'Save The Dome' Lawyer Says Projects Pose Environmental Threat

The only hope for the "dome" is a lawsuit, according to the "Save the Pleasant Hill dome" group, and attorney Mark Wolfe has started by questioning the safety of the project in terms of public health.

In a letter to the Pleasant Hill City Council, Wolf says that the demolition of the "dome" and building of a Dick's Sporting Goods store, along with the current widening project of Buskirk Avenue, "will cause new, significant environmental impacts that were never disclosed, evaluated, or mitigated" in the Environmental Impact Report.

The Pleasant Hill City Council considered the case in an appeal hearing Monday evening. The "Save the Dome" group consulted an air quality expert, according to Wolfe, who said that residents of the Fair Oaks neighborhood would be exposed to "a significant cumulative health risk" in the form of "particulate matter from diesel exhaust" while the two projects were underway.

After a seven-hour meeting that included three hours of public comments, the appeal was denied in a 3-2 vote.

Martha Ross, who submitted the appeal and presented the case to "Save the Dome," said that they "had to at least try."

"I think the people of Pleasant Hill don't want Dick's," said Ross in an email to Patch following the appeal meeting. "That is clear. They want to keep the Dome. At none of the hearings I went to did I see one person come up and say, I think Dick's will be a great addition to the community." 

Ross says that objections to the project came late in the process, partly because "people don't read newspapers anymore" but also because the project plan was on hiatus.

"It kind of fell off people's radar and Bill Vierra of SyWest says he put his development plans on hold because of the recession," said Ross. "So there wasn't much news to report anyway."

Ross says the specific plan "represented an outdated vision" for the Crossroads Shopping Center, even though the city and the developers put time and effort into developing the plan back in 2006. 

"But lots of time passed, conditions changed, the building got older, we're in a new world, and people's attitudes towards the Dome changed, their appreciation deepened," said Ross.

Ross says that "Save the Pleasant Hill Dome" isn't ready to cede the fight just yet. But the course of action will depend on public support.

"Next steps would be taking legal action," said Ross, "and we have to go back to all our supporters out there in the community and find out is that what they want because they would need to help us with donations. We're not going to go forward if it's not what people want. We certainly have more leeway to be accountable to our supporters than the city does."

Do you think "Save the Dome" should continue to fight to keep the theater from demolition? Share your thoughts in the comments below.