RANCHO LAGUNA DEVELOPMENT APPROVED BY MORAGA PLANNING COMMISSION:

TOWN COUNCIL TO DECIDE PROJECT’S FUTURE ON MAY 26, 2010

Last August, the Moraga Planning Commission approved the 27-lot Rancho Laguna residential development and certified the Final Environmental Impact Report for the project. Moraga residents have appealed these approvals to the Town Council, which will likely decide the matter at a hearing on Wednesday, May 26 at 7:30 pm in the Joaquin Moraga Middle School Auditorium, 1010 Camino Pablo.

Rheem Ridge looking south. The Rancho Laguna development would build 21 houses along the ridgeline and 6 in the foreground valley. Over seventy trees in the valley would be cut down and the existing creek would be filled in. Rheem Blvd is on the far right.

The project area consists of 180 acres of designated open space lying immediately east of Rheem Blvd. between St. Mary’s Rd. and Moraga Rd. The project would build 21 houses on the southern end of the ridgeline running parallel to Rheem Boulevard, and 6 houses in the valley adjacent to Rheem Blvd. The project also proposes to fill the creek running parallel to Rheem Blvd. using soil excavated from the ridge, eliminating the natural stream, its riparian canopy, and 73 mature native trees in the process. Town staff has pushed for this plan as a means to stabilize Rheem Blvd.

The proposed project conflicts with numerous provisions of the General Plan, including its protections for creeks, ridgelines, and scenic corridors. Additionally, the Regional Water Quality Control Board has sharply criticized the proposed fill of the creek in its comments to the Town. (Read the RWQCB’s letters to the Town of Moraga here.)

Rheem Ridge looking north from the hills above St. Mary’s College.  The proposed development would build 21 houses along this ridgeline.  (Photo by Bill Hinshaw)

A majority of the sitting Town Council members were elected on pro-open space campaign platforms, and they will now have an opportunity to act on those principles with this decision. Here’s what you can do to help persuade them to reverse this approval:

1. Please attend the hearing on Wednesday, May 26. Even if you don't wish to speak, your presence sends a strong and critical message to the Council that the community cares deeply about preserving remaining open space and ridgelines.

2. If you are a Moraga resident, please write a letter to the Town Council expressing your concerns about the project. For more information on letter writing, click here.

The Town Council heard detailed presentations from the appellants, the developer, and the public at the opening hearing on the appeal last October 28th. It will likely make its final decision on this project at the May 26 hearing.

Rheem Creek and Rheem Ridge looking southeast from Rheem Blvd.  Houses would be built on this ridgeline and the existing creek and trees would be eliminated by the proposed development.  (Photo by Bill Hinshaw)

BOLLINGER VALLEY DEVELOPMENT EIR IN PROGRESS

The Town of Moraga is preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the proposed Bollinger Valley Development in Bollinger Canyon. This development proposal includes 126 houses plus an unspecified number of second units on 186 acres. Access to the project would be via St. Mary’s Rd. to Bollinger Canyon Rd. to Valley Hill Dr. Valley Hill Dr. is currently a one-lane country road and would require widening, re-engineering, and significant tree cutting to accommodate the traffic. A prominent ridgeline, visible from St. Mary’s Road, would be developed with houses. The site is of high habitat value and includes scrub, grassland, significant areas of oak woodland, and a large undisturbed tributary to Las Trampas Creek. The public will have an opportunity to comment on the DEIR upon its release, which is expected later this year.

HETFIELD ESTATES EIR ALSO IN PROGRESS

The Town of Moraga is also preparing an EIR for the proposed Hetfield Estates project, a 6-lot development on 60 acres of designated open space lying west of Sanders Drive in Moraga. This project was approved by the Moraga Planning Commission based on an incomplete assessment of its environmental impacts, successfully appealed to the Town Council by concerned residents, and sent back to town staff for an Environmental Impact Report, primarily due to extreme soil instabilities on the site. The EIR is expected to be released early this year.

PALOS COLORADOS AWAITS FINAL STATE AND FEDERAL APPROVALS

In April 2008 the Town of Moraga approved the Final Map for the 123-lot Palos Colorados development. (The golf course was eliminated from the project in 2006.) The developer is in now the final stages of obtaining permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other resource agencies and may begin construction upon their receipt. However, due to current market conditions and the 225-lot development already being built in Orinda’s Gateway Valley now, it is not clear when construction of the Palos Colorados houses will begin.

More information on Palos Colorados: