The Honorable Judge Barry Baskin |
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CA, United States |
About The Honorable Judge Barry Baskin
Committed to the pursuit of justice, Judge Barry Baskin of the Contra Costa County Superior Court is behind some of the area’s most significant rulings. In October 2009, Judge Barry Baskin ruled in favor of Bay Area environmentalists when he halted the City of Oakley’s efforts to build a 4,500-home housing development on Delta farmland (the East Cypress Corridor Specific Plan). The lawsuit against the City of Oakley was filed by the Greenbelt Alliance, which claimed the city did not adequately consider the housing development’s impact on the surrounding farmland. Judge Barry Baskin agreed, questioning city officials as to why they had not required developers to seek similar farmland for conservation purposes elsewhere to compensate for the land lost to the development.
The East Cypress Corridor Specific Plan has run into problems since its inception. In 2006, the City of Oakley faced another lawsuit from the Greenbelt Alliance, which cited potential problems with the location, which is five feet below sea level and protected only by aging levees. The proposed solution, which was to pump water from the area on a continuous basis, posed a serious pollution problem to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Although the City of Oakley continued to pursue the project upon addressing some environmental issues, they failed to develop any measures to mitigate for loss of farmland, resulting in the latest lawsuit.
Judge Barry Baskin’s decision rescinded approval for the initial environmental impact report, halting the project indefinitely and setting a standard for future projects that will take up valuable agricultural land.
The Honorable Judge Barry Baskin Links
