This is sort of an oldie but a goodie. Back in 2007 the Sabercat development consisting of 158 condominiums and 55,000 sq. ft. of commercial/retail was proposed near Durham Rd. and I-680. The magnitude of the project (4 to 6 stories) made it very controversial at the time. It was denied in a 3-2 vote by the Planning Commission but approved 4-1 in an appeal to the City Council.
The project location is near a rather steep slope. The engineers realized that the initial grading plan would need to be revised. Technically, it was just this grading plan that came before us. They need a series of four, six foot tall retaining walls to contain the land uphill from the project. They are going to try to hide these using landscaping but it’s going to be hard to hide 24 feet of walls.
What concerned me most was that this project is located right on the Hayward Fault. There is a State requirement that buildings must be located 50 or more feet from an active fault line. We were assured they would comply with this rule. In my opinion, it’s simply not safe to do that large of a building on sloped land right next to an active fault line. Lily Mei and I voted against the project but it was approved 3-2. So the Sabercat development is going forward nine years after being approved.
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