City Center Project Brings Out the Citizenry
Citizens of San Ramon turned out last night to voice support and concerns over the proposed City Center project. The San Ramon Community Center provided the venue for the Planning Commission's "public record" meeting.
There were many fine points raised by local citizens both pro and con. The number one concern of the moment was having more time to wade through the DS-EIS, environmental impact study that weighed in at 422 pounds. Just kidding! It was voluminous and technical enough to provide a significant challenge to the average citizen to read and provide written comments on in the 3 weeks remaining weeks for public comment. The majority of citizens attending, both pro and con, wanted an additional 90 days to review the EIS and provide comments, but the extension granted was only 15 days, which seemed to be based upon some point of procedure.
City Center supporters included Craig Harper of The Harper Team, who spoke in favor of the project. Craig acknowledge the concerns raised by others speaking and said he hoped the points raised could be addressed in a meaningful way with appropriate solutions being found so the project could move forward.
He also noted the interest being shown in the project by people relocating to the San Ramon Valley. He said he believes the City Center will support a family's choosing San Ramon over one of the neighboring communities as the place to purchase a home.
We, The Harper Team, agree on a couple of points: 1) We would frequent the City Center shops and restaurants (especially me, since I hold a lot of informal business meetings already at Peet's, Whole Foods, or Borders) and 2) the project will support appreciation of property values in the immediate area. In fact, we think it might provide a real impetus for remodeling and renovation in the housing area south of Montevideo to Pine Valley and between the freeway and the iron Horse Trail.
This area of town consists of homes built in the 70's with nice lots, but in need of modernizing. We have seen some terrific remodels and additions happening in that neighborhood over the last few years. The completion of the City Center would make the convenience of this neighborhood very appealing given the proximity of all the schools and parks in the area.
We look forward to more news on the project.
