A new Blue Ribbon committee began wrestling with its assignment to find a bypass road to the Callippe Preserve Golf Course that would take traffic off Alisal Street, an effort that has been made for the last 10 years without success.
The new group, composed of residents from unincorporated Happy Valley and other parts of the city, golfers and those appointed by Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, reviewed historical documents dating back to the 1990s.
These included plans by Summerhill Homes to build custom homes high in the hills overlooking Alisal Street on property owned by Al Spotorno and his family. As part of the development, Summerhill agreed to build a bypass road that would connect with what is now Sycamore Creek Road and the golf course road at an estimated cost of $5 million.
That plan was rejected by the City Council after a geotechnical study showed the land where the roadway would be constructed was unstable. Council members also said the proposed housing development would be an eyesore that could be seen from downtown.
In her report to the new committee, the city’s Administrative Services Director Lorie Tinfow indicated that most city officials believed the specific plan that called for the hillside road was no longer in force, because of the geological findings. But longtime residents of Happy Valley disputed that and said both the plan and the roadway are called for still and rule the land uses in that community.
Much of the meeting was devoted to reports by city Traffic Engineer Michael Tassano and Patrick Costanzo Jr. of Greenbriar Homes.
Tassano confirmed suspicions of residents along Alisal Street that drivers are traveling well above the post 25 mph limit, with 85 percent of them traveling at an average speed of 40 mph. Traffic volumes also have increased as golfers make their way to Westbridge Road at the junction of Happy Valley Road and Alisal.
Costanzo reviewed his company’s plans for an 85-home development off Alisal, a project that started out with 102 proposed large custom homes. The development, which Happy Valley long-timers said they don’t want but recognize that it may be their only way to move traffic off Alisal onto a bypass road Greenbriar would build, would have a range of lot and house sizes.
The largest homes would be built on 34,000-square-foot lots that would face onto Alisal. The rest of the homes would face onto their own neighborhood streets that would eventually lead to the bypass road. Along with golfers, owners of these homes, if built, would use Sycamore Creek Way to reach Sunol Boulevard, the only way out of those areas.
Members of the Blue Ribbon Committee are Costanzo, Kellen Aura, Wes Felton, Jim Frietas, Gene Jordon, Vanessa Kawaihau, Roger Manning, Bob Maund, Peter Richert, Al Schorno, Tom Smith and Al Spotorno.
The committee meetings, which are open to the public, will be held starting at 7 p.m. on the second Thursdays of each month at Faith Chapel, 6656 Alisal St. Tinfow said that she hopes to take the committee’s recommendations to the council in September.
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