Letter to the Editor: Vote no on misguided Measure I

I think we all agree that open space is a great thing! Martinez has a wealth of parks and public open space to serve our community along with thousands of acres of East Bay Regional Parks land, which by any measure is considerable.

As a resident of Martinez and the Commissioner of our nation’s largest bocce federation based here in Martinez, I interact regularly with city staff. A continual topic of discussion is the challenges of maintaining not only our bocce facility at Waterfront Park, but also all our parks city-wide. For the past 12 years, I have served the City of Lafayette as their Head of Maintenance for parks, trails and open space. I know firsthand the challenges city staff face every single day struggling to maintain the many parks we already have.

Sites like Pine Meadows are not Parkland, as they have been subject to development for decades. This site has been a business for many years and serves as a neighborhood Tavern serving alcohol and hosting karaoke. The site has been fertilized and subjected to numerous chemical applications, some of which were undoubtedly dubious compared to our current regulations and integrated pest management practices. The site has pumps, a sprinkler and irrigation system, a parking lot and a single-family residence on the property. Invasive plant species cover the land. To convert this space “back to nature”, open it up to the general public and provide ongoing maintenance would cost a fortune. This parcel is best served by appropriate housing commensurate with the general plan.

The old trailer park behind Nob Hill also seems to be an appropriate site for development, again having been a business and site for housing for many years. An example of another site with no use plan or funding from the Measure I proponents. Vote No on this misguided proposition.

Vote YES on Measure F and Protect Your Private Property Rights.

– Greg Travers
Martinez Resident
Parks Maintenance Supervisor
City of Lafayette

3 Replies to “Letter to the Editor: Vote no on misguided Measure I

  1. Greg, thanks for the input. I am not in this open space cause because my humble interest is history which is often expressed in the built environment. And as cities grow, and esp. in this region that has limited housing,ie, homelessness is now a middle class problem–you have to make new housing. Does this happen in the Downtown or does it happen in the suburbs? So there is the competition between the old downtown and open space. However, there needs to be a biological study of animal runs and habitats. One morning I saw a three point buck on center avenue. Animals must also be accounted for. Many years ago I met the most notorious person in this county and that person said to me, make high density even high rise places next to open spaces. There is a happy medium between destruction of open spaces and historic resources and building new residential stock.

    1. Just a thought, the downtown specific plan has identified mltiple opportunity sites that are neither historic resources nor open space.

  2. Well said Greg. This was all about Pine Meadows ( which I do not call it Pine Ghettos anymore, it was just we golfed there for years and it stuck, so it slips out sometimes, sorry if it slips out ) But anyway, nothing natural about it. For a not in my back yard issue and they could probably have bough t it if they had their act together years ago, and do with it what they wanted, they make up this charade to deceive people for first petition signatures and now votes, under some screwy plan they say will help protect our parks and open space. If it passes this measure will come in handy to further stall any development at Pine Meadows and further stress the family. Makes me sick really. So we are going to force them to maintain it and not allow them to sell it the rest of their lives?

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