Let's Look at this My way by Jane Powell

Waiting for me upon my return from Oregon two weeks ago was the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) on the Leona Quarry project.

Approximately four inches thick and weighing a hefty nine pounds, this three volume set (Kids! Collect them all!) gives Isaac Asimovís Foundation trilogy a run for its money. As with all thrilling works of science fiction, it admittedly requires a complete suspension of disbelief. In the alternate universe imagined by The deSilva Company, and fleshed out by Environmental Science Associates, earthly rules of physics and logic donít apply. In this magical world, there is no impact at all associated with building 545 units of dense housing in a former quarry on an active earthquake fault, with a history of landslides and drainage problems, where there is no public transit, and with only one access from an already narrow, steep, winding, traffic-clogged street. In this sci-fi world, neighborhood opposition and real-world concerns can be dismissed with the wave of a hand and a report from an "expert". Itís like a Ferengi wet-dream. (For those of you who are far too literate to have ever watched "Star Trek", the Ferengi are a race whose entire culture is based on business and profit. Their Bible is the "Rules of Acquisition", from which they are fond of quoting. An example: Rule # 48: "The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife.")

Back at the reality ranch, after plowing through the entire EIR, I came to this conclusion: It doesnít matter what we say, it doesnít matter how cogent our comments are, it doesnít matter how much research weíve done or what other experts weíve found, ALL EIRs could be summed up with the following sentence: " Fuck you, weíre doing whatever we want and you canít stop us."

It would save a lot of paper and staff time. Here is a project that is insane and stupid on an unbelievable number of levels, yet it will be approved (probably unanimously) by the Planning Commission and the City Council. It is infuriating how little regard ANY of our elected (or appointed) officials have for the citizens of this city. There is close to universal opposition to this project, very real and overriding concerns have been researched by private citizens ON THEIR OWN TIME for inclusion in the comments to be addressed in the final Environmental Impact Report, and every one of those comments has been dismissed out of hand, sometimes with unbelievable contortions of logic and sense. I will attempt to paraphrase one here: A housing project approved for a former quarry in San Leandro was never built because there was a huge landslide before building began. But that doesnít have any bearing on Leona Quarry because it will be GRADED, and besides, the San Leandro quarry was 200 feet from the Hayward Fault and the Leona Quarry is 400 FEET from the Hayward Fault, and that makes all the difference. And besides, the buildings will be built to code and so they will only sustain severe damage in a large quake. And what if there is a large earthquake followed by a drenching rainstorm? Oh, THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN. Besides, we have experts, and the experts have assured us that everything will be fine. Emphasis added.

Still, yíall should come on down to the Planning Commission meeting on October 23rd (6:30 p.m. in the City Council chambers) and voice your opposition to this insanity. It all adds fuel to the inevitable lawsuit. There may be no ray of hope for us, but maybe the tide is beginning to turn. Check out this article: