clean house if we have to.
Toll Brothers threw her a 60th party? WOW who does she represent again? It is clear Janet.
Please someone get her on this blog.
2:37 PM on October 21st, 2008
The honeymoon is over folks, reality starts to kick in as Janet’s policy is starting to take full affect.
Thank you Madam Mayor for screwing up the Hard Working Families of Dublin. SR here we come, I’ll just put up my cluster home with no yard up for rent to HUD, Section 8. Sorry neighbors.
2:51 PM on October 21st, 2008
Who are they to speak for the city residents on what we want. Who asked us in any shape or form when they decided this if we wanted to be an Entitlement Community? Put it up for a vote before deciding on our behalf please.
John please don’t dissappoint us. Status Quo will NOT DO. We need to do a 180 on this now, not tomorrow or in 5 years but NOW.
3:04 PM on October 21st, 2008
Does Anyone know if Jeff Kiehl is still around to help us unite against this Inclusionary Ordinance and the proliferation of High Density Housing? He did such a great job with the Stop Grafton Tower website and it worked, otherwise our Mayor, Council and Planning Commissioners were ready to bend over at the developer’s request.
Maybe he already skipped town ahead of all of us, wise man if he did.
If anyone knows Jeff please have him join this blog. We’d like to see his take and if he could help organize and put some measures on the next election.
1)Repeal Inclusionary or not
2)Stop High Density outside of TODs or not
3)Resolution to Consider a 2nd High School Again or not
4)Do Dublin Residents really want the dubious distinction of being an Entitlement Community? It could have a negative affect on the image of our town and eventual home values. We already of the Physical Visual affect of all the Condo/Aparment buildings that dominates our landscape. Now do we really want to put our names in lights with this Title?
All four points should be placed on the next earliest election for a Citywide vote. It should be the say of the voting Citizens and not just of the Mayor, her four Council and five Planning Commissioner with their developers compadres.
3:05 PM on October 21st, 2008
Jeff Kiehl, where are you???
3:13 PM on October 21st, 2008
John, you need to stand up and be a true maverick and lead us through this. You know all of the game players and we need your help. This affects you too. Thank you.
3:14 PM on October 21st, 2008
We need a Dublin version of Joe the Plumber to stand up to Janet Lockhart.
3:55 PM on October 21st, 2008
A Stronger Community Janet? Look at our Hayward Friends. Great Location in between SF, Oak and SJ, proximity to an International Airport, mild weather, killer views of the bay from their hills. A University and a Community College, location of one of the first indoor mall that is called Southland. Had everything going for it, except for smart responsible leadership.
They recklessly built Apartments and Condos after Apartments and Condos. Eventually they all became Apartments. Now it is an apartment community riddled with Crime and Blight. How is that stronger. Homeownership in Hayward is in the 25% range.
Dublin will see the same fate as these young buyers of Condos will eventually need to move up, to San Ramon or Pleasanton for the larger homes. Same goes with buyers of these cluster SFR in Dublin. What will they do with the Condos/Cluster homes they bought that has no equity since there are thousands like their’s to compete with? They will have no choice but to rent them out, now you have the same result as Hayward. A high percentage of rentals vs. homeownership and traditional neighborhoods. What Stronger Community are you talking about Janet? These homeowners of Dublin will become landlords of Dublin and residents/owners elsewhere. Who are we helping? NO ONE!!
We want a Strong Community with a healthy mix of the Young starting out and also Traditional Families, strong homeownership percentage to strengthen pride. We don’t care if the mailbox and common areas are a local hangout to meet singles. I doubt these singles are going to hangout at these places to meet their next mate. If they were we call them with a capital L “Losers” and creepy!!
3:59 PM on October 21st, 2008
Is it too late to throw in another Hat for the City Council and Mayor’s race? We have two Council seats open and one Mayor’s seat. John you can have one as I believe in you, don’t dissappoint. The other two newcomers could give Citizens the majority and the City back.
With a new majority at City Hall, we can effectively clean house and bring a majority of Citizen advocates to the Planning Commission also.
Please advise it if is too late to throw in another Hat. What is the process.
We Citizens need to take over the wheel here and control our own destiny.
4:03 PM on October 21st, 2008
Everyone email Sabranti and Hilldenbrand to see what their stance are on these issues. BMR, High Density, Entitlement Community, 2nd High School. Maybe they are not the right people to be put back into office.
Kasie has not even posted a statement on her website, arrogant and complacent. Believing she has votes in the bag since she is married to a higher public Official.
Sabranti did state he was agree on the need for more traditional SFR neighborhoods. My concern is if those are just words, will we get status quo if we elect him?
Liz King, his only opponent is the extreme anti development which we really don’t want either. But it could be the lesser of two evils.
4:22 PM on October 21st, 2008
Hello Around Dublin Readers – I’ll be reviewing the comments on this post tonight and hope to respond after the Council meeting.
Thx, John Z.
4:29 PM on October 21st, 2008
Sorry to put you on the Spot John, your feedback though would be greatly appreciated. Status Quo or 180? We’ll ask these pointed question of Hildenbrand and Sabranti too to decide on whether to vote them back into office or completely clean house.
11:17 PM on October 21st, 2008
I smell something fishy, oh no it is us sardines called East Dublin residents being packed in for a Grand Prize. What happens after the prize is spent? We are still the sad sardines. We cannot undo the packing like those people in the game show someone eluded to above can get out of that mini cooper.
Only thing likely to happen at the mailbox and common areas are muggings and beatings, highly unlike the pickup hotspots as our beloved Mayor believes it will become. The social watering hole?
City Hall is smelling foul!!
11:18 PM on October 21st, 2008
Hello Around Dublin Readers – first of all, let me thank you for using this comment string to voice your concerns. It’s great to see existing and hopefully future residents commenting and sharing feedback with other readers. Many of the members of the Dublin City Council and Planning Commission read the Around Dublin comments – so your voices *are* being heard.
Secondly, while the direction of the City is a concern for many residents, the City Council members referred to on the above comment string are good people. I’ve met with each of them and believe that they are doing what they feel is best for Dublin.
In response to the questions that readers asked:
*Dublin in an inclusive community. Thankfully, our City has residents and business owners from all walks of life – that is one of the reasons why I chose to make Dublin my home. In order for Dublin to become a premier city in the Bay Area, I think that we need to focus on executive and single family residential home development vs. high-density development.
*In terms of which Dublin City Council candidates support high-density residential housing (or a change in direction), please feel free to visit their websites and email the candidates directly with questions (the links are noted to the right, towards the top of this page).
*It isn’t too late for Dublin to make a change in direction – Dublin has the potential for a great future. I believe that we can be a premier city in the Bay Area. The key is for residents to get involved – for example, visit and speak at Planning Commission and City Council meetings, email City Council members with concerns, discuss the key issues with other residents, and continue to post comments on the Around Dublin blog for other readers to reflect and comment on.
*One reader had a question about the potential for other candidates to join the City Council race. While it’s too late to get on the ballot, there is always the write-in option. It isn’t too late to the join the City Council race, but the candidate would need to be a write-in.
*As a policy, I’d prefer to not speak about my candidacy for City Council on Around Dublin. However, regardless of the election results, I will continue to represent the residents and business owners of Dublin on the issues and concerns of our community.
Please let me know if I didn’t address a question/concern.
Thx, John Z.
12:37 AM on October 22nd, 2008
What exactly are these “additional public assistance and enhanced human services” Mayor Janet Lockhart would like Dublin to start offering as part of her legacy? Given her proven track record, she will most likely get her cronies throughout Dublin to implement the following:
1. Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels;
2. Homeless shelters;
3. Soup Kitchens;
4. Free needle exchange programs;
5. Methadone clinics;
Yes, these “additional public assistance and enhanced human services” would certainly set Dublin apart from the rest of the Tri-Valley much in the same way the Tenderloin district distinguishes itself from the better parts of San Francisco. The direction in strategic planning set forth by the otherworldly Lockhart Doctrine will send Dublin down the path of becoming the Tenderloin of the Tri-Valley. We may be getting some extra money from this CDBG program, but Dublin will be paying a hefty price for years to come in terms of lower property values and more costly police services. Once we go down that road, we won’t be able to maintain our balanced budget for long, because the population these programs typically attract to a city do not have the wherewithal to pay their own way. We must not let Janet from Another Planet have her way with Dublin’s future.
1:54 AM on October 22nd, 2008
Thanks for getting back to us John. Sorry for putting you on the spot like that, but now that you are on the spot, you can do all of us a favor by administering a real test of character to the City Council and the Planning Commission. I for one would like to know whether or not these people will still meet with you now that you have shared their dirty little secret with the community. If they reach out to you, that means their moral compass is still half functioning; if they ignore you just as they have been ignoring the will of the community, we will just have to clean house won’t we? Please keep us updated. Thanks.
6:41 AM on October 22nd, 2008
John,
Thanks for your response. In reading over the candidates’ websites, I did not see anything about high-density housing. The only person that mentioned housing was Tim Sbranti. We don’t know where Kasie stands on issues because she hasn’t posted anything about her vision for Dublin.
Here’s an excerpt from Sbranti’s site:
“THE BEST FOR A THRIVING COMMUNITY
Creating an effective balance of office, retail, and residential developments are critical to the city in terms of sustainability and our long-term fiscal health.
Attracting more high-paying office jobs and commercial retail to complement recent residential growth will help maintain budget surpluses to pay for increased investments in public safety, infrastructure, and capital improvement projects
We need to identify and work diligently to attract upscale restaurants and retailer”
If he feels that we need an effective balance of office, retail, and residential developments, then I don’t understand why the council is supporting high-density or considering participating in this CDBG program, along with wanting to provide enhanced human services.
If the goal is to have a “thriving” community, then they’re doing the opposite to ensure that that doesn’t happen for this city.
It makes no sense. He says one thing and is doing the other.
10:03 AM on October 22nd, 2008
East Palo Alto, the donut hole in the middle of Affluent Palo Alto, Mountain View, Menlo Park, Atherton, Redwood City, Los Altos Hills. Dublin is the Tri-Valley’s version of East P.A., surrounded by Livermore, Pleasanton, Sunol, San Ramon, Danville, Alamo, Walnut Creek, Orinda, Moraga, Lafayette, Pleasant Hill.
Wow why are we so lucky to be in the same company as East P.A., only difference is the weather here compared to there.
We need a government that serves the Citizens of the City, not serving the have nots discarded by everyone else.
Look at how Pleasanton leaders protect its Citizen and defy County and Federal pressures regarding BMR. They set a housing CAP to avoid bringing in thousands of those who chose not to attend High School and go to College like most of us, now they are waiting for naive Dublin for handouts. Pleasanton has been chastised for their policy but they have not bent over like Dublin leaders have. Once received they will continue to sit around and not contribute, well they will contribute to blight and crime.
Maybe we can set land aside to invite St. Anthony’s soup Kitchen to locate here. That would be the icing on the cake.
Instead of the fancy welcome signs planned for Dublin, we can do with just a simple billboard that says welcome to Entitlement Community, Soup Kitchen that way, needles this way and handouts anywhere, panhandling district that way.
Very Arrogant of any candidate to not have posted their statement for their candidacy. What are they waiting for, elections are in a few weeks. Do you expect to be re-elected on just merits? You’ve been a part of the destruction of our beloved City, what merit? Regardless of statements though, action speaks louder than words. Your action a few weeks ago regarding a small step in the right direction regarding density resonated clearly of your vision, which is status quo, continue to roll over at the command of developers, county, state and Feds.
2:19 PM on October 22nd, 2008
I moved to this city last year. I so sick of sell outs in goverment. Can we impeach her as a community. Ive spent alot of money on my new house and shes selling us out to the poor, lazy people of the tri valley.. Janet, you dont think every thug in Oakland, hayward, fremont, arent going to move hear because of BART and how affordable youll make it for them.. You need to become mayor of Berkely so you can sit in the dam trees with all the lazy asses that dont have a life.. for us that work our asses off everyday and wanted this community to be another Danville and San Ramon I guess we are taking that in the a** as well.. Stop kissing the asses of lazy people and start looking out for the ones that pay taxes, work everyday and do what needs to be done to get a house deed in thier name and make alittle profit for retirement.. but hay.. youll be long gone and retired in your litttle gated community and well all be riddled with crime. You discust me. Your should retire and let a younger person who actually lives here be mayor, because they will actually have to live here in the enviorment theyve created.. as a community lets rise above her and send her letter after letter on how she has let so many of us down… and all I wanted was DUBLIN to be a place I could call home and when you told someone you lived in Dublin they were jealous.. now theyll look at me as stupid.. and ask Why did you buy there? Thanks Mayor Lockhart.. sell out the people who put you there to make thier community the talk of the Tri Valley..
2:47 PM on October 22nd, 2008
John can you give us all the emails for the Mayor and City council.. thank you .. we all need to write them .. copy and paste everyone of these.. We need to act as a community…
3:07 PM on October 22nd, 2008
My in-laws and college friends from Danville and San Ramon warned me in 2002 not to buy in Dublin as it is a fast food, strip mall, auto shop, rough town with no future. They said to go to Danville, San Ramon or Pleasanton, but not Dublin. Naive me from Fremont told them not, that the City has changed its past ways of being a have not in the Tri-Valley, look at Eastern Dublin where they are building Executives homes, upscale businesses, we are on the way up. We’ll be even better than any of the towns they mentioned and recommended.
Now I look back and realized I made a bad decision. I should have listened and not moved my family here.
In addition to the reason mentioned above of why I shouldn’t move here in 2002, add CONDO/APARTMENT Haven, ADD BMR Haven, ADD Thug Haven, ADD Entitlement Community, ADD a mediocre School System. I didn’t even mentioned the 3 correctional facilities.
Now me and my wife have to save up for our newborn daughter. No, not a college fund, but for private school fund from K-12 and then college. Add install and alarm system at our house as most of our neighbors with school kids have already bolted to the other three before mentioned towns. We are now surrounded by renters, dead lawns, streets lined with cars as these renters pack it in and have no sense of community pride. With the added cost of paying for private school K-12, we’d have no access disposable income to patronize the upscale businesses the City is trying to attract. This scenario is repeated over and over again throughout Eastern Dublin.
What strong community are you referring to? What quality of life are you talking about? What quality of life when you stack and pack people like canned tuna. Maybe quality of life for the lazy who chose not to go to school and earn at least a diploma. They’ve hit the Jackpot with Ms. Lockhart, will you serve them soup too with the ONE TIME Federal funds for taking these elements in when no one else would?
You couldn’t leave office soon enough, the permanent damage has been done though. So I guess you have the last laugh. You will go down as the poster for what happened to Dublin, once a bright young star but became Hayward in an 8 year span.
Our family and relatives who followed our lead in 2002 and bought homes in Dublin Ranch all are regreting our decision. With the housing market down, we’d have no choice but to join our fellow neighbors and become landlords of Dublin Ranch and homeowners elsewhere. It is sad as we thought that we’d live here for generations to come. I’m not waiting for things to get better as I grew up in Hayward from the 70s to the 90s, hoping that somehow that town gets turned around. I’ve learned that once a community goes down that slippery road to inferiority, it cannot ever recover.
3:13 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Tom,
I believe the emails are posted on the City of Dublin website. I’m working on mine now to send to not only the Mayor and Council, but he Planning Commission that recommends in favor or against projects. They are as pro inferiority as Janet is.
Please join Facebook if you haven’t to help unite and mobilize. We will be heard and listened to.
Mike,
3:24 PM on October 22nd, 2008
To John and Jimmy and all the readers Ive just written all the coucil and Mayor.. Ive told them about this site and that they should read it.. please write them also…
http://www.ci.dublin.ca.us/DepartmentSub.cfm I think this is the site or go to google and look up Dublin of california… then its pretty easy.. all of us need to write them.. I asked them all to go to this site and read what concerns we as a community have.. thanks John and Jimmy for being a great voice and thanks to the people here that love this community and moved here because of what we dreamed it would be.. a great community.
3:26 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Ive joined facebook but get lost where to go.. its like myspace.. any help will be highly appreciative.. Tom
3:27 PM on October 22nd, 2008
WE have the chance to CLEAN HOUSE this November as 2 Council Seats, 1 Mayor Seat, 3 Planning Commissioner Seats are open. Think hard and carefully of who you vote for, change or status quo.
I know my vote, CHANGE!!
3:28 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Yeah I got lost too, don’t know where I was and how to get back. Help!!
3:35 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Some who knows who is looking out for us put a list of people who are the ones we will need to vote for.. please..
3:42 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Hi Readers,
Thank you for your question. I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble joining the Around Dublin FaceBook Group.
If you don’t have an account yet, what you will need to do first is to create an account on FaceBook by going to:
http://www.facebook.com
The required fields are your full name, email, password, gender, and birthday. After you have created an account and logged on, please click on the link to the FaceBook group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=30353239148
Under the “Around Dublin” logo, there should be a link called “Join this Group”. After you click on that link and go through the confirmation screens, you will be part of the group automatically.
I hope you have found my walkthrough helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact us directly at arounddublin@gmail.com, if you get stuck. Thank you again for your question, and we look forward to seeing you on FaceBook.
3:57 PM on October 22nd, 2008
I feel it’s important to write these folks and let them know that we are angry as hell and that we’re NOT going to stand for this. A special meeting should be called to address these concerns and I feel that all of the residents of this city deserve to be notified regarding this meeting so that we can all attend and voice our opinion.
