With mandatory water restriction in place, we should be reconsidering development anywhere in California – especially ones that destroy any sort of natural water shed. The amount of water that will be wasted during construction plus the fact that that contaminated water will flow into our wildlife’s drinking pond, should have our community’s ‘government’ up in arms. Sadly we seem to be governed by ‘those who shout loudest, and enforce their will by upholding laws that only serve a few.’
Proctor Court and Neighborhood Concerns
- By : Peter Rosen
- Category : Featured Story, Headline Story, Local Control
Featured Story
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UPDATE: The Proctor Court Development will be addressed at the MAC Meeting on Monday, September 8.
This Monday, August 25, the Castro Valley community will hear the latest plan for the “Proctor Court” Development.
The project has come before the MAC two previous times and each MAC meeting resulted in further changes in the project. Each of these meetings had over 100 people attend and there were several handouts and visual aids prepared by community members to clarify their objections to the project. At the July 2013 Castro Valley MAC meeting, two people spoke in favor of the project and 30 people spoke in opposition. We expect that this upcoming MAC meeting will be similarly well attended and this summary will hopefully encourage the public to participate.
I have spoken with several local community members about this updated version of the project, and the primary concerns focus on the number of homes, the lot sizes, adequate parking, and the fact that this many homes are going to be on a private road. Mr. Wayne Mindle, a local concerned citizen sums up his concerns thusly, “”The previous and current developers for this project are only concerned about meeting the minimum standards that Alameda Country requires, but safety does not have a minimum standard. Added traffic and parking affect everyone in the area. The current design, again only addresses minimum standards and when someone in the future gets killed or injured, we, the residents of Castro Valley will feel the pain, not the developer that has moved on to another project in another town, or maybe in our town.”
The project has gone from 23, to 19, to 18 homes. Previously, the project included a house on Proctor Rd, and the layout of the project also included severe grading and very large stormwater capture and mitigation area. The current plan has created two very large lots, (26,000 and 33,000 ft2), and decreased much of the steep impervious area. As a result, the project now provides for better on site infiltration of water before passage to the absorption area, and eliminates the need for such a large treatment area. Currently, the plan does not include a house on Proctor, but two lots along the top of the project along Proctor Rd. have been carved out from the project and may be developed at a later date.
[gview file=”https://castrovalleymatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ProctorCtlayout.pdf”]
The site is zoned for 6500 ft2 net lot size and the first plan presented in February of 2013 reflected this. The community and the MAC recommended that the project increase the lot sizes to be more consistent with the Proctor neighborhood. These suggestions were addressed in the updated plan presented in July of 2013, and all of the lots were a minimum of 10,000 ft2. The current plan now includes multiple lots that are less than 6,600 ft2, which opponents consider to be a step backwards.
The houses in the current plan have four or five bedrooms and include two car garages. There is parking on one side of the street, to accommodate any additional parking. This is of particular concern to several people because this leaves each house with a driveway apron of two cars, and a single parking space. There is a concern that homes with four and five bedrooms would not have adequate space in the driveway and garage for residents and there is not enough concern for guest parking. Cardinal Ct. was mentioned several times, and it has been pointed out that almost all of the homes on Cardinal Ct. have three car garages and the driveway has room for three more. On Cardinal Ct. street parking is at a premium for guests and when parties take place, adjacent driveways are used for overflow parking.
As a result of the site conditions, topography and access, it is not feasible to create a public street. According to the report by TJKM traffic consultants, the proposed street has a roadway width of 28 feet which is adequate for parking on one side of the street and includes a five foot sidewalk. In order for parking and sidewalks to be installed at both sides of the roadway, the width would need to be increased by eight feet to a total of 36 feet and would impact the layout of each lot. The current plan increased the access and width at the entrance of the site to alleviate the safety concerns, and the Alameda County Fire Department has determined that the roadway is adequate for access and now resembles the nearby, Cardinal Ct. development.
The developers of this project are requesting some flexibility due to a conflict on land use and zoning. They are requesting additional roof height allowances because “the proposed roof lines exceed those allowed by the standard measurement practice.” In addition, they are requesting that the measurements between lots consider the house locations and not the property lines because some of the lot lines do not maintain county standards for side yards. Both of these requests will be explained by the developer at the MAC meeting, and the public will have an opportunity to address them.
This updated plan has many improvements on the previous ones, but this updated plan still has some issues. The applicants, Mr. and Mrs. Tran invited me to their home, and we had a nice conversation about the project and the changes they have made. I suggested that eliminating the smaller lots that are inconsistent with the Proctor neighborhood would make it possible to have six houses with three car garages and it would also increase the street parking as well. These are my two primary concerns because I have seen firsthand what happens when developments conform to the minimum requirements and do not plan for the potential issues. Parking is a huge issue, particularly on Private Roads, and this updated plan has less guest parking than the previous plan presented. I look forward to the upcoming MAC meeting, where these concerns and others can be addressed in a public forum. I hope that this summary encourages you to attend the MAC meeting on Monday at the Castro Valley Library at 6PM to hear more about the project, and take some time to look at the attached documentation, especially the updated plan that is being discussed at the meeting. The CV MAC exists to represent the community of Castro Valley, and this is your opportunity to make your voice heard.
