Their obligation to complete the Bay Trail as a condition of approval of Seacliff is inching forward only after much kicking and screaming, and many other mitigations related to Seacliff have been left undone.

At Point Richmond Shores (Terminal 1), Toll Brothers has defied the community consistently, drawing two lawsuits that point out numerous defects in the EIR as well as violations of state law by the City of Richmond.

That’s the relationship Toll Brothers has built with Richmond. And the City Council and staff have encouraged them all the way, failing to monitor mitigations, failing to stand tough for community improvements and approving illegal and flawed EIRs.

That’s what happens in Richmond. It’s called giving way the store.

That’s not the way other cities play the game. We could learn a lot from Dublin, where Toll Brothers gave the Dublin School District more than $12 million for the building of Fallon Middle School (K-8, built) and Green School, a K-5 school currently under construction and scheduled to open in August 2007.

For more information and to learn how to negotiate with developers, City Council and staff might want to contact: