SUPPLEMENTAL - Laserfiche WebLink

Arroyo Lago Comment on Draft EIR To: Jack Balch, mayor From: Bob Watson January 31, 2025 First of all, thank you for considering annexation of the proposed Arroyo Lago site. Annexation eliminates a number of significant concerns that were voiced at the public hearing meeting on October 29,2024. At that meeting, there were many good presentations, mostly relating to the health and welfare of the seniors living adjacent to the proposed site in The Village at Ironwood. That meeting was filmed and was available on the County website, but was taken down. I would encourage you to see if the County would put it back up so you could listen to the passion in the input from the community. There are a significant number of flaws in the EIR that were addressed, but I would like to reinforce our positions on some of them. 1. We have significant concern over drainage. After the last grading was done, many of the homes that line the East wall of the Village at Ironwood had their back yards flooded. The plans for the development do not show how water from rains is controlled. 2. Raising the ground level 6 feet behind the existing wall is a bad plan. On top of that, the plan is to install a “good neighbor fence” another 6-8 feet which will completely block our view of the sky from our bedrooms and family rooms. This is a health issue for seniors who now can enjoy privacy and open sky in their back yards. There is also the issue of maintenance of the gap between two fences. 3. The revised design, which showed single story houses along the Ironwood east wall, is an absolute necessity. Two story homes on pads already 6 feet above our back yard level is unacceptable. We would also hope the ADU units would not be on homes that back up to the existing east wall. 4. Soil contamination of the existing soil is a big issue. There will be a significant amount of dust and dirt in the air and we have not seen evidence that the fill that has already been used on the Arroyo Lago site is safe. Some of it came from Sunnyvale, where silicone valley companies have many toxic chemicals. 5. I know you are addressing traffic, which will be a significant issue. There will be impact on morning traffic with children going to Alisal grammer school, Harvest Park middle school and Amador Valley high school. Currently, traffic trying to go south on Santa Rita in the morning to get to Alisal or Amador backs up past Mohr Avenue. Adding more traffic to that mess is a mistake for all of us.