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A group of residents who have spent a decade objecting to a proposed residential development in northern Livermore filed a notice of appeal just before Thanksgiving, following a recent ruling by Alameda County Superior Court in their environmental lawsuit over the project.
Located north of Altamont Creek School between Laughlin and Vasco roads, the planned 32-acre site of the project called Garaventa Hills has long been the focus of both developers and the Save the Hill Group, though for different reasons.
Save the Hill members are opposed to city-approved plans by Lafferty Communities to build 44 housing units on the land.
In September, Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ruled in the city of Livermore’s favor, allowing the city to not revisit approval of a final environmental impact review of the project. The EIR was approved last year after the city required the developer, Lafferty Communities, to reduce the number of proposed housing units from 76 to 44, among other changes.
Save the Hill argues the area is “home to a number of threatened and endangered species, including the endangered vernal pool fairy shrimp, California tiger salamander, burrowing owls, the Livermore tarplant and other species.”
The Garaventa Wetlands Preserve, located at the base of the hill, is also protected by California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated it a critical habitat for the vernal pool fairy shrimp.
“The appeal is a continuation of the legal challenge that contends (the city) failed to adequately consider whether Garaventa Hill could be purchased and preserved in perpetuity for conservation as a part of a ‘No-Action’ EIR alternative,” Save the Hill said in a statement. “Conservation funds are available to buy it, and the California Environmental Quality Act requires that appropriate attention be applied to such an option as part of the EIR certification process.”
Bianca Covarelli, who has sought to conserve the land for a decade, said, “Judge Roesch’s ruling against us in the original case is baffling, since we won the case on the merits. For this and other reasons we feel strongly that the appellate court will agree the city failed to apply due consideration to the hill’s preservation as open space.”
The group said it does not expect a decision from the 1st District Appeal Court in San Francisco, where the appeal was filed, until 2022 “at the earliest, after which the case can be further appealed if necessary.”
Representatives for the city of Livermore and Lafferty Communities did not reply to requests for comment as of Tuesday afternoon.
