I strongly support the development of McKinley Village and other infill projects. However, the Alhambra connection should be a requirement of approving any further EIR or development plans. The City's position of simply adding words to the EIR to justify past decisions they made could possibly meet legal requirements, that will be for the court to decide, but it certainly does not meet the spirit of the court's request, nor what a standard citizen observer would expect. Any non-lawyer reading the court's opinion would expect some sort of substantive changes to traffic be made before approving a new EIR or development plan. The Alhambra connection could be that substantive change. The costs could be carried by the city or developer, but the Alhambra connection should be a condition of approval. Eminent domain may be required to bring Union Pacific into negotiations, but traffic mitigation is certainly a reasonable use of that power.
I strongly support the development of McKinley Village and other infill projects. However, the Alhambra connection should be a requirement of approving any further EIR or development plans. The City's position of simply adding words to the EIR to justify past decisions they made could possibly meet legal requirements, that will be for the court to decide, but it certainly does not meet the spirit of the court's request, nor what a standard citizen observer would expect. Any non-lawyer reading the court's opinion would expect some sort of substantive changes to traffic be made before approving a new EIR or development plan. The Alhambra connection could be that substantive change. The costs could be carried by the city or developer, but the Alhambra connection should be a condition of approval. Eminent domain may be required to bring Union Pacific into negotiations, but traffic mitigation is certainly a reasonable use of that power.