By Dick Schneider
Update 1/25/17 – Last night the Richmond City Council adopted the Richmond Hills Initiative by a unanimous 6-0 vote (with one member absent)! This is a big victory and it's thanks to countless hours of grassroots organizing by citizens like you. Thanks!
On Tuesday, January 17, the Richmond City Council will consider the Richmond Hills Initiative, a measure to protect 430 acres of undeveloped hillside land adjacent to Wildcat Canyon Regional Park in the El Sobrante Valley of Richmond.
The land is a treasure trove of oak woodlands, grasslands, creeks, riparian corridors, and habitat for native plants and animals. In recent years, numerous developments have been proposed that would have graded the steep hillsides and filled them with major subdivisions. Those proposals were successfully fought back one by one. The initiative is an effort to provide lasting protection that can only be changed by a vote of the people.
In November 2016, initiative proponents submitted 5,000 signatures of Richmond registered voters on the initiative petition. The Contra Costa County Registrar of Voters determined that 97 percent of those signatures were valid and that the petition is sufficient. The Richmond Council now has a choice to adopt the initiative outright and enact protections for the hillside area immediately, or to place it on the June 2018 election ballot. For obvious reasons, we prefer the former since protection would occur right away, and it would avoid an expensive election campaign a year from now.
If you can attend the Richmond Council meeting to voice your support for the initiative and for immediate adoption, it would be immensely helpful. We want council members to know that support for the initiative is strong and widespread. You don’t need to be a Richmond resident to help, although the more Richmond residents we can get, the better.
Council meetings typically begin at 6:30 pm. The Council chambers are located at 440 Civic Center Plaza, Richmond, 94804, between Macdonald and Barrett Avenues along 27th St. There is a free parking lot at Macdonald Ave. and 27th Street across from the Public Library.
We hope to see you there!
Image credit: top photo by Dick Schneider, bottom photo by Cary Groner.