Pleasant Hill Library Closure Delayed By Fed, State Permit Issues

PLEASANT HILL, CA — Contra Costa County officials announced Friday that plans to close the public library in Pleasant Hill, sell the land it sits on and build a new library — in that order — have been delayed due to permitting issues at the state and federal level.

Controversy has been brewing at meetings of the Pleasant Hill City Council and Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors in recent months after library users discovered that the current facility was scheduled to close for demolition in Fall 2019, but the new library would not open until 2021.

Supervisor Karen Mitchoff, who represents Pleasant Hill, has publicly stated that the "highest and best use" for the property, which the county owns, is to put it on the market before the Bay Area's real estate market cools off.

That drew the ire of Dick Offerman and Karen Yapp, who started an "ad hoc committee" called Keep Our Library Open or KOLO. Together they've gathered more than 900 signatures on a petition to keep the current library open until the new one is finished. An online version of the petition had received 749 signatures as of late April.

And they're not done yet.

"We plan to be out in front of the library over the next few weeks," Offerman said. "It feels like a community service."

They also plan to conduct outreach to the Board of Supervisors in an attempt to convince at least three of them to vote down Mitchoff's plan.

Meanwhile, the lifespan of the Pleasant Hill Library at 1750 Oak Park Blvd. has been extended by at least a few months while the county circulates a draft Environmental Impact Report.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Residents Continue To Decry Plans To Close Pleasant Hill Library
• Controversy Continues Over Pleasant Hill Library Project
• New Pleasant Hill Library: Council To See Early Design Images
• Plans To Close Pleasant Hill Library Lead To Controversy

— Bay City News Service