The city council this week voted 5-0 to approve the Eden Housing project.
The decision was made Tuesday afternoon, following a packed virtual meeting on Monday with about 200 participants and just over 100 public speakers.
Slated for the cityâs Downtown Core at the southeastern corner of Railroad Avenue and South L Street, the project is set to provide 130 affordable housing units.Â
The project has been a point of controversy for Livermore. Those who support the current plans have stressed the importance of immediately providing affordable homes to a community thatâs seen a large portion of residents priced out. Those who oppose the current plans â including groups such as Preserve Downtown Livermore and Save Livermore Downtown (SLD) â want the housing moved across the street to enable a park on the vacated land and to create additional affordable units on the new location, as many as 230 in total.Â
Deborah McQueen, Livermore
Livermore residents should attend the city council meeting on May 24 to express their opposition to the Eden Housing project expected to be built on the last remaining parcel of open space in downtown.
Whatâs desired is an inspired park for all residents that honors the land and those who came before us, including indigenous peoples and the Spanish. Instead of moving ahead with the most expedient objectives, why not engage in thoughtful visionary planning? But the city council and Mayor Woerner are not listening to the public. Over 80% of polled residents donât want housing in the downtown super block.
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Deborah McQueen, Veronica Long & Christine Thompson, LivermoreÂ
The Eden Housing apartment complex does not belong in our downtown project space â it is a left-over piece from old plans. The project has changed over the years. Last December Mayor Marchand said, âIt has evolved and I think it is better.â City Council insists that the outdated apartment complex has to stay â even when not supported by results of the year-long public outreach process we paid for. Â
The public outreach was part of the downtown project evolution. When citizens flooded council meetings to protest the Lennar Development in 2016, a responsive city council stepped back to gather citizen input â paying consultants approximately $500,000 to guide the process. The City made that investment and Livermore residents stepped up to work with them forming a covenant of sorts, where citizen input would have a place in the downtown project plans.Â