Livermore Sued Over Eden Housing Low-Income Project

LIVERMORE, CA — Local group Save Livermore Downtown sued the city over its approval of the Eden Housing project for low-income residents.

The group, which wants to see a public park and other amenities built in the area, claims in a lawsuit filed last month in Alameda County Superior Court that the city "improperly rushed through and approved Eden Housing's Project, without regard to the numerous inconsistencies" with the city's downtown plan.

Save Livermore Downtown's suit wants to halt the project and conduct an environmental review of the project, among other things.

The City Council in May approved Eden Housing's plan, which calls for 130 units of low-income housing in a four-story project to be built on 2.5 acres on the corner of South L Street and Railroad Avenue, the site of a former Lucky California grocery store. The one-to-three bedroom units would vary from 500 to about 1,000 square feet each and would go to Livermore residents making less than $55,000 a year as individuals or up to $78,000 a year for families of four.

The council determined that the project conformed with the city's downtown plan and its general plan. Members pointed out that state law allowed Eden to make the project denser and taller and to provide no parking, but the developer made it more attractive to the city.

Save Livermore Downtown's lawsuit claimed that the Eden Housing project included deviations from the city's downtown plan and parking rules but that the Planning Commission advanced the project anyway because of California's Density Bonus Law, which incentivizes developers to build affordable housing.

The project was approved despite opposition from local residents, the lawsuit argued, citing a poll commissioned by Save Livermore Downtown. Of the 300 Livermore voters surveyed, about six in 10 said they opposed the project.

Vice Mayor Trish Munro said in May that the council was only required to rule as to whether the project met all the necessary conditions. At that time, Mayor Bob Woerner said rejecting the project could result in at least $6 million in fines from the state and would invite lawsuits from area affordable housing advocates. A no vote "would be an absolutely irresponsible risk," he said.

"I'm simply being asked to confirm Eden Housing has met the conditions to build," Munro said. "I'm convinced that they have not only met, but exceeded, those conditions. All of the boxes have been checked."

The lawsuit further alleged that the city did not consider contamination concerns raised by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board. The Sierra Club's Tri-Valley chapter passed a resolution calling for the city to delay construction until the board concluded its inquiry.

Save Livermore Downtown alleged that gas from toxic chemicals and groundwater contamination could rise out of the ground and pose a hazard to those living at the site. Additional analysis should have occurred in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act, the suit said.

The matter of environmental hazards came up most recently at the June 14 City Council meeting after a Save Livermore Downtown published an attack ad featuring a radioactive waste symbol in the Livermore Independent newspaper, Pleasanton Weekly reported. City officials debunked claims of radioactive materials at its meeting.

"They want us to believe that the contamination is fine for a park but not for housing," Munro said. "This is really ridiculous, and I'd love to just ignore it. ... it damages the whole community. It's nonsense that wastes everyone's time. It wastes our energy, and it wastes money. It's a nonissue."

Former Mayor John Marchand — a career chemist with the Alameda County Water District — joined the chorus of officials who said that no radioactive materials were on the site. It's long been known that chemicals such as lead and arsenic are at the site approved for the Eden Housing project, but the site will be cleaned up before construction begins, Marchand added.

"Very simply, that is not true," he said about the radioactive waste claim. "The purpose of the ad was to create fear and distrust in our community."

Mayor Bob Woerner called for city staff to make available on its website all communications among the city, water board and city consultants regarding the Eden Housing project site remediation.

Livermore City Attorney Jason Alcala has not responded to a request seeking comment.

Read the full lawsuit here.

— Bay City News contributed to this report