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New eComment for Special City Council
From [email protected] <[email protected]> Date Wed 7/1/2026 8:17 PM
To City Clerk < [email protected]>; Mayor and Council < [email protected]>; Juan Gomez <[email protected]>; Matthew Summers <[email protected]>; Alexandra Ikeda <[email protected]>
City of American Canyon
New eComment for Special City Council
Cori Badertscher submitted a new eComment.
Meeting: Special City Council
Item: 4.) Elections Code § 9212 Report - Measure M
eComment: I believe it should go to the voters. Or deny the Watson lane connection. The connection should be somewhere else even south Kelly rd or south napa junction. It's not right to do this to Watson lane residents. You'll spend more money traffic calming and was not to our benefit at that location. Cori Badertscher Resident
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Agenda Item: eComments for 4.) Elections Code § 9212 Report - Measure M Overall Sentiment
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Cori Badertscher
Location:
Submitted At: 8:17pm 07-01-26
I believe it should go to the voters. Or deny the Watson lane connection. The connection should be somewhere else even south Kelly rd or south napa junction. It's not right to do this to Watson lane residents. You'll spend more money traffic calming and was not to our benefit at that location.
Cori Badertscher
McGrath
July 2, 2026
Honorable Mayor Pierre Washington and
Members of the City Council
City of American Canyon
4381 Broadway, Suite 201
American Canyon, California 94503
Re: Agenda Item No. 4 - Elections Code § 9212 Report - Measure M Dear Mayor Washington and Members of the City Council:
McGrath Properties, Inc. respectfully responds to the City of American Canyon's Elections Code Section 9212 Report regarding the Watson Lane/Marcus Road Mobility Element Amendment Initiative! , dated July 2, 2026, prepared by Raney Planning & Management, Inc. and GHD (the "9212 Report"), and the letter prepared by Rutan & Tucker, LLP on behalf of the owners of the Hess Laird Property, as follows:
A. Rebuttal to Rutan & Tucker Letter.
Rutan & Tucker's letter grossly mischaracterizes Measure M. Namely:
• Rutan & Tucker represent the owners of the Hess Laird Property. They do not represent the best interests of the American Canyon community and electorate; they represent the best interests of the Hess Laird property owners.
• What Rutan & Tucker fail to acknowledge in their letter is that the People's Power of Direct Legislation is Constitutionally based, zealously protected by the courts, and is by definition a "push back" to the status quo - a rejection to what Rutan & Tucker refers to as "years of comprehensive planning and environmental study." That is the constitutional right of the people. They legally can disagree with such "years of comprehensive planning and environmental study," if in fact that was the case, take matters into their own hands, and decide what they determine to be a better future for their community. That is what they are doing through Measure M.
• Measure M directly states in Section 1:
(c) This Initiative amends the Mobility Element of the General Plan by designating a new Watson Lane connector to provide northern access to the City's planned areas of development, including connections to Newell Drive and Marcus Road, as well " Commonly referred to as "Measure M".
MCGRATH PROPERTIES, INC.
MAILING ADDRESS: 108 DODD COURT | AMERICAN CANYON, CA 94503 |PHONE: 510.273.2011 McGrath
• Measure M does NOT add a new railroad crossing to Watson Lane - the public at grade railroad crossing is already there.
• Measure M does NOT amend the AC-1 Development Agreement, nor could it do so legally. • In short, Rutan & Tucker is wrong; Measure M does NOT suffer the "parade of horribles" that Rutan & Tucker argue for its clients, the owners of the Hess Laird Property. • Instead, Measure M captures the very real concerns of the voters. As the Notice of Intent reads:
Residents of American Canyon experience traffic congestion and limited circulation options, particularly due to constrained access to State Route 29 on the east side of the City. These conditions impede mobility and delay emergency response times. When adopting the 2040 General Plan, the City did not adequately address a northern access connection to SR29 in a timely manner. The General Plan also failed to fully reflect certain roadways and circulation improvements that have already been constructed, resulting in a planning framework that does not accurately capture existing infrastructure or prioritize near - term solutions. This initiative addresses those deficiencies by requiring the City to recognize and plan for a northern access connection linking Watson Lane and Marcus Road, thereby creating an additional connection to State Route 29. This Watson Lane/Marcus Road configuration will provide a viable access to the Watson Ranch Specific Plan. The measure will improve traffic flow, enhance emergency access and evacuation readiness, and better align the General Plan with existing conditions and infrastructure needs. This measure updates the General Plan to include the northern access connection to SR 29 as a planned route, and make other modifications to the 2040 General Plan to properly reflect the roadway and circulation improvements already constructed. It does not approve, fund, or authorize construction of the roadway, which would remain subject to future approvals and applicable law.
