Growth Boundary Extension Approved Before Impact Reports Completed

"The Pittsburg City Council late Tuesday approved moving the city's growth boundary to include close to 1,600 more acres in the southern foothills, but not before residents, environmentalists and an attorney for one of the landowners urged them to hold off until guidelines for hillside development had been approved and a thorough environmental review had been done."

"The council voted 4-0 to amend its General Plan -- its long-term planning document -- to extend the city's proposed planning boundary to the urban limit line voters approved in 2005, establish guidelines for developing new greenbelts in the southern foothills, designate open space in the Norton Valley and align city policies for conducting traffic studies with county standards."

"Councilmember Michael Kee reminded the audience that regardless of what they thought they were getting, the public decided it wanted the changes by approving developer-sponsored Measure P in 2005. Environmentalists and some residents since have complained that the language in the initiative was unclear and the public didn't know what it was voting for."