Drama continued as more than 200 residents showed up at Danville’s latest General Plan hearing to voice their opposition.

The Contra Costa Times reports:

A fourth Planning Commission meeting on the subject, held Tuesday, again drew more than 200 people. They spoke late into the night and often passionately against the plan and its provisions to increase low-income, high-density housing and allow for clustered housing developments on agricultural land.

Due to the public response, a fifth meeting on 2030 General Plan Update has been scheduled for Feb. 12. If that isn’t enough, a sixth meeting could take place on Feb. 26.

…

On Tuesday, resident Jenny Lyons told the commission that Danville reminded her of the fictional Bedford Falls in the Christmas movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and that it was a place where she felt her children could wander the streets safely after a football game.

“Oakland used to be a really nice town,” she said. “They brought in a lot of low-income housing and lots of high-density housing, and it really changed the character of the town. … I’m just speaking from the heart as a mom who feels like I’m really scared that our town is going to change. And if we lose Danville, where do we go from here?”

“Texas!” called out oneman in the audience at the Danville Community Center.

Several residents at the meeting spoke out against the Association of Bay Area Governments’ regional housing needs allocation, which requires the town to zone at least 9.6 acres for high-density, affordable housing.

…

The town’s sustainability action plan, a companion document to the general plan, also came under fire. It outlines policies related to environmental preservation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Resident Terry Thompson said that plan is “full of eco-babble.”

“We don’t need this in Danville,” he said. “Even if you believe the greenhouse gas story, we’re not going to solve it in Danville.”

Of 20 speakers who spoke Tuesday, only Bob Nisbet, assistant general manager for the East Bay Regional Park District, spoke well of the plan, because it keeps development off hillsides.

Texas huh? The plan could allow about 40 or so affordable units to be build downtown over the next twenty years. Those potentially 40 families, in a town of 40,000+ people, are enough to send you to Texas?

What town in Texas would you even go to where the median income would even approach half of Danville’s?

“Affordable” doesn’t mean “criminal.”

Single parents, teachers, retirees, young families… these are likely to be the types of people living in these “affordable” properties.

And, it’s also worth pointing out that just about every single existing condo downtown is already affordable. The poor people are already here.

I love Danville. I think it’s a spectacular place to raise my kids. And I will happily let my kids walk downtown, hang out at the Yogurt Shack, and go to high school football games. Even if there are a few more less-wealthy people living here.