Contra Costa supervisorial candidate Guy Houston — also a soon-to-be-termed-out Assemblyman — called on San Ramon this afternoon to withdraw its application to take planning control over the Tassajara Valley.

Houston also called for the Board of Supervisors to rescind its approval last year of a study of a 193-home development proposal in the Tassajara Valley called “New Farm,” so named because it would feature orchards and row crops in addition to houses.

Does this signal that Houston, a Republican Realtor from San Ramon pictured on the right, is the environmental candidate? He’s running in the June 3 election against incumbent Supervisor Mary Nejedly Piepho.

Not exactly.

Houston says San Ramon and the county must respect the will of the voters, who have approved urban limit lines in the city and countywide. But lest we miss the distinctions, that’s different than vowing to preserve Tassajara Valley from development, a widely supported sentiment among many area residents and East Bay environmental groups.

If San Ramon really wants to expand the urban limit line, Houston says its leaders must spend 6 months to a year and work their neighbors in Dublin and Danville to determine if the public wants development in the area.

He suspects the answer is a resounding “no” and urged San Ramon to drop the whole idea and focus instead on the development of its new downtown center.

“I’m trying to save the city from themselves,” Houston said. “This isn’t a good move for the city.”

As for the county, he said it has no business studying a proposal for development outside the urban limit line.

No word immediately available from Piepho, who voted with her colleagues in a 4-1 decision to allow the New Farm study to proceed. But I have a call into her and I’ll report her full response as soon as I am able to reach her.

For a concise review of the Tassajara Valley events, click here to read Dan Borenstein’s column.

UPDATE: Houston’s campaign has sent out a press release on the subject, which I have pasted in part below:

Danville – Guy Houston gave the following position statement in front of the Town of Danville’s Library at 1 PM today.

The City of San Ramon has filed an application with LAFCO, the Local Agency Formation Commission, to bring the Tassajara Valley within their “sphere of influence” with the intent of controlling development.

In 2002, the citizens of San Ramon voted overwhelmingly to require a new city general plan. The plan that was developed placed the Tassajara Valley outside the city’s urban limit line with no housing planned for that area.

In 2006, San Ramon voters again overwhelmingly approved the County’s urban growth boundary, which placed the Tassajara Valley outside the Urban Limit Line.

San Ramon’s LAFCO application was submitted without public review. The neighboring cities of Dublin and Danville, both of which will bear the traffic impacts of Tassajara Valley development, only learned of this action when they read about it in the papers.  The Board of the Dublin San Ramon Services District, which San Ramon had listed as a possible water provider for the area, also learned about San Ramon’s intentions from the newspaper article.  To make matters even worse, this application was submitted to LAFCO when the Mayor of San Ramon was out of town.

As your State Assemblyman and as a resident of San Ramon, I am here today to tell the City of San Ramon that the way you have proceeded is wrong – this is not how business should be done.  I call on the City of San Ramon to withdraw its application for the benefit of all and stop this destructive process.

I call on Contra Costa Supervisor Mary Piepho to join me in asking San Ramon to withdraw its application.

In addition, I call on Supervisor Piepho to go to the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors and rescind any current studies or actions that infringe on the voter-approved Urban Limit Line.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my support of the voter-approved Urban Limit Line. “Voter-approved” is the key term. As elected officials, we must honor the will of the people.

There was a time when lawsuits among local cities were common. With increased communication and good working relationships, that is a thing of the past. San Ramon is now jeopardizing its standing among its neighbors.

San Ramon is a great city and one I proudly call home. The City Council has many important issues they can be working on; including the City Center project, which I fully support. That project deserves your full attention. Withdraw this rash attempt to compromise the voter-approved Urban Limit Line and focus on the positive goals of the city. 

Guy Houston has been endorsed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Houston also has the entire elected financial team of Contra Costa County supporting his candidacy, which includes Treasurer Bill Pollacek and Assessor Gus Kramer and Controller Steve Ybarra. Sheriff Warren Rupf also supports Houston, putting him in an excellent position for the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors election on June 3.