DUBLIN, Calif. — Trumark Homes' 573-home East Ranch development in east Dublin now has a permanent counterpart: 331 acres of grassland and wetlands protected from future development. The land, in Doolan Canyon and Livermore's Springtown Preserve, was set aside to compensate for wildlife habitat affected by the housing project.
Tri-Valley Conservancy, a nonprofit land trust, announced Oct. 15 that it now holds conservation easements on both properties. Livermore officials confirmed this month that the easement sales had closed.
A conservation easement is a permanent legal restriction recorded against a property. The landowner retains ownership, but development is restricted, and an outside organization monitors the property to ensure the conservation requirements are followed. In this case, that organization is Tri-Valley Conservancy.
The city of Livermore sold the two easements to Trumark Homes, East Ranch's developer, for approximately $4 million, according to a 2022 Livermore staff report. Trumark also agreed to fund an endowment, estimated at the time at approximately $1.6 million, to cover long-term management.
Sunset at Springtown Wetlands, Credit: Markus Huber
The agreement stems from state and federal wildlife protection requirements that apply to development projects. East Ranch covers approximately 165 acres of former grazing land in east Dublin, including habitat used by protected species such as the California tiger salamander and California red-legged frog.
Developments that eliminate protected wildlife habitat may be required to offset the loss by permanently preserving comparable land elsewhere, under conditions approved by state or federal wildlife agencies. The 2022 Livermore staff report described the Doolan Canyon and Springtown easements as compensation for the Dublin project's effects on those two species.
The larger property, approximately 200 acres, lies within the city-owned Springtown Preserve in north Livermore. According to Tri-Valley Conservancy, the area's alkali wetlands support rare plants, including Livermore tarplant and palmate-bracted bird's-beak.
The 131-acre Doolan Canyon easement, along Doolan Road in unincorporated Alameda County, is primarily grazed grassland with a small pond. It adjoins 1,346 acres already protected by the conservancy, creating a connected wildlife corridor of nearly 1,500 acres between Dublin and Livermore.
The conservancy also identifies the western burrowing owl and vernal pool fairy shrimp among the species expected to benefit from the protected habitat.
East Ranch reached this point after a contentious land-use dispute in Dublin. In March 2022, a referendum petition organized by Dubliners Against Overdevelopment prompted the City Council to rescind part of the project's approval.
Two months later, the council unanimously approved revised conditions. The city attorney had advised that California's Housing Accountability Act limited the city's ability to deny a housing project that complied with applicable development standards.
The approval required 72 affordable homes, representing approximately 12.6% of the project's 573 homes.
The conservation easements do not automatically provide public access to the protected land. Tri-Valley Conservancy says it will monitor both properties at least once a year to ensure compliance with the conservation restrictions.
Nearby, the East Bay Regional Park District is considering public access to its separate Doolan Canyon Regional Preserve. The district conducted its first guided tour there Oct. 3.
In June, the district announced the purchase of a 4.5-acre property that could eventually serve as a staging area and trailhead, providing a potential new access point to the preserve.
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