Editor:

After reading the guest commentary article by Patrick MacIsaac and two letters to the editor by Kathy Griffin, I felt compelled to give a view from a county resident who would urge you to Vote Yes on Measure F.

Brentwood creating its own urban limit line will ensure the citizens of Brentwood control of the development of this area. Approval of Measure F does not give owners/developers carte blanche. Before the City of Brentwood approves any future development plans through the city’s normal planning procedure, it must include environmental impact studies, and the commission and council must have standard public hearings.

Opponents are quick to point out the number of homes, stating it is a high-density project when in fact it is low-density zoning that calculates to approximately 1.5 to 1.85 homes per acre. To put this in perspective, Shadow Lakes is approximately 400 acres with approximately 940 homes, giving a density of approximately 2.35 homes per acre, with similar densities in Deer Creek.

This project will be completely funded by developers with no tax burden to the citizens of Brentwood. No one is going to build anything in the near future due to current market conditions. The developer as well as the City of Brentwood and everyone else, unless they are living in a hole with no contact to the real world, know there are thousands of homes and lots on the market at this time. The fact is: none of these other projects can do anything to solve the issues related to this area. None of this area is designated open space. This is private property that has been slated for development in Brentwood for over 20 years.

The facts in Measure F obligate the developers to widening Balfour to four lanes to Deer Valley, and continuing American Avenue to Balfour to its original design with two entrances and exits at a cost of roughly $27.5 million. This will reverse the Board of Supervisors’ withdrawing the urban limit in 2000, which has left the school districts and the City of Brentwood to deal with the aftermath of a countywide decision.

In summary: This is about Brentwood controlling its future intelligent project planning.

For further developer obligations, go to the City of Brentwood Web site (check it out for yourself): www.ci.brentwood.ca.us/.

Daniel F. Hillenbrand, Brentwood