CSUS Proposal.....To be Continued

[Editor's note: Due to the lenghty meeting and late hour at which it concluded, the following is an abbrievated summary of last night's public hearing. A more in depth story will follow on Wednesday.]

After a marathon public hearing, the voted 4-1 Tuesday night to grant a continuance at the request of Crystal Springs Uplands School on its application to build a middle school on Davis Drive in Belmont.

Prior to the opening of the hearing in Belmont City Hall, officials from CSCU requested the continuance in order to "sharpen their pencils" with regards to the which was one of the five entitlements being discussed at the hearing.

The purpose of the public hearing was for the planning commision to consider five entitlements related to the application for consruction of a 60,000 square foot : development agreement, general plan amendment, planned development rezoning and a conceptual development plan.

The development agreement, by which CSUS would make financial allocations to the city in return for developing the site, was discussed at length. In its current agreement, CSUS has offered $75,000 to the city to offset the cost of public safety services, and $40,000 in scholarship money for a Belmont student(s) to attend CSUS.

Following a presentation by city staff and CSUS officials, 28 members of the public addressed their commission expressing their support or opposition to the project.

Traffic mitigation issues and loss of tax revenue to the city were the most frequently mentioned to the project. cited the benefits of having a prestigious private school located within Belmont and the fact that the buildings on the site upon which the school would be built are currently vacant.

At the conclusion of the public comments, planning commission chair Kristen Mercer asked for a vote on continiuing their decision on the application. The commission voted 4-1 to continue the decision to a future date undecided.