Home - Letter of Support
Masonic Homes "Flatlands" Project
First of all -- unless you are viewing this project from above, as depicted by the artists rendition, this is in no way "flatlands".
You can call it what you want, but since none of the tax paying residents of this city are hawks or turkey vultures, our view will be of houses, condos and businesses, in spite of the peek-a-boo "view corridors".
I have many objections to this project but shall only briefly, at this time, list a few.
Opening up this area to development will definitely bring on more of the same in the hillside area.
More traffic on Whipple and Decoto, along with more noise and air pollution.
Severely strained police and fire services, particularly since this is practically sitting on the earthquake fault.
Loss of seriously needed open space.
An already serious water shortage will only be made worse; the lack of which will be born by those of us in the true flatlands.
Adding more retail to an already depressed economy makes no sense at all, especially if you look at all the empty businesses we have now.
For all the talk about this project benefitting the residents of Union City, this project benefits ONLY the Masonic Homes.
Sincerely,
Lynn Ragghianti
Tri-City Ecology Center (TCEC) supports no development 
Dear Union City Council members and Planning Commissioners,
The Union City Hillside Area plan is a visionary document that preserves the hills and last substantial open space parcel within the City. The open space fronting the hills along Mission Boulevard is uniquely part of a scenic corridor and is a resource that can never be replaced. The Hillside Are plan was not only an environmental achievement but a sustainable and economic one as well. Homes and roadways once were proposed to sprawl throughout the hillside and over the Calaveras and Hayward fault zones. Like then, the proposed Masonic Home flatland housing development is a net drain to our maintenance and city service budgets.
Allowing homes and infrastructure to be constructed within or near the Hayward fault zone, potentially creates a financial hardship and a financial disaster for the taxpayers. After a 6.9 magnitude earthquake along the Hayward fault, the United States Geological Society anticipates 80,000 to 160,000 homes and apartment buildings to be uninhabitable, 400,000 people to be forced from their homes and 1,700 roads and most of BART closed as a result of intense development along the Hayward fault zone. Why should Union City consider intense development and infrastructure within this voter protected area?
The City should continue the values of land stewardship maintaining the laws in place to protect the agricultural and open space property fronting the Masonic Home and beyond. Partnering with the East Bay Regional Parks to utilize millions in grant funds being supplied by Measure WW is an opportunity of a lifetime. Making this location a destination and creating a gateway into Dry Creek, Pleasanton Ridge, Sunol, Vargus Plateau and Chabot Regional parks gives our citizens a place to go and enjoy the beauty that surrounds us. Partnering with farmers to provide organic food to farmers markets, local schools, the senior center, and restaurants is another sustainable, revenue and job creating opportunity. The City could do a cooperative project with the Masonic Home and apply for Department of Energy grant and/or economic stimulus funds to provide a demonstration solar project along Mission Boulevard to power the 200 apartments the Masonic Home is constructing now. The City could partner with the Masonic Home and create a U-pick orchard, an agricultural park, for families to pick the fruit from the trees as they once did in the bay area 20 years. Families are leaving the bay area because there is nothing appealing and affordable to do here. Examples I have outlined, creatively utilize this prime agricultural land, can put Union City on the map and leaves a legacy for future generations to enjoy.
The City needs to continue to stimulate the downtown by building affordable housing for starter families, by possibly developing a library in cooperation with Chabot College, and building a performing arts center and culinary art school. Creating a City where affluent and not so affluent people can enjoy the wilderness, scenic beauty and shop in our downtown is what makes people want to live and stay here to experience what Union City has to offer. Please do not consider a housing development on this site and do not support a ballot measure. Force the developer to get the signatures necessary to put the Masonic Home housing development on the ballot as this proposal is a net drain to tax payers and has great potential to become a redevelopment area after an earthquake.
Elizabeth Ames