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<br />Rita Kimball, P.O. Box 852, Lafayette, is the principal of Walnut Grove School and stressed <br />that the parents of the 930 students are very happy with the school. She spoke of the many <br />amenities at Walnut Grove and the need for community space (Multipurpose Room). <br /> <br />Mavonne Garrity, 1870 Tanglewood Way, stated she was infuriated by the note coming from <br />Walnut Grove asking for parental support at this meeting of the sale of the Del Prado school <br />site. She feels the neighborhood does not need more houses, there is a need for more school <br />space, and the sale of this school site is the last chance to reduce classroom size. <br /> <br />Greg Evans, 5610 Paseo Navarro, has attended several meetings and does not support <br />keeping this site as an open space weed-patch. However, this site has been zoned for years <br />as Community Facilities - Schools and he feels this is where a school belongs, it has an <br />established neighborhood population to support it, and it would reduce the school populations <br />at Donlon and Walnut Grove. He does not understand the reasoning behind the School <br />Board's decision to build on Stoneridge. The Commission has responsibility to look to the <br />future of Pleasanton and its planning. For the record, he does not believe this site is too <br />small to accommodate an elementary school. <br /> <br />Sue Evans, 5610 Paseo Navarro, stated that her son is now a senior at Amador, but she <br />started working to get a Del Prado school when he was attending Walnut Grove. She feels it <br />is not right to get a quick sale on Del Prado to give Walnut Grove a multipurpose building. <br />She would rather see Walnut Grove be a smaller school. Ms. Evans referred to the <br />Commission's past 5-0 vote to keep this a school site. Ms. Evans feels the developer is <br />getting a low sales price and would like the developer to donate more land to the park so that <br />the park does not lose its Black Avenue frontage. Ms. Evans wants to keep the heritage <br />trees in place. She is also concerned that this development is four units over the General <br />Plan Steering Committee recommendation. If the trees are to be replaced, she would like <br />larger than 24" box trees replace the heritage trees. She disagrees that there will be <br />negligible view loss with houses compared to a school. Ms. Evans feels the park fees should <br />remain at this park for its improvement. <br /> <br />Dave Griffith, 5622 Paseo Navarro, stated his desire to keep this site for a school. <br />However, he stated that the proposed development is a very good one. He has always <br />wanted a school at Del Prado in order to reduce the size of Walnut Grove to better fit the <br />existing space. He believes the new development will increase Walnut Grove's attendance <br />over the next few years. Mr. Griffith cited many statistics to defend his belief that this site <br />would be a very useful school site and that it is wrong to sell this piece of property based on <br />falsified numbers. He also believes a Del Prado school can be used for overflow from the <br />future San Francisco Water Department property development. Speaking to the design <br />review, he agrees that this is the nicest project to be presented. He supports elimination of <br />four units to keep in line with the General Plan Steering Committee's recommendation. Mr. <br />Griffith complimented the developer on his design and his attentiveness to neighborhood <br />concerns. <br /> <br />Planning Commission Minutes <br /> <br />Page 11 <br /> <br />September 27. 1995 <br />