The Kiper Blue Ridge development that is uniting owl advocates across the Bay Area is still moving forward with evictions.  Uprooted owls scramble for new burrows as the ones they called home over the last year are slammed shut and ultimately sealed.  Now that trespassing signs have been posted, I stand watch from a nearby hillside as crews canvas the land I once walked marking the doomed burrows with flags, and collapsing those that are assumed to contain owls no more.  And I am left wondering just how many owls remain on the property, what duties the small tractors are performing at the behest of the developer, and why more chain link fencing is being erected.  Perhaps they dislike my observations of the owl’s wellbeing, shudder at the media’s coverage on the situation in print, on TV, and on the radio throughout California,  or believe the one-way eviction doors will be subject to tampering?

Most likely it is a combination of all, but had I wanted to stoop to levels of tampering it would have been done weeks ago.  I am most concerned with the safety of the owls and documenting the information as opposed to violating any laws that could potentially put the cause at risk.  But that can hardly be considered hardball considering the information I retrieved from the Planning Department yesterday.

Under threat of legal action calling for a supplemental review of the EIR/CEQA documents, the developer has withdrawn applications for new and discretionary permits last week.  That amounts to a sneaky way of avoiding any mitigation for the burrowing owls that have or had been inhabiting the stalled development.  Thus, instead of moving forward with the new master plan and plot plans for the 127 home neighborhood, Kiper will utilize the use permits that were originally approved by the City of Antioch and effectively build the homes that the original owner, Shea, intended.  This move is designed to sidestep the need for new permits and avoid triggering a review of the EIR/CEQA documents…as well as any mitigation for burrowing owls.

So the chess match continues!

Tags: Antioch Burrowing Owls, Blue Ridge Development, burrowing owls, Kiper Homes

This entry was posted by Scott on Friday, January 8th, 2010 at 11:45 am and is filed under birds, conservation, Human Threats, Migratory Birds, Owls, Urban sprawl, Wildlife, Wildlife management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.