Below is the contact information for the City Council members.
E-mail Addresses:
janet.lockhart@ci.dublin.ca.us
kasie.hildenbrand@ci.dublin.ca.us
tony.oravetz@ci.dublin.ca.us
tim.sbranti@ci.dublin.ca.us
kateann.scholz@ci.dublin.ca.us
Phone Numbers:
Janet Lockhart – Mayor – (925) 833-6663
Tim Sbranti – Vice Mayor – (925) 833-6664
Kasie Hildenbrand – Councilmember – (925) 833-6665
Kate Ann Scholz – Councilmember – (925) 833-6661
Tony Oravetz – Councilmember – (925) 833-6662
4:01 PM on October 22nd, 2008
ok Jimmy.. Im officially a Idiot.. Ive got the account and cant find this dublin site.. Im signed up and went to groups .. do i go to search or whats the http, i cant find the dublin site..
4:04 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Is it possible for someone to quickly organize a forum with all incumbents up for re-election and new candidates before this Novembers vote? Maybe book a room at Janet’s expense in City Hall? J.K. Anywhere would be fine, even at the park but it could be too many distractions.
I am so fearful right now of the continued path to the land of no return for us families who are trying to raise a family here. We need to all do our due diligence before voting. Otherwise the Janet doctrine will live on even when she is out of office. I don’t want to have this same conversation 2 and 4 years from now, same issues.
The ones that refuse to show up indicates they are too big for their constituents, obviously not a fit for the future of Dublin. The ones that are courageous enought to show up will have pointed questions (BMR, High Density, 2nd H.S., Entitlement Quest Fiasco).
Either way we’ll know who are our true representatives, to help us with change from the current horrible path that we are on.
4:06 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Setup a face to face forum, they will get their chance to see the faces of these anonymous citizens who cares about their community. Yes we are REAL, show us that you are worthy of facing us by showing up, don’t be cowards as Ledahl calls us all on this blog.
4:11 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Hi Tom,
Absolutely not. I probably was not sufficiently clear in my explanation. If you have signed onto your FaceBook account, please go to this page:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=30353239148
Also, if you can send an email from your FaceBook email account to arounddublin@gmail.com, I will be more than happy to send you an invitation direction from the Group, if that helps. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you run into more challenges. We are here to provide support for the community. Thank you.
4:14 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Thanks for the email addresses, we should also include any candidate looking to replace some of these incumbents. After hearing all views, we can decide if we need to clean house or not.
John and Jimmy, is it correct that the Mayor and Council appoints the Planning Commission for 4 year terms? I know the public doesn’t vote for them.
If that is true than it is even that more important to vote in the right Council and Mayor to get the right people to replace the 3 expiring Planning Commissioner. Could these same Commissioners that helped City Hall guide us in this sad direction be reappointed if we get the wrong people elected or re-elected?
4:35 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Everyone, we must unite! I urge all of you to write the councilmembers and Mayor and let them know where you stand. A special public meeting needs to be called to address these concerns.
We can’t lay down and die. We have to FIGHT!! FIGHT FOR WHAT IS RIGHT! FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE OF THIS CITY AND FOR THE FUTURE OF YOUR CHILDREN!!
Please let everyone you know that lives in this town about what’s going on and the need to take action.
4:40 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Let me respond to Janet Lockhart’s definition of the Right to Homeowership.
Has any shopped at a Lowe’s, a Baby’s R’Us lately? Yeah some employees are working hard, like the young teenager that won’t be buying a home anytime soon. The lifetimers though are mostly lazy, rude and unhelpful. Why should they have the right to handouts from the true hard working Citizens? The ones who have to wake up at 5 in the morning to drive 1-2 hours to the nearest high paying job and then again on a return trip. These people deserves the right to return to a true community after a hard days at work.
Why should these low paid retail workers that are mostly lazy and rude have the luxury of living in the same town that they work when us hard working families have to drive hours to our jobs?
We have our priority wrong here. Hopefully I didn’t offend any retail workers here as yes there are some that works just as hard and take pride in service as any of us. But gosh when you go to certain stores it make you wonder if it is true.
All I’m saying is why help some and leave the ones who worked hard all their life to get an education that allows them to have a high paying job. Why are we the ones driving far to work while the ones that didn’t work hard all their life adn working these low paying job get a handout so they could live in town?
4:51 PM on October 22nd, 2008
I have never posted on here, but feel I need to on this one. I could not agree more with every comment previously written here. The fact that there is not one opinion supporting the plan for High Density and lower income housing should tell our leaders something. I grew up in Danville and West Dublin was a dump. I bought my first house in East Dublin at the Toll Brothers villages because it was an up an coming area and I thought would be a good investment long term. I hate to think that East Dublin will become less of an exclusive and desirable area, therefore lowering all of the residents property values to accommodate everyone’s entitlement to home ownership. I like having diversity in a city, but do not agree with making Dublin the low income capital of the East Bay.
5:44 PM on October 22nd, 2008
I grew up in Oakland, so let’s just say I’m familiar with thugs and the like. I recently took an interest in buying a house in Dublin due to its attractive school system. After reading all the above comments, I’m wondering if spending an extra $100k to live in Pleasanton instead.
6:42 PM on October 22nd, 2008
I’m so mad that the city is going toward the wrong direction. Dublin should be the one with good schools, safe neighborhood, and nice single-family homes that people want to live and stay here for a long period of time. High density and low income apartments will force potential ‘long term’ residents to exit Dublin. We gotta act NOW to prevent it. I guess, the first step should be voting for a new mayor who represents Dublin citizens–NOT the builders.
8:25 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Hi Anonymous – yes, the City Council appoints the Planning Commission (in addition to the other commissions). Here is a link to the City of Dublin site that discusses the process of appointment, etc.:
http://www.ci.dublin.ca.us/DepartmentSub.cfm?PL=gov&SL=comm
Thx, John Z.
8:30 PM on October 22nd, 2008
IMPORTANT MESSAGE.
I didn’t realize this until now but John Zukoski (the fellow who runs this blog) is a candidate for City Council (see his website site link by scrolling up and on the right side of the home page). In both his website and today’s edition of the TriValley Views, on the top of residential development, he says:
“Reduce the density of new home development to preserve Dublin’s skyline, hometown feel, and property values.”
and he cites “sustainable and balanced growth – Dublin must balance out residential development with commercial development. Within residential development, we should favor low density construction over high density construction” as one of the three most important issues facing Dublin.
I appreciate trying to remain impartial in his blog but given this important issue and the readers’ strong opinions regarding it, I thought it was important for everyone to see how John feels about it. More importantly, he may be the right candidate to vote for if the residential density issue is top of one’s list.
James in E. Dublin
8:33 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Go to Pleasanton my friend, Me and my fellow family and relative that moved here in 2000 regret it everyday that we chose Dublin over our neighbors as we see more and more of Mayor Lockhart’s doctrine take affect in recent years. We will spend at least that much to put our kids through private school K-12 if I were to stay here in Dublin, that is a big if now as I learn more.
Our families becoming landlords in Dublin is highly likely due to the low low prices of homes here compared to the rest of the valley, great for investors. Not good for families that owns and can’t move.
8:39 PM on October 22nd, 2008
In addition to John, we still have two other seats, the Mayor’s and one more Council, any suggestion to avoid status quo?
Kasie and Tim had our family’s vote in the bag based on their stated desire for traditional SFR neighborhood. But they both failed miserably a few weeks ago when they voted against taking an even small step to reduce density on two parcels in Fallon Village. Although it was a very small step it was one in the right direction and put action behind their words, they failed badly and fell on their face under the pressure of our Planning Commission and yes Developers.
WE need to get a majority on the Council to represent the citizens, thus we’ll be able to obtain a majority of the planning commissioner too as they are appointed by the Council and Mayor.
8:51 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Can anyone here organize a forum with all candidates, both new and those up for re-election to have a town meeting with the Citizens of Dublin. They need to answers these questions of High Density, Inclusionary, Entitlement, 2nd High School which are HOT topic 1-4 for many Dublin Residents. If they refuse to show, then they tell us loud and clear that they should not represent us as they don’t want to hear from the Citizens.
10:14 PM on October 22nd, 2008
thx folks, for the info,I am watching the dubin housing for one more year already, finally i decide to buy in pleasonton for your comments here. For me, kids is the most important thing.But i am really sick to hear there is possibility that I might live with section 8. So, i have to say goodbye, dublin folks
11:08 PM on October 22nd, 2008
Wise man/woman you are, the best choice you ever make for your family. I wish I had listened to warnings a couple of years ago when I chose Dumpling, now it will cost me dearly to stay or move, either way I’m not in a better spot today than my countparts in SR, Pleasanton, Danville and Livermore.
I thought as one blogger put it, that Dublin was up and coming, it barely got up before it started on the downhill slide.
