Residents who have walked through "The Dips" to reach schools and downtown Lafayette for decades will be watching Monday when the City Council votes on whether to exit a six-year lawsuit over the beloved shortcut.
The council will consider a settlement agreement with property owners Brian J. Vesce and Allyson Vesce at its Aug. 10 meeting. The couple sued the city in June 2020, arguing that a 2000 subdivision approval did not create a public pedestrian access easement across their property at 3654 Happy Valley Road.
The pathway, known locally as "The Dips," connects Happy Valley Road with Glen Road. Neighbors have used it for generations to cut through to schools, shops and surrounding neighborhoods.
What the settlement would do
Under the proposed deal, the city would agree that neither the 2000 Planning Commission resolution nor its access condition created a public easement. The city would waive any claim to such an easement, and a memorandum would be recorded with the Contra Costa County Recorder's Office. If approved, the Vesces must dismiss the city from the lawsuit within five days. Each side pays its own legal costs.
City Attorney Mala Subramanian wrote in her staff report that the city has never held a public access easement over The Dips and cannot obtain one by continuing to litigate. She recommended settling to limit the city's legal expenses.
But the settlement does not end the fight over the path itself.
The agreement explicitly preserves any rights the public may hold. Members of the public, including a group called "Save the Dips," can still file an answer to the complaint and assert a public easement in the ongoing case. The court required the Vesces to name the public as a party in November 2024.
A long road
The dispute traces back to Sept. 21, 2000, when the Lafayette Planning Commission approved a subdivision of the property. That approval included a condition stating the private right-of-way easement "shall be left open for pedestrian access between Happy Valley Road and Glen Road." The Vesces purchased the property from prior owner John Brian Tulloch in fall 2016.
The city was prepared to settle as early as November 2020, but residents asked the council to hold off so the public could assert its own easement rights.
The city held off.
Also on the agenda
The council's Legislative Committee, made up of Councilmembers Candell and Cervantes, will ask the full council to support two state bills: SB 1167, authored by Sen. Catherine Blakespear, which would prohibit electric motorcycles from being marketed as e-bikes; and AB 1370, which would streamline state permitting for wildfire mitigation projects such as hazardous vegetation removal and fuel breaks.
The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10, at the Lafayette Library & Learning Center's Don Tatzin Community Hall, 3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Residents can also attend via Zoom (Webinar ID: 853 9221 0407, Passcode: 426199) or submit written comments to [email protected] by noon Monday.
