The complicated and controversial Humphrey development project went before the San Ramon Valley Regional Planning Commission for the first time June 15.
Already eight years in the making, the project involves the building of 39 high-end homes, a parking lot and a synthetic soccer field on 95.86 acres of the former Humphrey family ranch property, which is located on the north side of Stone Valley Road directly across from Monte Vista High School.
When the Humphreys eventually decided to sell the remaining parcel of their property, they first agreed to sell 9.6 acres of the land to the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. It was matriarch Marge Humphrey’s way of giving back to the community, said Humphrey family spokesperson John Wyro.
Walnut Creek-based developer Davidon Homes eventually purchased the entire Humphrey ranch property. In buying the property, Davidon also took on the obligation to the school district, said Wyro. While 9.6 acres will be used for the school’s projects, 24.43 acres will be used for the houses; the remaining 61.83 acres will become an open space parcel.
The school district paid $4.7 million for the land with funds from Measure A. The Humphrey family, in addition to the money they received from the sale of the land, will receive additional money if all 39 Davidon houses are built. The family has agreed to return $2 million of the $4.7 million to the school district upon the completion of the 39 homes.
“It’s easier to be more giving if you have the houses to defray the cost,” said Wyro.
Even though Davidon and the school district’s projects are seemingly unrelated, opponents of the plan see them as inextricably linked. The most vocal opponents are the residents who will be impacted directly by the new high school parking lot. Five-and-a-half houses off Monte Sereno Drive to the east will back up to the proposed parking lot. Monte Sereno resident Barbara DeBiasi explained her dilemma.
“The developers are trying to help us out. The homes are a done deal. We know they’re going up. The battle we’re going to be having is with the school,” said DeBiasi, whose home is directly across the street from Monte Vista High School.
The Alamo Improvement Association, a citizen-run organization that seeks to preserve the semi-rural characteristics of Alamo, sees the school district role in this as unclear. The school district’s parking lot is arguably the most controversial aspect of the Humphrey development project. The AIA feels the school district has not given full disclosure on plans for the land, said Roger Smith, chairman of the AIA’s planning commission.
“We haven’t had the school district participate in any meaningful way,” he said. “It’s like we’re planning in a vacuum.” One of the main issues the Valley Planning Commissioners wanted clarified at the end of the June 15 meeting was who exactly reviews and approves the school district projects.
Joan Buchanan, president of the school district board and a resident of Alamo, attended the June 15 meeting to address the commission and publicly state the school district’s intentions. She told the commission the school district plans to build 400 more parking spaces and a new synthetic soccer field for Monte Vista.
Buchanan and the school district believe the issue of which agency reviews school district projects, such as the one at Humphrey Ranch, is clear.
“School districts are an arm of the state government, not the local government. We have to go through the department of state architecture,” she said. “We’ve never had any project go through the AIA, Board of Supervisors or the Valley Planning Commission.”
Buchanan explained the district will go through a similar review process with the state. The public is welcome to attend those advisory committee and school board meetings and give input.
“People have had difficulty separating the projects,” said Jeff Thayer of Davidon Homes. “Davidon is not obligated to work with the school district. We have no control over that property. We can only make decisions on our 39 houses. While we can’t control their plans, we want to work with the district to minimize the impact.”
The plans now include significant landscaping around the field and parking lot perimeter. Davidon and Wyro are also working to give the Monte Sereno residents who back onto the parking lot up to 40 feet more land in their back yards.
The commission wanted its own staff to clarify the county’s legal boundaries in regard to schools, said Neil Matsunaga, chairman of the Valley Planning Commission.
Matsunaga, in an interview after the meeting, explained that the main purpose of the first hearing was to listen to public concerns. Matsunaga said the county had received a large amount of public input from residents and homeowners associations.
“We had public testimony for the project and against the project,” he said. Most opponents focused less on Davidon’s housing project and more on the school district’s parking lot and soccer field, he said.
Monte Sereno residents like Barbara DeBiasi fear that the parking lot will bring an influx of traffic, making Stone Valley Road dangerous. The plans for the parking lot and the soccer field presently include a signalized intersection and crosswalk on Stone Valley Road between the existing Monte Vista parking lot and the entrance to the new parking lot. Buchanan and the school district believe the new parking lot across from Monte Vista is much needed and will not have a negative impact on traffic.
“We’ve had a traffic study done with the town of Danville. Their analysis shows that it would not cause traffic problems,” said Buchanan.
She said there are now only 432 parking spots at Monte Vista. Next year the student body is expected to reach 2,500. Students who cannot find a parking space on school property are forced to park away from the school.
“Right now we have a problem,” she said. “If you talk to most parents and travelers they would tell you we have a traffic problem.”
After three hours of public testimony, the commissioners finally ended the meeting and will resume public testimony July 20. Davidon will also be able to give its rebuttal to what was said at the June 15 meeting. In the meantime, Davidon and John Wyro have teamed up with Save Mount Diablo to present a land preservation plan to the commission on July 20.
Save Mount Diablo has identified three different pieces of property adjacent to the Humphrey property. Davidon would purchase these three properties in addition to the 61.83 acres already set aside for an open preserve, to create roughly 300 acres of open preserve.
“It’s very rare that Save Mount Diablo supports a development proposal. Basically, for canceling 23 acres of non-viable agricultural land, the community is getting 300 acres around Mount Diablo,” said Seth Adams, director of land programs at Save Mount Diablo.
Adams will speak in favor of the development project at the next Valley Planning Commission meeting, at 7 p.m., Wednesday, July 20, at the school district boardroom, 699 Old Orchard Drive in Danville.
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