Alamo is a special place to live and you can give the Alamo Improvement Association a good deal of the credit. If you like having the highest property value in our county, give even more credit to the AIA. For over 50 years, your forward thinking neighbors, members of the AIA, worked diligently for these results. This past year, the non-profit, member-funded, 600 household Alamo Improvement Association celebrated its 50th anniversary.
The AIA was founded by Al Jones, jack West, Jim Kyle and Dr. and Mrs. Ann Flett to advance and improve the welfare of properties, preserve the semi-rural local character, promote and foster a long-range plan for proper growth and development of the area, study the regulations for land use, and make recommendations for the proper zoning of the area, in cooperation with other associations in the area.*
These criteria are as important now as they were 50 years ago. Alamo is not incorporated, so it has no municipal government. Since 1956, there have been mixed feeling among Alamo residents on whether the best way to preserve Alamo would be to incorporate and the debate on incorporation is still active. Nonetheless, Alamo has demonstrated how a community can still thrive without a traditional governmental structure.
One of the keys to our success is that Alamo residents are volunteering talent and energy for their community through the Alamo Improvement Association. The AIA does diligent research on local development issues in order to keep Alamo residents informed and well-represented. In the past 20 years, we were involved in proposals to build housing on our prominent ridgelines, widen Stone Valley Road and Danville Boulevard, build fast-food franchises downtown, extend development to nearby Dougherty Valley and build a new YMCA in Alamo.
Our efforts to protect zoning standards in Alamo have resulted in a community with the largest parcel sized in our county. Many properties are still zoned for horses, and trails to Mt. Diablo State Park and the Las Trampas Wilderness are located right at our backyards. When the former railroad right of way was being evaluated as a mass transit route, the AIA fought to instead create the Iron Horse Regional Trail for pedestrians and bicyclists. The AIA provides the only local forum for our community to discuss impacts of development applications, large and small, within our community. After coming to a consensus, Alamo's preferences and suggestions are conveyed to county officials in Martinez. Afterward, we track the proposals, continue to communicate our position and often give further testimony to the County Planning Commission or the County Board of Supervisors.
If not for the exceptional diligence of AIA advocates, our community could never be the great place that we live in today.
*Source: Remembering Alamo... and other Things Along the Way" by renowned Alamo resident, volunteer, columnist and historian, Virgie V. Jones. |