6:22 AM on October 23rd, 2008
Please email Liz King and ask for her support with these issues and in guiding us to fight this. She is anti-high density.
Here’s the link to contact her:
http://lizking.org/contactElizabeth.html
10:11 AM on October 23rd, 2008
Thanks for the Link to Liz King. She may be too anti growth and development but it could be the lesser of two evils.
We need someone that understands smart/balanced growth. Building thousand upon thousands of High Density Units with no reliable mass transit in sight in a suburban environment is not smart balanced growth.
I’ll check it out, she could be the surprised Dark Horse in this race.
11:04 AM on October 23rd, 2008
Does anyone have an optimistic point of view on this matter – like a new mayor and city council members can pull us out of this or it may not be so bad after all…? We’re getting ready to close on a home in Sorrento next month, obviously not knowing much about the ‘landscape’ in Dublin. I don’t know what’s worse (ie. more costly) going through with it all (as after reading all the posts to this blog my head is absolutely spinning) or losing a $50K deposit to Toll Brothers?!?!? Any positive spins on the whole situation might help me sleep a bit better at night – thx!
11:24 AM on October 23rd, 2008
It’s unfortuante how overwhelmingly negative the response to this editorial is. It’s important to recognize that this blog posting (as well as any other blog) is nothing more than an editorial comment — the poster’s opinion.
All of the readers here really need to do their own homework before jumping onto what reads like an “i hate dublin” bandwagon. Especially in the case of readers like the prior who might actually reconsider home purchase decisions based on it (or even worse, walking away from a deposit).
My point here is to take the info as you would any other editorial. Interesting points raised, but I’d seriously question a lot of the “facts” presented. Do your own homework and make up your own minds….
11:38 AM on October 23rd, 2008
We’ve made up our mines as many of our neighbor have already done. My street has become rental street.
11:48 AM on October 23rd, 2008
To the potential Sorrento buyer, at least you are buying in knowing what you are getting in to. It ain’t so bad so don’t lose sleep. Dublin won’t be Dumpling or Hayward for at least another 10 plus years. For now it is still a good community, although slowly falling apart at the seams, losing the very foundation that builds strong communities, a sense of pride that is the hard working families that had originally planned to spend a whole lifetime here.
Good luck to you!
12:19 PM on October 23rd, 2008
We know the difference between an editorial and a well-researched report. Since I was just directed to the blog this week, I can’t say much about Mr. Zukoski’s past work. On this particular post, it is clear Mr. Zukoski put a lot of time and effort to research the topic and document where he got his information from. In fact I was a bit frustrated that Mr. Zukoski did NOT tell us more directly how he feels about the potential of turning Dublin into an entitlement community. Mr. Zukoski, please be more direct with your feelings on things, so we don’t have to dig through the comment thread. Some of us don’t have the time or patience to get your take on issues that affect our property values. Thanks for the great blog.
12:30 PM on October 23rd, 2008
I wouldn’t back out of my purchase in Sorrento. We have the chance to band together and fight these things from coming to our town. You’ve worked hard for your money and forfeiting 50k is insane. Toll Brothers has the right to keep your deposit, especially when you’ve signed off on all the contingencies.
If we unite for this cause and fight all of this stuff, then we will have a chance at having what will be one of the nicest towns in the Bay Area.
1:36 PM on October 23rd, 2008
I don't know if any of you had a chance to read the TriValley Views that arrived in the mail today, but on page 7, it lists those running for Dublin City Council, and Kevin Hart and John went into detail on what their plans are for this city.
Kasie, on the other hand, gave a brief answer, which is, "I am running for re-election to the Dublin City Council to continue my work on managing growth, protecting public health and welfare, continued investment in parks and open space and revitalizing our downtown. The three most important issues are managing growth, investing in parks and open space and revitalizing our downtown."
With a lazy response like that where she doesn't go into detail regarding why she supports these ideas and doesn't lay out a specific plan for what direction she wants to take this city in, then it's settled, she's definitely not getting my vote!
Here's the links to the Q&A for John and Kevin:
http://www.trivalleyviews.com/news/show_story.php?id=76
http://www.trivalleyviews.com/news/show_story.php?id=74
1:38 PM on October 23rd, 2008
Where were you all in the early 07’s when I was standing up and emailing our city council regarding residential growth in our city. At that time and still now, we had a viable reason to stop high density development. We were and still in a water crisis. Zone 7 water resources in the Delta water pumps are pumping less water. We have a water crisis and may have rationing by next year if Sierra snow is below normal again. East bay have water rationing. The argument I presented to the city council was 2 prong. High density development will put a lot of pressure in our dwindling water resources. Secondly, they will impact home prices if a home market meltdown occurs. Lo and behold I was right then. If some of you read my article last week I posted in the blog why we are having this crisis. Finally, the root of this whole problem admitted his fault. Folks, it is Greenspan’s fault. Read this MSN article published today. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27335454#storyContinued He admitted that he tinkered too much with the interest rate and was not able to regulate our banks in providing those exotic loan programs. Such as Stated Income, Zero down, and pick your payment plan. All geared towards a rising home price market. He is the root of all this mess.
With regards to Dublin and after knowing how our local government work and attending Dublin 101 (formerly Leadership Academy). We need sustainable growth as what John Zukoski and Tim Sbranti stands for. We need to get to that 50K population plateau to get Federal Grants and be an entitlement city. I vehemently opposed all these developments then and I still stand to what I believe in a way. I was in the trenches and have the scars to prove it. (ala John McCain) Your concerns are valid. Like possibility of attracting crime in our city and maintaining the prestige and desirability of our properties. All of those point to one goal and that is to maintain and an ever increasing value to our properties. When our property values are high compared to San Ramon and Pleasanton, criminals won’t be able to afford living in our community. Crime and property values go inversely. Help our community in preventing crime. Be a neighborhood watcher. Keep the Dublin police dispatch phone number in your contact list. Believe me they are faster in response time than 911. Teach your kids the proper attire to dress around our city. Prevent them from wearing gang colors. We need an ordinance outlawing those type of attires in our public places. We have a big challenge in the next 3 to 5 years in maintaining our property values. Our main problem in maintaining our property values is the Elan, Tralee and Sorrento developments. Elan is almost succumbing close to auction. Tralee is being converted to rentals. Not bad but not desirable. Sorrento still have some but hopefully will not go to auction. As realtors, we have a gauge as far as single family home pricing. If a condo or town home unit is sold per say at 250K, the price of a low end single family residential on the resale market is higher by 150K or 200K. High density home prices will affect single family residential home prices. I am supporting Grafton Plaza. Their development will not hit until another 3 to 5 years. They are crazy to speed up this development. It is a well planned development geared towards zero commute and stay at home business concepts. That is where businesses will eventually move forward to in the future. Lastly, my efforts in bringing the water issue since ’06 – ’07 is being recognized by them creating the water basin. All developers in our city must have ground water storage in their plans. I am finally hearing words from our members of our city council about “water shortage”. I heard that from Mayor Lockhart finally. I will push for this ground water storage requirement to all developments in the city council in the future.
We need better school ratings to have our properties desirable for buyers and renters. I mentioned renters; due to fact that there will be more renters because of millions of foreclosure and many Americans will not be able to afford to buy homes due to their credit standing for the next 7 years. If you got jobs and available homes close to those jobs, your city is desirable. Folks, gas prices will continue to be a problem. The Tracy, Lathrop, Stockton and Modesto commuters who bought homes in those cities in the past are moving closer to where the job is. Their commute dollars is just humongous at this time. That pattern is now evident. San Jose and south bay is now experiencing a probable shortage in rental properties. If we can attract desirable businesses in our city, we will experience the same boom. Rental shortage and increase in home prices are synonymous. Going back to schools; in the past, every time I have a buyer or renter client. I show them a Dublin home. Better price and better features, they still want Pleasanton or San Ramon. The reason is better schools. Our school ratings are below those cities. I am supporting Mello Roos just to fund schools and nothing else. I will stand to present this case to the council whey they approve Grafton Plaza. All new developments now must have Mello Roos. I wish Measure L could be the answer. Measure L is just an open check book to the district. That is why I am not supporting it. We need to provide higher pay and incentives to our over achieving school teachers. We need to have better teacher/student ratio. We need tutoring programs to help our slow learning kids to bring up our test scores. We need to support more programs conducive for our kids to learn. We need a good meal program so that our kids can eat better and learn better. That is how we attack home prices from the demand side. Higher demand and less supply equates to higher home prices.
On the supply side, we need a controlled release on new home development. The new low and medium density developments do controlled release of their homes. They don’t affect the resale market as long as they sell above the resale market. We need to let the resale market breath a little bit after taking a lot of hits in home prices. New high density home development will affect the resale market. As citizens of this city as well as our city council that is our job that we control these releases. Developers got a lot of money tied in to the structure. When they can no longer make payments to those construction loans, they will resort to auction. Auction prices are far below market prices and will severely affect our home prices. West Dublin development has loopholes; more notably the Windstar development. That is a humongous development that needs review that has already been approved. Send your email to our city council and speak to them at the council meetings. The Arroyo development is a good plan. Make them know that you support that development.
