Belmont Residents Petition City Council Prior to CSUS Vote

 [Editor's Note: The following was provided by Charles Stone.]

More than 150 residents of the City of Belmont submitted the attached petition (http://www.thepetitionsite.com/175/277/851/vote-to-accept-the-crystal-springs-uplands-school-davis-drive-project/) to the Belmont City Council on October 19, 2012 asking the City Council to approve the application of the Crystal Springs Uplands School to construct a proposed middle school campus at 6-8 and 10 Davis Drive in Belmont, including adopting the amendment of the Belmont General Plan and other entitlements.  The Belmont City Council has scheduled a hearing on this application for October 23, 2012.

To see the petition, click on the PDF to the right.

Signers of the petition include many people who are deeply involved in the public schools (parent leaders from all 4 public elementary schools in Belmont and Ralston Middle School are represented), sports and business communities.  These individuals, who come from a broad cross section of the Belmont community, believe that the addition of Crystal Springs Uplands School to Belmont represents a net gain to the entire Belmont community.  The annual payment of $250,000 (including public school support), $1 million one-time payment, use of the soccer field and traffic mitigation plan show an undeniable commitment to the Belmont community and form several of the reasons why supporters have signed the petition.

Belmont city staff has informed the City Council “the overriding consideration for approval of each of the project entitlements is General Plan consistency.”  The Belmont General Plan expresses the community’s development goals and embodies these goals and the policies relative to designation of land uses, both public and private.  We fundamentally disagree with those who suggest that a school use cannot co-exist with the current commercial office uses on Davis Drive, or possibly even future contemplated uses.  As stated in the petition, “[s]chool use is completely appropriate at the site since Ralston Middle School is already next door and the site is located in the midst of existing residential neighborhoods.”  As Belmont city staff has noted, “many of the General Plan Goals and Policies are subject to interpretation and dependent on community values and expectations.”  The individuals who have signed this petition are expressing their community values and expectations, stating to the Belmont City Council in urging approval of the project, “[we] have come to believe that CSUS has worked hard to (and has) addressed community concerns . . . [and] the project comports with Belmont's General Plan.”  The interpretive fluidity of the existing Belmont General Plan enables the City Council to likewise find that school use is compatible with the General Plan and approve the school without delay.

The Belmont City Council is to be commended for showing its leadership by expressing the intention to update the General Plan.  As signors of the petition, we believe the approval of the CSUS campus, which is supported by the Belmont Chamber of Commerce and the majority of the owners or property representatives of the commercial buildings on Davis Drive, would be fully consistent with any effort to update the General Plan and will further the desire to promote economic development in Belmont.  In the end, the financial benefits of the school at Davis Drive are clear, and we urge the City Council to approve the CSUS project now without any further delay.

To see the petition, click on the PDF to the right.

Contact:  Charles Stone, (650) 678-6657, Cstone757@gmail.com