Livermore Council Advances Climate and Housing Goals; Commission Approves Wine Country Inn Modifications
LIVERMORE — At a June 8 meeting, the Livermore City Council heard a progress report for the 2025 Climate Action Plan and separately moved to pass a resolution approving amendments for the Shea Aura housing project.
Progress on Climate Goals
The 2025 Climate Action Plan progress report contains implementation highlights and an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions. Major projects included a $1.6 million electric vehicle (EV) charging grant from the California Energy Commission to expand EV charging infrastructure and a 25-year agreement with Ava Community Energy to install rooftop solar and battery storage at the Civic Center Meeting Hall and Maintenance Service Center.
The city also recently completed a Community Emissions Inventory for 2024, which shows that total community carbon emissions decreased by 13% from 2022 to 2024. This reduction reverses the increase observed between 2017 and 2022 and brings emissions back to just under 1% below the 2017 benchmark.
According to the report, reductions were primarily driven by cleaner electricity from Ava Community Energy, reduced use of natural gas and fewer vehicle miles traveled. However, achieving Livermore’s 2030 target of 40% below 1990 levels will require continued and accelerated efforts, particularly in transportation and building electrification.
Other figures in the 2025 report include 530 permits approved for solar panels, 253 all-electric housing units under construction, 110 new trees planted by the city and 123 acres of open space secured for conservation.
“This shows our commitment to climate action, and I particularly want to highlight the open space which the city acquired through public funds,” said Mayor John Marchand. “These acres are strategically placed around the fringes of our community for a wildlife corridor and to be conserved in perpetuity.”
Affordable Housing Rules Amended
Next, the council voted to amend the project approvals for Shea Homes Aura and Serenity and authorize an alternative means of compliance with the city’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance for each project.
The alternative compliance method would be implemented through a future Affordable Housing Agreement for Aura, and an amendment to the existing Affordable Housing Agreement for Serenity.
Shea Aura, located at the southwest corner of Portola Avenue and the Tranquility Circle intersection within the Isabel Neighborhood Specific Plan, is currently under review for the Final Map. Shea Serenity, located at the northeast corner of Portola Avenue and Collier Canyon Road is still under construction and has sold some units.
The Shea Aura and Serenity townhome projects were approved by the council in 2024 and 2022, respectively. Although both townhome projects were originally approved in compliance with city affordability codes, Shea Homes Development Manager David Best requested the amendments in light of shifting market conditions. Although the local development ordinance allows for paying into the city’s housing fund to meet the affordable housing requirements, neither project included a request for alternative compliance options when originally approved.
“One issue is that one- and two-bedroom condos aren’t really sellable in the current marketplace, especially in a suburban environment like Livermore,” Best said.
With these concerns, Best requested to pay an in-lieu fee to satisfy the affordability requirements rather than building the affordable units on-site.
“For amendments like this, it doesn’t happen frequently,” emphasized Housing and Human Services Manager Frances Reisner. “The city has allowed a few amendments to occur with developers during times of difficult housing market conditions, but this is fairly unusual.”
Under the added amendments, the total number of units for both projects will remain unchanged, and a portion of the moderate-income units will instead be sold at market rate. To maintain the concessions and waivers the projects were granted under State Density Bonus Law, they must maintain a minimum 10% of overall units as affordable on site. Therefore, only a portion of the approved moderate-income units would be authorized for an alternative means of compliance.
Pushback Over Former Prison Site
Also at the June 8 meeting, 20 speakers turned out to request that the council add a resolution to their next meeting agenda, formally declaring their opposition to the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Dublin reopening as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.
While ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have stated that they currently have no plans to use the former federal prison site as an immigration detention center, the facility’s future remains heavily disputed.
On May 1, the federal Bureau of Prisons released an environmental assessment on the property, a required procedural step before transferring the land to the General Services Administration. Advocates argue this transfer could be a precursor to repurposing the site for ICE.
“Livermore is a beautiful, tolerant and empathetic city that cares for all its residents and strives to keep us all safe and free,” said Livermore resident Lara Webber. “With an ICE detention center 15 minutes away, this will mean a significantly increased presence of ICE officers in our community and have a chilling effect here in Livermore.”
The City of Dublin and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors have already passed a resolution declaring opposition to the reopening of FCI Dublin as an ICE detention center. In the meantime, while Livermore city officials consider the same measure, the ICE Out of Dublin Coalition continues to organize protests and advocate for the demolition of the closed prison rather than its repurposing.
Wine Country Inn Scaled Down
The Livermore Planning Commission recently approved proposed modifications to the Wine Country Inn. While supporters praised the project for bringing much-needed lodging to the South Livermore Valley, the development also faced significant pushback during a May 19 Planning Commission meeting. Of the roughly 30 public commenters, the majority voiced concerns over the inn’s perceived unsightly design aesthetics. Opponents also warned of potential traffic disruptions, increased noise and safety hazards.
The modifications include a reduction of its building square footage and the removal of a planned restaurant.
Slated for the southwest corner of Arroyo and Hansen roads, the Wine Country Inn will feature 24 single-story, cottage-style buildings with a total of 30 guest bedrooms, a meeting space, guest kitchen, lobby building, guest pool and a caretaker’s unit.
The latest version of the project also includes 39 paved parking spaces, eight bicycle parking spaces, landscaping with 82 new trees and related on- and off-site improvements, according to the planning commission’s May 19 agenda. The modifications bring the total building area to roughly 19,100 square feet.
Under the project’s previous Site Plan Design Review, the Wine Country Inn was expected to have a two-story, 29,345-square-foot building and a 77-seat restaurant.
“This modification shifts the project toward a more lodging-focused, visitor-serving facility without a restaurant, and continues to advance the area specific plan goals of enhancing the wine country visitor experience and supporting long-term visitation in the South Livermore Valley,” the staff report stated.
The planning commission adopted both a resolution approving the Site Plan Design Review Modification and a resolution finding that the inn remains within the scope of the previously certified environmental impact report.