w a t c h
D I A B L O Save Mount Diablo
Protecting the Mountain Since 1971
Fall 2009 No. 48
Viera - North Peak - the Heart of Mt. Diablo
Save the Tassajara Valley
165 Acres Of Wildflowers at Stake
“New Farm” Threatens Agriculture and the Urban Limit Line
By Seth Adams
For twenty years Save Mount Diablo has been defending the Tassajara Valley and hills, sensual grasslands stretching east of Danville, Blackhawk and San Ramon’s Dougherty Valley, as far as Arroyo de las Positas north of Dublin and Livermore.
“Young botanist Mary Bowerman found a treasure of rare plants high up Mount Diablo in the 1930s when she scoured the rugged peak on foot. She never forgot the property owned by the Viera ranching family and kept it in mind decades later when she cofounded Save Mount Diablo to preserve sensitive lands. Now, four years after Bowerman’s death in 2005, her wishes are coming true.”
Tassajara Valley is an agricultural buffer between open spaces in every direction, linked by Tassajara Creek. There is a new, very serious threat – developers Tom Koch and Samir Kawar’s “New Farm” project, two properties on either side of Camino Tassajara and adjacent to the brand new Hidden Valley Open Space. Koch is a paid consultant who represents developers. Kawar is a Jordanian land speculator who has been involved in a variety of election campaign controversies.
In our online Summer DiabloWatch SMD announced that we had reached a deal with the Viera family to purchase their 165 acre VieraNorth Peak property for $975,000, At Moonlight on the Mountain last month, we had more good news – we have closed escrow and own the property—but we still owe and must pay $800,000 by March 2010.
“We can’t afford to miss this opportunity,” said Ron The small but striking Mt. Diablo jewel flower, Streptanthus hispidus, grows at VieraThe project is controversial Brown, SMD’s Executive North Peak and is limited to Mt. Diablo. It was first observed and collected by William not so much for the number Director. “Viera-North Peak Brewer in 1862 as part of the California Geological Survey. (photo: Scott Hein) of units—186, million-dolis a natural addition to Mt. lar houses and a cemetery on 771 acres—but because it would bust Diablo State Park. We’re moving quickly in spite of the State’s budthe Urban Limit Line (ULL) and open the flood gates of speculators get crisis, previous proposals to close state parks, and bond freeze. for areas outside the ULL, all around the county. Despite the economic downturn this property has been a high priority for 38 years.”
Urban Limit Line
The 2300’ elevation property, on the slopes of Diablo’s North Peak east of Clayton, is one of two highest elevation private properties remaining on Mt. Diablo and is one of three highest left in Contra Costa County. The property is visible for over two hundred miles, with views to Lassen Peak, the Sierra, Half Dome, and Mt. Whitney.
Threaded by Tassajara Creek, the valley is split by Camino Tassajara leading straight to Highway 580. Even though development would snarl traffic, speculators have proposed projects there for decades. Under the leadership of former County Supervisor Donna Gerber, SMD, the Sierra Club and Greenbelt Alliance, and hundreds of residents, helped stop thousands of units proposed in the 4,900 acre Tassajara Valley Owners Property Association (TVPOA) project in the late 1990’s. Then in 2000 we all worked to tighten the County ULL to exclude most of the area. The tightened ULL was a compromise—it left inside a large area which became Koch-Kawar’s Alamo Creek development, but excluded the rest of (continued on page 7)
Viera is literally the heart of Mt. Diablo, rising from near Morgan Territory Road toward Prospectors Gap between the two peaks, with the State Park’s Summit Museum above, onto the slopes of North Peak. It shares half of its 2.5 mile border with Mt. Diablo State Park. It is also a hot spot for biodiversity with as many as 50 rare plant species expected or recorded in the (continued on page 6)