These are the items we need to focus in the next years as Dublin residents. Maintain property values higher than San Ramon and Pleasanton. Be an entitlement city and get to that 50K population plateau. Attract desirable businesses in our city. Keep our city safe, clean, desirable and free of criminal elements. Focus in improving our school ratings better than San Ramon and Pleasanton. Get involve in our city council meetings. Let them know what your wants and dislikes. I was alone in most of those meeting in the past. Visit my Willow Creek Website http://www.willowcreekdublin.com . All my previous articles and oppositions are posted. I will reactivate some of my past comments in the past. I will also publish some of my previous emails to the city council in the past. I won’t publish some of the response I had. I do respect their positions in the community.
I had inclinations to run for city council this year. Due to business priorities I am deferring my decision. But you will see me make that run. For the meantime, vote for Tim Sbranti and John Zukoski. They know the problem and they know the solutions. I am delighted to all your comments and the number of people concerned about our city. I thought I was alone then. Don’t be negative about what you see where we are. Be involved if you want change. Be part of the solution to make those changes. Lastly, I have lived here since 1988. I moved here because of its provincial outlook. I have come to accept that the Dublin I used to admire is no longer provincial. I was in a state of shock that is why I became involved. But I will be part of the solution to make our city desirable. Email me your comments and feel free to contact me. My email address is rfirmeza@willowcreekdublin.com. I guarantee that I will not talk as a realtor/client to you. My name is Jing Firmeza and I live in the Willow Creek Development in Dougherty Rd.
1:49 PM on October 23rd, 2008
Kevin lives in West Dublin, so I doubt he will care about what’s happening in East Dublin. Also, Kevin was on the School Board that killed the second high school. Check out one of the comments on the High School post if you want to know what I am talking about. I watched the TV forum, and I actually liked Elpi.
2:31 PM on October 23rd, 2008
Hi Anonymous – regarding my personal feelings on things, please feel free to email me at john.zukoski@gmail.com with any questions or topics for discussion.
Thx, John Z.
4:54 PM on October 23rd, 2008
Come on people? These comparisons of Dublin to East Palo Alto are rediculous. Furthermore it is just plain assine to suggest that Dublin is moving in the direction of SRO hotels, Homeless shelters, Soup Kitchens, Free needle exchange programs, and Methadone clinics. It seems like the readers of the blog are taking that baseless comment as gospel, and then playing dogpile…
I respect everyone’s opinion on whether we have too much high density housing, whether we’re pulling in enough business despite the bleak economy, etc — but these responses have really degraded into a bunch of rambling. Let’s stick to something at least remotely based in reality, and the residents might really get something out of this.
JOHN Z: as a potential council member, think of this as a good opportunity to show some leadership. Sitting on the sideline and letting 80% of these blog comments go from “valid opionion” to “baseless garbage” like they are isn’t dazzling me with your leadership skills. Please, take the opportunity to get this commentary under control and help the residents doing the postings stay centered on the facts.
5:37 PM on October 23rd, 2008
From one anonymous reader to another:
The same can be said for the current council and planning commission, all of whom are in the pocket of developers. I don’t see them jumping in to correct inaccuracies in the comments or contributing to the posts. They are definitely not dazzling anyone with their so-called accomplishments and leadership skills. Mr. Zukoski, please keep the blog just the way it is. Don’t listen to Janet’s cronies. We will get rid of them one by one, so this city can get a fresh start before it’s too late.
6:00 PM on October 23rd, 2008
Ditto. To me, John and his team laid out the facts as objectively as they could. John did his best to give us his take on the situation and put his usual upbeat spin on things. Still, as much as I respect his opinion, I can’t help but be fearful of what’s to come, given what we have seen lately from City Council and Planning Commision. I would argue that it is our elected and appointed officials who are guilty of poor leadership, since they never made it clear what they plan to do with this CDBG money. It is so sad that these Lockhart minions have resorted to vilifying the blog for their own failures to communicate clearly their agendas.
7:06 PM on October 23rd, 2008
Dear Neighbor-
Thank you for passing along the issues raised on the blog. I understand people’s concerns, and many of those are issues that I am already working on, However, there are a lot of misconceptions that some residents have presented on the blog. Some of them are as follows:
1.) Entitlement Cities – any city over 50,000 residents is an “entitlement” city. It’s a technical term that has very little to do with entitlements. It means that a city is “entitled” to receive more funding from the federal government due to its size to provide funding for services that already exist. This is as opposed to the current system where money goes through the county back to us. It’s not like this is for new services for the poor. Pleasanton and Walnut Creek are in fact “entitlement” cities. Furthermore, Dublin has a contract through 2012 with Alameda County to have it distribute its CBDG funds, so even if we hit 50,000 in the near future we will not be an entitlement city. Therefore, despite the claim that we’re trying to hit a magic population number as the reason for higher density to get more money, that is factually incorrect.
2.) Low Income Housing – Dublin has the lowest inclusionary housing mandates in the area at 7.5% affordability. All of our surrounding cities have much higher percentage requirements. When one considers that usually half of the affordable units that are built are for seniors, that leaves 3-4% of new construction for “affordable” housing for low-income families. In fact, I had an affordable housing advocate complain to me recently that despite the publicity Dublin has generated in regards to workforce housing, that as a percentage of our city’s growth it has been limited. I am not even aware of what new low income units people are referring to that the Council is supposedly about to approve. In the west we have one low income development (Arroyo Vista) and in the east we have one low income development (Groves, which is actually mixed-income with lots of low-income seniors). The rest of the development in our city has been 92.5% market rate and 7.5% affordable. This is a ratio I have always supported as I feel it adds balance to a community. Despite calls by some to eliminate affordable housing 100%, this is not even a legal option due to state and federal regulations.
3.) Crime – Dublin’s part I crime rates for crimes against persons and property were down over the past year despite our city’s growth. Although maintaining a safe community is always a top concern of mine, we are not experiencing a crime on par with East Palo Alto, Hayward, Oakland, or any of the other cities some are comparing us to. We have a very high ratio of officers on the street, excellent schools, and high socioeconomics for our city, I’m not sure where people are getting this impression that we have a crime problem now or in the future.
4.) Density – This seems to be the biggest issue. Ironically, the City Council took great steps towards lowering density at its October 7th meeting. Although a legitimate discussion can be had on the ways to go about achieving lower density, the comments on the blog imply that the Council abandoned the pursuit of achieving lower density when in fact the Council is simply pursuing a different method to achieve the same goal. The plan before the Council originally was to take two properties with Medium Density zoning (6.1-14 units per acre) and split them in half into Medium-Low (6.1-10 units per acre) and Medium (10.1-14 units per acre). This was actually my proposal. The rationale being that under the original Medium Density zoning designation that most developers were building the maximum number of units allowed (14 units to the acre), so by splitting the designation it would force them on half of their property to build at a lower density (6.1-10 units) with yards that were at least 225 square feet. I was prepared to support this plan until a better option was proposed. The option proposed was rather than splitting the zoning, we should keep the Medium designation, but within it to require that 50% of the units have usable private yards of 400 square feet. This would create a more integrated project as opposed to an unbalanced project that has half of it constructed at lower densities and half of it at much higher densities. Instead, we would have one project that flows together that all looks relatively similar, but the mandate would exist for private yards on at least half of the property. In addition, under the council’s new plan the size of the yards nearly doubled in size from the original proposal (225 vs. 400 square feet). We are being attacked personally and as a City Council, but we actually did more to create lower densities and private yards than if we adopted the original plan.
I share your goal of creating a thriving city of working professionals with class A office, retail, and restaurants to complement existing residential growth. If you or anybody else has concerns about our city I would be happy to meet at any time. Just send me an e-mail or give me a call to set up an appointment. I am very accessible. It is unfortunate that so many people have decided to attack us as a Council and our city as a whole. That is why I appreciate that you reached out to me to share your concerns in a civil manner. We all want what is best for Dublin. If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me directly. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Tim Sbranti
Vice Mayor, City of Dublin
(925) 833-6664
7:17 PM on October 23rd, 2008
I personally want to thank Tim Sbranti for writing me back. I attaced his letter to me so all you on here could read and digest the facts. It seems like he would be up for a meeting with all of us. But if it happens, not anger should fuel this but love for a community and respect for who ever is trying to show us what is happening.. I want to learn as we go and find out as much as we can about the future of Dublin.. Thanks everyone.
7:54 PM on October 23rd, 2008
I would also like to thank Tim Sbranti for his thoughtful letter, even though he apparently wasn’t the one who posted it on this blog. I hope he doesn’t mind that someone posted it here.