• That is what Measure M does - no more, no less.
B. Rebuttal to City's 9212 Report.
The 9212 Report is likewise incorrect, false, and misleading for a number of reasons, including with respect to the following:
MCGRATH PROPERTIES, INC.
MAILING ADDRESS: 108 DODD COURT | AMERICAN CANYON, CA 94503 |PHONE: 510.273.2011 McGrath
• Funding Sources/Implementation Costs. The 9212 Report states that there will be implementation costs associated with Measure M. However, given that Measure M is limited to amending the Mobility Element of the General Plan, it is outside the scope of Measure M to discuss funding sources or implementation costs. The balance of the General Plan also does not include an identification of the costs of implementing its provisions nor does it identify funding sources for those costs. In this regard, the 9212 Report is incorrect, false, and misleading.
• CEQA. The 9212 Report also mentions that future implementation would require review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Not only does this comment overlook the fact that initiatives and referenda are themselves exempt from CEQA, it fails to recognize that Measure M also clearly anticipates future CEQA review, as provided for Section 2. In this regard, the 9212 Report is incorrect, false, and misleading • Width of Sidewalks and Bike Paths. The 9212 Report states that Measure M is inconsistent with provisions of the General Plan because its revised roadway widths do not have facilities on both side of the roadways. However, the 9212 Report does not cite where that requirement is found in the General Plan, nor why Measure M cannot create a new standard for certain designated roadways. In this regard, the 9212 Report is incorrect, false, and misleading.
• Mobility Plans. The 9212 Report also argues that Measure M is inconsistent with other mobility plans. However, those other plans are outside of, and subservient to, the General Plan. Therefore, they would need to be consistent with the General Plan, as revised by Measure M, not the other way around. Therefore, this portion of the 9212 Report is incorrect, false, and misleading. This sleight of hand - apparently arguing that Measure MI causes inconsistencies within the Genera Plan - is merely a ham-fisted attempt to frustrate the purpose of Measure M to create a more immediate access route to the north. In this regard, the 9212 Report is incorrect, false, and misleading. • Relationship of Measure M and the Watson Ranch Specific Plan and Related Approvals. The 9212 Report includes extensive discussion about alleged inconsistencies between Measure M and pre-existing entitlements for the Watson Ranch Specific Plan, including the AC-1 Development Agreement. As discussed above, Measure M legally cannot and does not amend the AC-1 Development Agreement. The AC-1 Development Agreement exists in its own world of "Applicable Law," and is not affected by Measure M except as the Development Agreement itself allows. Hence, there is no inconsistency. To say or infer otherwise is incorrect, false, and misleading. As to other land use regulations, including the Watson Ranch Specific Plan, California Land Use law requires their amendment within a "reasonable time" after the adoption of Measure M. The fact that such inconsistencies will exist during that "reasonable time," does not render Measure M legally flawed. In this regard, the 9212 Report is incorrect, false, and misleading.
MCGRATH PROPERTIES, INC.
MAILING ADDRESS: 108 DODD COURT | AMERICAN CANYON, CA 94503 |PHONE: 510.273.2011 McGrath
• Newell Drive V. Marcus. Finally, the 9212 Report tries to characterize Measure M as eliminating the planned grade separation at Newell Drive. That is incorrect, talse, and misleading. Measure M is narrowly tailored and designed to allow BOTH the existing plans for a grade separation at Newell Drive AND the Watson Lane alignment, which Watson Lane alignment is in any reality faster and easier to implement. Measure M thus provides greater flexibility in meeting the City's existing transportation needs.
C. Conclusion.
In conclusion, MPI respectfully requests that the City Council perform its obligations under the Elections Code and either adopt Measure M or set it for election in November, 2026.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jer shatt
Terrence M. McGrath for
McGrath Properties, Inc.
MCGRATH PROPERTIES, INC.
MAILING ADDRESS: 108 DODD COURT | AMERICAN CANYON, CA 94503 |PHONE: 510.273.2011
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