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By the time this letter is out, the City Council will have voted on the first major development of the Isabel Neighborhood Specific Plan (Isabel NSP).
That neighborhood — in west Livermore, north of the freeway, is a complete neighborhood, designed to be near a potential BART stop. (When BART divorced Livermore in 2018, that TOD (transit-oriented development) element did not stop being relevant; it shifted to Valley Link, which will connect Livermore with Tracy and ultimately Stockton.)
The project itself consists of over twelve hundred for-sale units of various kinds (with necessary amenities for access and appearance). There are also mixed-use buildings with around 75,000 square feet of retail, two acres of a public park and plazas, and public infrastructure, including separated bike lanes and bus stop improvements.
It is consistent with all of Livermore’s guiding documents, as well as state law. The Staff Report for the project can be found on the city website agenda for the July 22 complete agenda packet, item 6.2. It is only six pages long and a clearly written, succinct explanation of history and context for the entire project, as well as how this project fits in with Livermore’s plans for the future.
What this project exemplifies is how Livermore does long-term planning. The Isabel NSP itself was a response to two regional and state forces: better transportation options and the need for more affordable housing.
Public transportation options — BART originally, Valley Link now — are one way to do so; placing housing near that transportation (as the Isabel NSP does) helps with the “last mile” problem.
The Isabel NSP was designed in anticipation of the sixth cycle of RHNA (Regional Housing Needs Allocation) numbers. RHNA numbers — the number of housing units cities must plan for — are assigned first by the state to the region, then by the region to each municipality.
In this cycle, Livermore was assigned 4,570 housing units. This was not a surprise; Livermore’s staff had already anticipated and planned for around that number, with much of new housing part of the Isabel NSP.
Now, as the projects that will make up the Isabel NSP are underway, the fruits of good planning become reality. It is something we can all look at with pride.
— Trish Munro
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