I have been impressed with Tim Sbranti’s knowledge and performance on the city council. I don’t know if he agrees with me about the need for a second high school in Dublin, but other than that I like his positions on the issues. That’s why I support Tim Sbranti for mayor and have contributed to his campaign.
Tim Hall
Dublin
tiger650@comcast.net
7:59 PM on October 23rd, 2008
Hello Anonymous – I’d like to offer one clarification to Tim Sbranti’s 2nd point regarding Low Income Housing. Dublin’s Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance can be found here:
http://www.ci.dublin.ca.us/pdf/Dublin_Zoning_Ord_8.68.pdf
As you’ll note on page 2, Dublin requires that all residential development projects build at least 12.5% of all units as “affordable”. It further goes on to state on page 3 that as an exception, a developer can pay 5% towards a special fund that the City of Dublin can then use to provide very-low, low, and moderate-income housing (noted on page 6) as part of a future project.
While the City only requires that a developer build 7.5%, they would have to pay an additional 5% in fees that will eventually be used to build more below market rate housing – bringing the total BMR requirement to 12.5%.
Thx, John Z.
8:58 PM on October 23rd, 2008
Tim,
Thank you for being the first to tread these waters. It shows leadership that we need at time, it also shows that you understand Citizen’s frustration and are willing to listen. Much better than those politicians who dismissed/chastised or ignored this blog completely since they don’t agree with the majority of opinions. They obviously proved to us that they will never want to hear from Citizens unless it is something they agree with, they already have their minds set and believe they sit on a pedestal.
I appreciate your clarification on a few issues that inflamed many of our readers on this blog. It certainly helped me calm down a bit myself.
It is encouraging to hear first hand about the direction you indicate the City is going with at the two Fallon Village properties. My pointed question to you is what about (Wallis Ranch, Sorrento East, Dublin Land Co.)? What is your stance on these proposals for High Density well away from any TODs. Wallis Ranch seems the most ridiculous place to place Medium or High Density. Sorrento East and the Dublin Land Co. Parcels are a close second and third.
How do you feel about the call to preserve some of our remaining residential land to build more traditional Single Family Residences and Executives Homes to attract large corporations and their executives/family to town? Building Condos and Apartments alone will not do it.
Given that we have High Density still yet to come in the Second Phase of the Grove, Another 1K yet to be built at Eastern Dublin BART, Possibly 1000 + at Fallon Village, 400 plus at Grafton Plaza, Possibly 1000+ at Camp Parks, Hundreds in Downtown, maybe hundreds on the parcels recently purchased by Blake Hunt as they floated ideas of some residential there. Shouldn’t we do whatever we could to preserve Wallis Ranch, Sorrento East and the Dublin Land Co. Parcels for low density traditional single family neighborhoods? Where else would we build them if we give up these last remaining parcels to even more High Density?
We can talk about wanting more balance and building more low density housing until we are blue in the face but without preserving any of these parcel it will be a mute point unless we annex Livermores open space North of I580. That would send quivers through their constituents with just the thought of it.
John has posted many wonderful pieces on this blog, very informative and very detailed. He has posted topics from all points of views. On most topics we have kind discussions and comments from all sides. This and the High School issue seem to be the HOT button that gets people involved as they are very passionate about it. Please take note of this as topic #1 and #2 for Dublin in the next 4 years.
In regards to BMR, I would need to do a bit more research on this topic when you say it is State and Federal law. I had read just last year that Oakland was debating whether or not to implement an inclusionary clause for new residential construction, builders were rushing to get entitlement to get in before this change takes affect. If it is Federal and State Law, why does Oakland even have the right to discuss it now in 2007 and 2008? Why haven’t they had this clause for years now like Dublin’s since 2000? I’m confused here. Does the law only affects small towns?
9:20 PM on October 23rd, 2008
Dear Neighbor –
First I would like to say that prior to joining the City Council I was the co-founder of a group called Friends of Dublin. Originally established to involve the growing population of the newly-developed eastern portion of the city in municipal activities, it quickly grew into a city-wide organization dedicated to enriching the quality of life in all of Dublin through involvement in local organizations, business, and government. David Haubert, my partner in Friends of Dublin, and I also maintained a website and a blog for our residents to communicate with another one issues they felt were important in our community. I understand the importance of residents communicating with one another and appreciate the opportunity to share with you information regarding the city’s development, medium density changes, and affordable housing. Because Vice Mayor Sbrant’s letter was posted I will try to add to what has already been stated.
Medium Density – I fought for 4 years in our Strategic Planning Sessions to change the structure of medium density zoning. Unfortunately it requires three council members to agree to have City Staff work on the item and present the information to the City Council. I was not successful in convincing my colleagues to consider changing Dublin’s medium density zoning until this past year. Until recently I was the only council member advocating for this change as past and current members believed in the original land use plan and felt that the housing opportunities being presented were adequate and balanced. I vehemently disagreed. Fortunately this year, two other council members joined me and agreed to investigate changing the medium density zoning requirements. In 2008 there were only two parcels of land left that had not been entitled; therefore, were the only two parcels we could consider changing. Had the City Council agreed to investigate and possibly change medium density zoning in 2004 when I took office more parcels would be subject to the new definitions as described in Vice Mayor Sbranti’s letter. I have been keenly aware of the need to balance housing in our community and stated so publically in many council meetings. I have watched my friends and neighbors move as their families have grown and the need for space in Dublin was not sufficient for their growing families. I have and will continue to fight to balance our housing opportunities in this community.
Development – In order to build East Dublin, West Dublin residents voted to annex east of Dougherty Road and a land use map was created by a former City Council to create a community that was balanced with both housing and economic opportunities. Creating a land use plan is a complicated process; however, based on development requirements of the recent years, Dublin had to create a community different from that of our surrounding neighbors. Dublin had to take into consideration transportation opportunities and transit orientated developments, create affordable housing that is mandated by the State of California and the federal government, consider building Villages (i.e. Dublin Ranch Villages) that were pedestrian friendly with opportunities for residents to come home and be able to walk to recreational facilities, retail and commercial establishments and all the while protecting open space and creating parks and trails. The new development Dublin was planning had to pay for the amenities itself; therefore, a range of densities were created to balance opportunities in order to provide for items such as Emerald Glen Park and the soon to be built Aquatics Center, Fallon Sports Park, and neighborhood squares and parks, to name a few. If development were to drastically change or stop all of the above mentioned amenities would cease. The city has been and will remain a fiscally conservative city and traditionally only built projects when the money was available. Our community would have to wait many more years to see completion of projects our community needs and deserves to have if drastic change were to occur.
Affordable Housing – Vice Mayor Sbranti did a good job of explaining affordable housing in Dublin. What I would like to add is a comparison so that our residents understand that although we are building affordable housing other cities are building even more. Take for instance San Ramon. Many residents have compared Dublin to San Ramon; however, did you know that San Ramon requires that 25% of a new development meet affordable housing requirements? Dublin’s requirement is 12.5 % and of that 7% must meet affordable housing requirements and 5.5% be paid as fees to the City. When San Ramon is built out they will have far more affordable housing units than Dublin. Also, I must reiterate that we cannot eliminate affordable housing as it is a state and federal regulation.
I appreciate the opportunity to share with you information on the above topics. I care deeply for this community and believe through managed growth we can balance our housing, retail and commercial opportunities. I am available to meet with residents or can be reached either by phone or email. Thank you for the opportunity to provide you information and hopefully it will help clear up questions or concerns residents who use this blog may have.
Best regards,
Kasie Hildenbrand
Councilmember, City of Dublin
10:44 PM on October 23rd, 2008
Kasie,
Thank you for finally joining the conversation. Some of us tried to be as provocative and obnoxious as possible to get City leader’s attention. Finally we did and yes this blog works. It allowed residents to voice their opinions and concerns. Now we have dialog for a broad audience instead of just one on one. This is how it is suppose to work.
With that said, you mention a need to balance our residential opportunities. If you say that only the Jordan and Croak properties would be affect, how do you plan to balance our housing stock? There is no parcels left, are we too late as most of us fear. What about parcels such as Wallis, Sorrento East, Dublin Land Co.? Is it too late to work with the land owners since realistically they are not building anytime soon given this economy. As you see with Sorrent East (change from 694 to 900 units) and Schaefer Ranch (12 Estate Lots converting to 140 cluster SFR), developers aren’t shy about requesting last minute changes and expect the City to entertain it. Why can’t the City do the same with the parcels that are still open? As for Dubin Land Co., they have no clue what they want to build there and have put up the parcels for sale so why not take the opportunity to change the densities there?
Same question for Tim on the same issue.
11:15 PM on October 23rd, 2008
The difference I see is that SR is not building as much high density as Dublin, even the ones being built in Windemere aren’t as massive as what we have here. At buildout we would have squeezed nearly as many people into tiny Dublin as they are spread out in Pleasanton and San Ramon.
