Mosaic Project - NO!
I have been following the Mosaic Project from the first time it went before the CVMAC. And then, the letters to the editor praising it. What is going on here? From what I have gleaned this is what I see:
The project is NOT for Castro Valley - it is for large groups of "young people" who will be bussed into Cull Canyon from outside our area.
The big buses that will be bringing these "young people" large groups will be 2/3 the width of Cull Canyon Road!!!! Can't you just see how that will be? The traffic will be a nightmare with these large buses coming and going - whenever that takes place.
Mosaic will be facilities with overnight housing. That means showers, toilet facilities and grounds maintenance. Where will the water come from??? From the aquifer that barely covers the needs of the folks who live and work on Cull Canyon Road in a wet year? EBMUD won't be supplying the water for two reasons: first - no application has been made to LAFCO to annex the property into EBMUD; and second - the cost of connection with pipes, etc. could be $1million+, paid for by who? Not EBMUD - but the School District or the County or Castro Valley?
Sanitary facilities: With no sewer connection, there will be septic tanks which will have to have someplace for the waste water to drain - either into the aquifer (which Mosaic would be drawing from) or the Creek. The environmental impact will be horrible.
And none of the foregoing even comes close to considering the real construction impacts - not only at the project site, but up and down Cull Canyon Road.
But, there is an elegant solution that would please those who favor the project but don't live or drive on Cull Canyon Road - the large park at the end of Proctor Road that used to be a school. There is water to the park from EBMUD (no LAFCO application or connection problems) and there are old sanitary connections that would be easily accessible. And there is plenty of room for parking + drop off. Of course, this assumes that the folks who live near the park would be willing to put up with the construction first and traffic from the buses second.
There is a rumor that the consultant to the project is also a consultant to the School District - can someone ferret that out? It will be good to clarify.
The Mosaic Project is clearly an environmental disaster - water, sanitary, traffic just for starters. This must not go forward.
–Frank Mellon, Castro Valley
