- Wildfire risk is very high at the site, as the city itself has noted since 2013.Wildfire evacuation of 550 cars from the Terraces will create additional deadly risk for apartment residents and deadly delays for other residents heading south on Pleasant Hill Road (PHR).
- Wildfires can burn up to one acre a second.
- 95% of wildfire is caused by humans, 90% of its fuel from buildings.
- Sparks from Vehicles on adjacent Highway 24 could start a wildfire.
- Apartment air pollution will be ten times the Bay Area acceptable standard.
- Remember the tennis club fire that stopped the freeway, caused PHR traffic and evacuation delays on a Sunday afternoon in non-commute time.
- Outside air pollution and contaminants will be nine times the Bay Area acceptable standard and will cause cancer and other serious illnesses, especially in Acalanes HS students, who will be at the center of the pollution fallout. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District noted that the site is unacceptably polluted.
- PHR Traffic has increased by 30% since the 2013 data the city used for their Terraces analysis – Pleasant Hill Road intersections already get an F grade.
- Traffic congestion endangers lives, especially students, and makes emergency response even worse.
- Noise pollution during the many months of moving/grading 500,000 cubic yards will be above Bay Area acceptable standards, impacting nearby schools.
- The Planning Commission given incorrect/ inadequate information by City StaffNew information was presented, but public not given opportunity to respond
- The developer’s threat of a $15M legal penalty is unrealistic – more than 90% of that cost can be easily avoided by the city.
- A wildfire class action lawsuit would make $15M look like chump change – how much are 10-50-100 deaths worth?
- Lafayette’s Housing Element, which has been approved by the State as in “full compliance” for 2015-2023, identified land where 792 very low, low, moderate, and above-moderate income units can be built in the city core, almost double the state RHNA assignment of 400. Furthermore, according to numbers provided by City staff, since 2014 the City has approved, in process, or in the pipeline about 920 housing units, many which are not included in the 792 identified units.
- The Terraces application is inconsistent with the City’s General Plan and Zoning, the California Environmental Quality Act and the Housing Accountability Act.
- Approval of this project could set a dangerous citywide precedent, which would allow other massive residential developments, without resident recourse to lawsuits or referendums.
We are pursuing all possible remedies to ensure Lafayette gets the best outcome for its residents, protecting their lives as much as possible.