City Council OKs Initiative to Keep BART on I-580

Going into Monday night's City Council meeting, it seemed that officials would choose to launch a campaign against a citizens initiative to build BART tracks into Livermore along Interstate 580.

After all, the entire five-member City Council has publicly expressed its support for routing BART underground into downtown Livermore, linking the tracks with a station at Vasco Road to connect with the Altamont Commuter Express station already there.

That support didn't waiver Monday night, but a majority of elected officials sought a compromise on the emotionally-charged issue that has divided many of Livermore's residents. (Vice Mayor John Marchand said he was even heckled recently while standing in line at a movie theater).

Mayor Marshall Kamena said the BART report commissioned by City Council on June 13 and published last week showed that by moving a proposed station near Greenville Road three-quarters of a mile south, many environmental issues which had made that option unviable were mitigated.

Kamena's motion to approve the initiative with the understanding of working to secure funding for two stations along the 580 freeway corridor, one near Isabel Avenue and one south of Greenville Road, passed 3-2 at the July 11 meeting. The initiative takes effect immediately and will amend the city's general plan.

Council members Doug Horner and Jeff Williams dissented.

"Building a community at Greenville Road is a really, really bad idea. A freeway alignment does not take advantage of what BART can do for Livermore," Wiilliams said.

"But voters get to make good decisions and voters get to make bad decisions," he said, adding that he advocates for holding an election.

Kamena said after the meeting that despite working for years to bring BART downtown, an election on the issue would have jeopardized the city's chances of having the train system come to Livermore.

"If we aren't unified in our decision and unified on the route, they will hand the money to Marin County or to San Jose," he said, because funding for transportation projects is very competitive. "But we lost the opportunity to create the most incredible economic engine for our downtown."

Supporters of a downtown-Vasco alignment might not get their wish, but Kamena said most would agree that having BART at all is what's most important. About 86 percent of residents want the regional transit agency to build a station in Livermore, he said.

A coalition called Keep BART on 580 formed earlier this year, with members walking door to door to gather signatures for the initiative.

The group argued an underground route downtown was a bad idea, citing undesirable high-density housing, the planned destruction of 11 homes and possible increased crime though City Council had pledged to build a police substation at the station.

It was with more than 8,000 signatures, which represents about a sixth of Livermore's registered voters.

Carole Hilton, a volunteer for the group, said those who didn't want BART downtown weren't lacking information. They had a fundamentally different vision for the area.

"I'm cautiously encouraged by what I've heard tonight from the council," she said.

Hilton's positive comments reflected those by many who came prepared to rally against the council's support for the downtown option.

During the meeting, Kamena referred to the subdued comments period, during which about 30 people spoke, as a "love fest."

Even supporters who still wanted to see BART downtown for its central location and ability to get people walking and out of their cars -- thus producing the greatest reduction in vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gases emitted -- said they reluctantly supported the compromise as long as it didn't expand the city's 2002 voter-approved urban growth boundary at the north end of town.

The urban growth boundary likely would have needed to be pushed eastward under the original placement of a proposed Greenville station to accommodate necessary housing required under a transit-oriented development policy.

According to the report, which , the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's 3434 Resolution requires development for regional transportation extension projects.

Complying with the resolution increases the chances that MTC will help fund the venture, according to Bonnie Nelson, a consultant for national transportation consulting firm Nelson/Nygaard.

"You need both local and regional consensus so you can walk hand in hand," she said during the meeting.

The project is expected to cost upwards of $3.8 billion for the downtown-Vasco alternative and $3.2 million for the Isabel-Greenville plan.

The originally-proposed Greenville station would have required high-rise apartment buildings to accommodate 200 units per acre. The south station, an area that is already partially developed for industrial, office and retail use, would need to be zoned for 50 units an acre.

"This minimum average density could be slightly higher or lower depending on the overall mix of housing and workplace as well as the amount of re-zoned land within the station area," the report states.

Each area is still subject to mitigation measures for impacts on critical wildlife habitats as identified by the East Alameda County Conservation Strategy, and for air quality concerns from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District due to pollution from the freeway. But such impacts would be reduced in the proposed location south.

The report still favors the downtown-Vasco alternative for its greater chances at securing a variety of funding and its net positive impact on the general fund. The Isabel-Greenville option represents an annual projected net loss for the city, the report says.

The one benefit for building on the freeway is that the project can be completed in stages, Kamena said.

Using Measure B transportation funds to construct the first leg at Isabel at an approximate cost of $1 billion, the project could potentially break ground within three and a half years.

Kamena said he is committed to working with , Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, Congressman John Garamendi and regional transportation representatives to come up with a revised plan to bring BART to Livermore.

Last year City Council, Tri Valley Regional Rail Policy Working Group and BART Board of Directors unanimously approved the downtown route.

In a statement read by BART Government and Community Relations county representative Walter Gonzalez, McPartland called the initiative "democracy at work."

"Rarely do we get so many people weighing in on an issue of such importance," he said.