Dear City Councilmember:

I do not support the request by KB Home and Charter Properties to convert half of the retail space at the Promenade to high-density condos.

If approved, this land use conversion will be a classic “bait and switch” scheme made possible by Dublin City Hall. For ten years, new East Dublin residents in the tens of thousands have been told that the Promenade would be an upscale shopping destination to rival San Jose’s Santana Row. Now that everyone has already bought or rented homes in and around Dublin Ranch Villages based on that promise, the City of Dublin is trying to shoehorn more condos into an area already saturated with high-density housing.

The prospect of more high-density condos instead of the upscale shopping center promised to residents could not have come at a worse time. Property values have cratered over the past few years. Scrapping the Promenade in favor of additional high-density condos beyond the 1,400 units already built as part of the Dublin Ranch Villages will further reduce the value of my home. Even worse, the loss of a shopping & dining district within easy walking distance of thousands of residents will seriously degrade the quality of life that all of us were seeking when we purchased in the Dublin Ranch Villages. It also completely contradicts Dublin’s vision of creating “mixed-use walkable villages” within the city and instead condemns Dublin Ranch Villages to be just another high-density residential neighborhood almost entirely dependent on cars, and yet with seriously insufficient parking for those cars.

East Dublin schools are already overcrowded. The Dublin Unified School District will likely use the impact fees generated by the new homes to pay off funds borrowed to build Kolb Elementary School instead of creating additional long-term capacity for new students. As a result, students in the already oversubscribed schools in East Dublin could be diverted to a school in West Dublin.

Residents living in the Villas and Cottages at Dublin Ranch Villages are so desperate for parking that they have been parking on the dirt patch KB Home wants to rezone for more condos. Will there be enough parking once more residents move into the new KB Home condos?

Dublin is a wonderful city to live in, and I trust that you will do what is right for the community. Please maintain a long-term vision for Dublin instead of falling prey to short-sighted planning based on temporary economic conditions. Please vote against the request by KB Home and Charter Properties to initiate a General Plan and Eastern Dublin Specific Plan Amendment Study to evaluate changing half of the Promenade to a Medium/High-Density Residential land use area. I urge you to stop KB Home and Charter Properties from ruining our dream of the Promenade that has been promised for a decade.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City], CA [Zip Code]