Canyon Sports Field Revamp Reopen for Public Review
The $14 million upgrade of the Canyon Middle School Athletic Fields will get at least one more round of public review of its environmental effect before construction can potentially begin this year.
At its May 22 meeting, the Castro Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) Board of Trustees unanimously voted to allow for further public review after some community members in the Cold Water and Greenridge neighborhoods expressed concerns about the project in January, particularly the field's lighting and nighttime usage.
The project is open for additional public review until June 12, when CVUSD will conduct a public hearing. After all comments are received and reviewed, staff will return the final report for Board consideration and request approval and certification on June 26.
The Athletic Field Project, a collaborative effort between CVUSD and Hayward Area Recreational Park District (HARD), aims to bring significant improvements. These include replacing the school’s natural turf upper playing field with a synthetic turf athletic field for soccer and baseball. The project also includes the installation of two new scoreboards, bleachers, a batting cage, pole-mounted lighting, the extension of use as late as 10:00 p.m., and other peripheral features. ADA and other accessibility upgrades would be made to student and staff restrooms, student showers, and drinking fountains, enhancing the overall experience for the community.
In December 2023, consulting firm Placeworks presented an environmental draft, referred to as an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND). The 529-page report included a debriefing of 16 different types of accommodations during and after construction, including air quality, noise, emergency accommodations, and lighting. The CVUSD adopted the IS/MND in January but reopened the review to further clarify and ensure the neighbors' voices were heard.
Placeworks representative Dwayne Mears presented a revised environmental review of the project to clarify the reasoning behind the new and approved (IS/MND) document. He mentioned how “the mitigated negative declaration is meant to be objective and doesn’t itself approve or deny a project.” The project serves as an informative stepping stone before action is officially taken.
Going deeper into the discussion about lighting and noise, Mears indicated how he and his team used visual simulations and light trespass analyses to limit light spillover and plan to put up informational signs listing rules about noise by Cold Water-Greenridge’s strong neighborhood policy.
Castro Valley resident and Canyon Middle School teacher Jeff Small said while he fundamentally shared the same values as the Board when it came to the process of protecting the environment on and around the field, he was skeptical about the overall review of the study.
“This process shouldn’t involve an environmental review but a true environmental impact report,” Small said.
Castro Valley Soccer Club president Bernard Goodman welcomed the project with open arms, noting the benefits the upgrades will have for the middle school and the community.
“Castro Valley Soccer Club has been an institution within the Castro Valley community for over the past 40 years," Goodman said. "However, due to the lack of quality fields in Castro Valley today, the vast majority of our practices and games do not occur within Castro Valley. The field project really is going to enable us to once again operate within our town at a high-quality venue with lights allowing our children the ability to play even during daylight savings time when we're forced to vacate fields very early and not have sufficient fields to service all of our players.”
