Pleasanton questions building boom in midst of drought

PLEASANTON, Calif. (KGO) -- Can an East Bay city accommodate a thousand new homes in the middle of a drought? That's the question facing communities throughout California.

New numbers out say California's water conservation rate is at 13.5 percent for May and 175 billion gallons of water were saved in a year. That is enough to supply water to two million people.

For Pleasanton, this is the biggest controversy in memory to hit the charming town of 72,000 -- far from the madding crowd. The town has been named the fourth most desirable place to live in the country and it is a community of only 29,000 homes. The issue is if the city should allow the building of 1,300 new homes.

Developers want to build on a site that used to be a quarry. It is about 1,000 acres on the east side of the city.

The city formed a task force and put together an environmental impact report draft. Hundreds of people attended meetings and most opposed the plan. They fear the new homes will affect air quality, school overcrowding and traffic congestion.

"The 1,300 homes would bring 10 times that many car trips a day out of each of these homes," Kelly Cousins from the Pleasanton Voters Citizens Group said.

And then came the drought and stiff penalties, unless you reduced water usage by 25 percent. That became a new weapon for opponents.

"I think the water restrictions have made it more emotional, but cognitively most people just don't want it. Not in our town," Vice Mayor of Pleasanton Karla Brown said.

Those for developing the land include the Chamber of Commerce, but because of the drought, they now want to put a hold on the plans.

"We think it makes great sense to push the pause button and resolve some of these uncertainties over the next eight to 12 to 18 months surrounding long term water availability," Scott Raty, the President Chamber of Commerce, said.

Will the sight of rain hose down opposition?

Pleasanton is one of the Bay Area cities that did well in conserving water. They reduced their water consumption by 38 percent, compared to what it used two years ago.