Position Statement on Falls School:

Green Valley Landowners Association (GVLA) supports an outcome for Falls School site that:

(1) is acceptable to the property owners adjacent to Falls School and to the community as a whole,
(2) preserves the rural character of Green Valley, and
(3) ensures the enduring preservation of Fire Station #29 and the multipurpose room for the benefit of the community

 

Background:

The Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District has been considering the future of the Falls School site on Rockville Road. The site currently includes a local Fire Station and a Multi-Purpose room. The FSUSD is considering selling the site. Several suggestions for the site have been made in the past, and GVLA has had the opportunity to review them. Preserving the presence of the Fire Station and Multi-Purpose room is of considerable value to our community. The following letter illustrates the position GVLA has taken on behalf of our community.

 

 

January 19, 2015

Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District
2490 Hilborn Road, Fairfield, CA  94534
Attention:  Ms. Kris Corey, Superintendent of Schools                                                        

Dear Ms. Corey;
This past Wednesday, the GVLA Board of Directors met with Greg Amaral, Monika Sloan, and Frank Marianno, community residents and representatives of “Friends of Falls School”.  “Friends of Falls School” have gathered supporting signatures of approximately 200 Green Valley residents in a petition that opposes the District’s current proposal, and advocates an alternative idea composed of a zoning change allowing only 4 single family home sites on 8 acres of the site, including a 2 acre fire station/community building site to be owned by the Cordelia Fire District.
 Since 2012, at the first indication that the school district intended to sell, or trade, the 10-acre Falls School site, GVLA has been steadfast in its commitment to see a positive outcome for our community.  We have continuously advocated for the inevitable site development concepts that would save the fire station and community building, provide for low density, high-quality residential development, provide real solutions for site problems including; sewerage and site drainage constraints, seek to maximize open space and landscape planting, protect the riparian zone of the adjacent creek, conform to School District goals, Solano County agency and State of California requirements, and respond to concerns of the surrounding neighbors and community.
 GVLA participated over two years, sharing ideas with the School District and their exceptionally qualified land planning and engineering consultants, who together evolved the school district’s  current 16 home proposal, which was presented to the community by the School District’s representative Scott Sheldon on October 30, 2014.  This presentation, which apparently some did not fully understand, was generally not well received by neighbors in attendance.  From the outset GVLA has expressed three absolute conditions for endorsement by the GVLA Board of Directors, on any proposed development concept:           

1.    A condition that the Falls School site property owner shall transfer title to the Cordelia Fire District, or an alternative public agency, a minimum of 1 acre of the site including the fire station and the community building.   The parcel shall be dedicated and deeded for $1 to the Cordelia Fire District or their designated agent before recordation of the project tentative map.  Ongoing meetings with the Fire Chief and the Fire District Board are necessary to conclusively determine their needs and the configuration of the fire station site, as the planning process evolves.  

2.   The neighbors of the Falls School site, and Green Valley community should be engaged and supportive.

3.    An acceptable project concept must be feasible to complete, economically viable, appropriate for all of those affected:   the School District, the neighbors, the Fire District, its future residents. It must be viewed to be in the long term best interest of the community.
The GVLA Board welcomes community input, and certainly is not opposed in principle to a 4 home proposal. However, in order for the GVLA Board to formally respond to this concept; the implications of the Friends of Falls School proposal must be thoroughly evaluated in committee and collaboratively shared with all parties, to assure that it is wholly feasible, and predictably achieves the long range objectives of the community, the school district, and the fire district. Each previous proposal for the Falls site has been evaluated by the GVLA within this context.  We look forward to working together towards achieving a balanced solution for the Falls School property.


Respectfully,
GVLA Board of Directors

 

February 15, 2015

This map depicts the current (recently updated) Falls School site plan from the FSUSD.  Discussions with the FSUSD are ongoing, as GVLA continues to work with the FSUSD to optimize the outcome for our community.