Yes we are being hit harder with inclusionary as we are still building thousands of homes. 7.5% or 12.5% of thousands will result in a much higher total of BMRs than 25% of building only hundreds of new units like Pleasanton.
If we would reduce our density on future developments it would help us reduce the hit of that 12.5% requirement. Instead of shooting for 60k plus at building, look at possibly only 50k max at buildout, less density lends to a better quality of life for everyone. Allows family to spread out and grow instead of being forced to move elsewhere.
My family is a great example, we’ve outgrown our cluster home in Dublin Ranch that we purchased in 2000. We’ve been looking but the choices we have in Dublin is limited compared to thousands that are offered in Danville, San Ramon and Pleasanton. Homes there typically have a larger yard with similiar square footage. Although it costs a bit more we don’t mind paying for that luxury, adding to our quality of life.
Drive along 680 through San Ramon and you see rows and rows of single family residences and neighborhoods, not to mention Gail Ranch and Windemere which is also dominated by SFR and Executive homes, they are all well kept too with not too many homes put up for rent like they are in Dublin. Drive along 580 and you see a wall of High Density Housing on Dublin’s side, not the mention the ones not built yet and then you see Classy Class A Office Buildings dominates the Pleasanton side, both along 580 and 680. There is a disparity here.
11:19 PM on October 23rd, 2008
It saddens us to see our neighbors with kids the age of ours all moved away to Danville and SR in recent years and place their homes here up for rent. When we moved to Dublin Ranch and met these wonderful families, we thought wow our kids will grow up together like how we did years ago in traditional neighborhoods. We feel now we may have to follow the same path as there isn’t much choice for us to grow here.
12:45 AM on October 24th, 2008
Fellow Dubliners;
I miss endorsing Kasie to be re-elected. I have attended numerous council meetings. Kasie’s views and opinions are synonymous to Tim Sbranti. I like Kasie’s view regarding superstores. She fought hard in redefining medium and low density homes in the meetings I attended. I am sure she has her sights about all your concerns regarding high density homes. As far as low income housing, We have the best laid out plan. I know East Dublin concern as these units were attached to your development. Other developers paid fees to have it not attached to their development. Both have its advantages. At Dublin 101 tonight, we met a low income homeowner that bought below market rate home. I would hate to deprive this family of 3 kids with a single dad a place to call their own home. State mandated or not I feel that all cities should have affordable low income housing. Do crime comes with low income housing? That is still to be determined in our city. I don’t think it will ever happen in our city. Folks East Palo Alto is not a comparison to our great city. East Palo Alto, Hayward, Oakland and Vallejo are cities struggling to fight rampant crime. Primary reason is law enforcement failed to protect its residents. Residents does not help in prosecuting the criminals. Residents do not report gang related crimes in concern of reprisals. Dublin is far from that comparison. I have lived in this city since 1988. I pass the Arroyo Vista housing area all the time. I still have to see drug dealing in that area. I still have to see gang related crimes in that area. As Dublin residents, we are the protectors of our city. If you see anything that you feel are probable criminal activities. Call Dublin police. Their response time is impeccable. They protect our city real well. We have the best police force in the whole Bay Area. To all the people who left our great city, it is their loss. Coming from someone who attended a lot of council meetings, Kasie and Tim fought hard in redefining medium and low density dwelling. By the way, Tim is very accessible. He invited me for a meeting to listen to my opposition and concern regarding our city back then. Kasie, Tim and John Zukoski have my vote.
Jing Firmeza, rfirmeza@willowcreekdublin.com
10:11 AM on October 24th, 2008
Assuming Kasie is re-elected, Tim is elected to the Mayor’s seat, John gets voted in to replace Oravetz.
Any suggestion on that unknown to replace the Council seat vacated by Tim? Hart is out for me given his track record on the School Board, he was part of the reason why we have the other burning/divisive Topic in this City that affects both east and west, look at the measure L postings and you’ll understand. The fact that he is from West Dublin does not bother me as I believe we are all one, East or West. With the exception of John Z., Any other suggestions as I’ve checked the other Candidate’s Websites and see nothting, no statement of what they plan to bring to the table, what they can do for the City and it’s Citizen, what are their stances on these topics (High Density, Single Family, Corporate Recruitment, Downtown Redevelopment, School District). What do they plan to do to correct the unbalanced housing stock. Their sites only talks about themselves and their accomplishments, wonderful I have accomplishments too and so does my neighbor, this doesn’t automatically qualify me to serve 40K plus Dubliners with burning issues. Their sites don’t give me why should we elect you, what do you have for us?
I ask all the Candidates with the exception of John to step up, join in on the conversation, share their thoughts on this very Hot Topic that transcends our City, our Citizens. Read through this board and you can see how passionate people are about this issue and how much people care about the City of Dublin, otherwise they wouldn’t be spending the time to post here. If they care too then join in to give us a sense that we will have their eyes and ears if we elect them into office.
From recent posting by Tim and Kasie and John, I believe we have the majority now that shares our view, we have their eyes and ears. Lets hope it does not stop there though, rather than just agreeing with our views, we need them to put their words into action and need them to be mavericks and represent us and do whatever it takes to turn the tide of High Density and acquire a better balance of our housing stock as we are way heavy on High Density vs Single Family, it will only get worse with the current zoning for future Residential developments if we don’t make drastic changes. They won’t win any Developer friends I’m sure, no glitzy 60th parties but they will for sure win over a lot of Citizens which is the primary purpose of their election to office.
Scholz is not up for re-election but from watching the Council meeting I get the feeling that she is conservative when it comes to unchecked/unbalanced growth, I’ve heard her on a few occassion speak against High Density so I’m confident she will work with the rest of the Council.
Now the Planning Commission. The Council now has the majority sharing similiar views (High Density, High Pay Class A Office Jobs, Downtown Redevelopment, Single Family Residences (balance of housing)), lets hope they appoint the right people to replace the 3 expiring terms on the Planning Commission, maybe 4 if Tomlinson gets on the School Board.
To all candidates, incumbent and new, we need your help and thoughts.
10:15 AM on October 24th, 2008
Yep, we were loud enough to get the ears of Tim, Kasie and John. What about the others, do you hear us or are you oblivious to the issues and concerns of the Citizens of Dublin?
9:09 PM on October 24th, 2008
In defense of a public servant Mayor Janet Lockhart, it is discomforting to read comments about her 60th birthday bash and other indirect comments. Eventhough, Mayor Janet Lockhart views and my views differ regarding high density back then and still do. She did took time to explain to me her decisions. I may not agree with her response. Attending Dublin 101 made me realize all her reasoning behind Dublin residential growth. She is in a tough situation to rationalize her decision to support us, oppose developers and keep a sound fiscal balanced budget. Those are tough decisions and not be able to satisfy each side. I have been a volunteer for Vice Mayor Tim Sbranti’s mayoralty campaign. I have talked to both opposing side of the Dublin growth. There are Dublin residents who support and want more development. Central Dubliners like myself and others are divided in this issue. I am surprise that original 1988 owners at Willow Creek are split regarding this issue. We probably have a slight edge in the number of people opposing high density development.
Mayor Lockhart has served our city for many years and have been in the center of colliding issues so many times. We may differ on this issue, but she has made good strides on many areas. I do applaud her for being a public servant for our city and all the improvements she has made to our city. I do respect her position and thank her for taking time in explaing her position in certain issues. I do wish her well in the coming years. Thank you Madame Mayor for serving our city. I plead to all to keep comments where the issue is and refrain from personal attacks in all your future comments.
Jing Firmeza rfirmeza@willowcreekdublin.com
9:15 PM on October 24th, 2008
Sure waterman.
12:10 AM on October 25th, 2008
To the one buying in Sorrento, don’t be foolish to back out. You’ve worked too hard for that money to just give it up. Become a Dubliner and be part of the solution. Be active and be in contact with your elected official regarding this topic and any other that concerns you. We need families like yours in order to turn the tide of overpacking in Dublin.
We are not against High Density period, we are against the shear number of High Density and where they are being built or proposed. No one has commented here about High Density in Downtown or at East Dublin BART as they are logical places for it. But the proliferation of High Density in Eastern Dublin and areas North of Central Parkway is threatening to deteriorate the qualify of life for all of us. Overcrowding is never a quality of life no matter how nicely built or planned, for whatever reason.
4:30 AM on October 26th, 2008
I just want to say hello an wow.. It seems we are getting results and great info on here. We as a community can overcome this situation. Im proud to be a home owner here in Dublin. There is alot of new construction going on. Is Kaiser still comming here.. and if the love of this blog has any reflection on the city.. this city will get better. Tim and Kasie sound like perfect candidates and John as well. With the in office and people who care and are on this blog, the city will get better..
On the other side.. Ive heard Dublin has a very high sewer rate for new restaurant owners or builders.. we want good restaurants to come to Dublin, but if they cant afford the sewer connection they might not come.. correct me if Im wrong, I heard the price to connect is very steep… I love the heart and soul on this site.. we will come together an overcome.. its our city and we will work with the Mayor and city council to make it GREAT… Postive thougts and actions will get us there.. and the new Grafton station is beautiful.. Hope a coffee shop goes in or a coffee/book store so one could walk, drink a cup and read a book .. thanks John and Jimmy.. you too are helping us become a better community with this site..
8:05 AM on October 26th, 2008
Hi Tom – I’m working on an article to compare water and sewer hookup fees between cities. Zone 7 and the DSRSD set most – if not all – of the hookup fees.
Thank you for the positive comments about Dublin’s future. I couldn’t agree with you more. The key to our future is community involvement. If residents become more involved with city planning (by attending/participating in Council and commission meetings, meeting with City leadership) and if parents can become more active in our schools (by volunteering in the classroom and with the Dublin Partners in Education), then Dublin will be able to reach its full and bright potential.
Thx, John Z.
10:27 AM on October 27th, 2008
Thanks John.. its important so smaller restaurants can afford this city… and have you heard anything on Kaiser.. thanks
10:49 AM on October 27th, 2008
To Fellow Dubliners.
Wonderful response, it is reassuring that there are so many who cares about the community and share similiar thoughts on this topic. I know some politicians have chose to ignore, dismiss or even chastise this blog. Too bad for them, their lost as they would be out of touch with the pulse of the City.
Many posts, whether anonymous or not, presented valid opinions and either with correct or incorrect facts. There is no denying though the central theme of opposition to the continued path of building High Density Housing. If you read each and every post, regardless if you agree with the opionion or the facts presented, it all said one thing, enough now with the High Density. Time to start a new and more prosperous, balanced era.
Now we have a sounding board to keep a close eye on City Hall, hold our elected officials to their words. Be on them to get us back on track to a better balance of our housing stock (Low vs High). Unlike from 2000-2008, with the exception of Mr. Firenze City Hall operated automnymously (is this a word?) without Citizen involvement. That is how we got to this point in the first place. During these past 8 years unfortunately a lot of Dubliners were new to town and really didn’t get involved. Now we are becoming more seasoned with the town we’ll hopefully see more involvement to help re-shape this town to what we had originally thought it would be when we decided to invest in it.
We handed the Benz keys to City Hall in 2000 and got a Hyundai back in 2008, no offense to Hyundai owners, it is a good car but not quite a Benz. We won’t let that happen again and allow City Hall to go unchecked. Together Dubliners and City Hall can turn this around and get us our Benz back.
I am confident that the Candidates we have now for City Hall will finally be advocates of its shareholders (Dublin Residents) instead of advocates of Developer Shareholders, County, State and Feds.
Stay involved!! Don’t let your eye off the ball again as we did the last 8 years.
1:48 PM on October 27th, 2008
I endorse the following:
Sabranti: “Mayor Elect” for his open mind and similiar concerns about High Density Housing and the need for SFR neighborhoods and Balance.
Hildenbrand: “Council Re-elect” for her open mind and similiar concerns about High Density Housing and the need for SFR Neighborhood and Balance.
Zukoski: “Council Elect to replace Oravetz” for his open mind and similiar concerns about High Density Housing and the need for SFR Neighborhoods and Balance.
Abulencia: “Council Elect to fill Sabranti’s seat” for his views of a need for smart and responsible land use planning.
NO to Hart (no need for redux as former school board member along with Lockhart that was part of the land to housing developer decision which equals an Absolute NO 2nd H.S.. If you are a parent in E. Dublin you know what a burning issue this today due to their decision. A Lockhart groupie or minion whatever you want to call it). Made no statement about High Density Housing.
NO to Boboc (unknown as have not made any tangible statements about the issues facing Dublin)
Do your own research and decide for yourself, be careful as we do not want status quo on our current path of high density housing.
4:41 AM on December 22nd, 2008
I got a grant from the federal government for $12,000 in financial aid, see how you can get one also at http://couponredeemer.com/federalgrants/
11:18 PM on May 14th, 2009
Bank of America robbery…..I’m not surprised. I knew this was coming due to all of the affordable housing that Mayor Lockhart is promoting. We need to get organized to stop this. Perhaps a public gathering at a public place can be organized via this website to get us both unified and organized. Can we pass a morotorium on future high density developments? This is our last chance to save Dublin. Even if you move to San Ramon or Pleasanton, you will still be affected by all of the ills that Dublin is creating – have you shopped at Stoneridge Mall lately? It’s just not the same.
9:31 AM on May 15th, 2009
Crime in Dublin has been level, but higher than before BART came out here. Yet it is still lower than Pleasanton and Livermore. Ask any police office and they will tell you that anyone they have caught in a robbery in Dublin in the last 10 years have come from elsewhere, not from people living in affordable houses. What a stupid arguement.
9:55 AM on May 15th, 2009
…and this is why many people are not in favor of a BART station in West Dublin. Dublin has made tremendous progress in making its high-density neighborhoods crime free, but people up to no good can easily come into and out of town on the trains. It is too bad people don’t assign blame in the right place and are easily mislead into believing that BMRs are to blame. How very sad!
9:23 PM on May 20th, 2009
I am very sad to see all of the negative comments about the bmr residents. A year ago, my husband and I moved into The Groves. We are a young couple with an infant doing all we can to take care of him. My husband works full time and I go to school full time for nursing. We are in the low income, just as a stepping stone, so I can finish school and we can buy our own home. Not all BMR residents are ghetto or thugs. We never have parties, we pay our rent on time, and we are responsible. Please just open your hearts to those that are thankful Dublin as well as other cities offer BMR apartments.
6:55 PM on June 6th, 2009
I just discovered this blog today, though my wife and I have lived here in Dublin for about a year, and in the East Bay for most of our lives. Before I put in my two cents, let me see if I can get a few things straight:
1) People are angry that Mayor Lockhart has emphasized higher-density housing, i.e., condominums. People want to see a lot more SFRs built instead.
2) One of the perceived drawbacks to condos and other forms of higher-density housing is that they introduce a criminal element, if I am not mistaken.
3) BART is apparently in some way bad for the city, because it too introduces a criminal element (again, if I am interpreting these comments correctly).
Now, my responses:
1) It's understandable that some people might object to the apparent urbanizing of some parts of Dublin. Higher profiles means views impaired for many people, particularly in single-family residences. However, some factors suggest that this was inevitable. For one, Dublin is situated right at the intersection of two busy freeways. It's kind of hard not to notice the flyover connecting South 680 to East 580, even from a few miles away. The high-density areas aren't significantly taller than that span. Also, BART arrived here a few years back, and some people like the idea of using their cars a little less. Higher-density residential areas and transit villages help make this possible. Being close to BART is a real selling point for many people, and higher-density units near BART means more people can enjoy that flexibility. My wife rode BART to the A's game last night. This is not a bad thing.
2) In the condos where we live (Elan), there isn't any more crime than anywhere else in Dublin. In fact, there is probably a bit less. No one here is getting mugged. Everyone we have met here has been friendly and courteous. We are a couple of teachers who probably would have been priced out of the market if we had wanted a home at any time other than this recession. The biggest problem we have to worry about is people not knowing which way the garage doors open. We've had to replace two so far.
3) As I mentioned before, the presence of BART is not a bad thing. Many cities in the Bay Area have access to BART without attracting the criminal element. Do you hear about crime waves in Orinda and Lafayette? No, not exactly, and yet they've had BART since the beginning. There is no reason why Dublin has to be any different. The bank robberies in fact tend to be committed by people in cars, and from out of town. I recently heard of a drug addict from San Jose who was caught after holding up a bank here in Dublin. Again, not caused by BART.
I will readily agree that this city needs to do a better job of attracting businesses that are not merely retail-based. There is a lot of that space already (though I do think we need a cafe or a pizza place in our neck of the woods). But at the same time, is it really so terrible that some condos have been built here? This is the trend in cities that already have BART stations, and it makes sense on a number of levels. Look at the Pleasant Hill station, for example. There is some huge development going on right next to the station–because the station is already there, and that's a big selling point for businesses and homeowners. It's expensive to expand BART to places like Tracy and Brentwood. It's a lot less expensive to just build up where the existing system already is. Walnut Creek has suffered no loss of prestige because of mass transit; on the contrary, it has probably attracted more shoppers because of it.
I for one would rather live here than in Windemere. My wife and I used to live in the Cornerstone apartments (near Gayle Ranch) which were far from everything, and the area was clearly overbuilt. We can keep digging into hillsides and sprawling our suburbs out over distant horizons, or we can build a little more intelligently within the lines that are already drawn. It's a pretty simple decision.