Photo of the Concord Naval Weapons Station. Photo by the Greenbelt Alliance via Flickr.

Thanks to feedback from community residents, business owners and environmental organizations, eight square miles of land in Concord, CA, which was slated for sprawling development will instead become home to a vibrant, transit-oriented and walkable neighborhood and protected open space.

The land in question was formerly the site of the Concord Naval Weapons Station, which closed in 2005. When the base was shuttered, Concord officials made plans to repurpose the site, which is adjacent to an underused transit station. The area includes several brownfield sites as well as stunning tracts of open space.

The City’s original plan was to develop homes in a manner consistent with the past five decades of exurban sprawl. But when word of the plan began to spread to local newspapers, residents North Contra Costa County spoke up.

“We raised our hands and said ‘We don’t want you to do that,’” says Rosanne Nieto, who lives near the former weapons station.

In turn, these neighborhood activists caught the attention of local groups, including Greenbelt Alliance, a nonprofit organization that brings stakeholders together to find innovative solutions to the Bay Area’s growth challenges.