MAC Approves Handful of Land-Use Items
The Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) approved a handful of land-use items at their meeting this Monday night, including a very enthusiastic thumbs-up for an archery facility on Lake Chabot Road.
Ascension Archery has applied to operate an outdoor private archery range catering to the Junior Olympic Youth Program on a 26-acre parcel at 13575 Lake Chabot Road.
The site, which borders Lake Chabot Regional Park and the San Leandro city limit, is privately-owned. After assurances that no arrows could conceivably leave the property and that the new venture wouldn’t affect current uses and recreation in the area, the MAC gave an effusive “yes” to the developers.
“This is a very neat use of an underutilized property,” said MAC Vice-Chair Bill Mulgrew.
Neighbor and speaker Kathy Ralph said she had some noise and fire safety concerns, but also agreed it was a positive plan for the site.
“It looks like a good use of the property to me,” said Ralph.
The MAC also approved a site development review for renovation of a vacant building at 21022 Marshall Street (former CVSan building) into a temporary Alameda County Fire Station while the current Station No. 25 at 22306 San Miguel Drive is being extensively renovated.
The ACFD says that the goal is to be out of the old San Miguel Station and into the Marshall Street interim location by July 1.
The renovations are part of Bond Measure X. In 2020, the unincorporated communities approved the measure, which will issue $90 million in general obligations bonds for outdated fire stations. Assessed at 1.6 cents per $100,000 of assessed home value, it costs the average Alameda County homeowner about $142 annually.
In addition to the Station No. 25 work, Station No. 7 is proposed to be completely rebuilt adjacent to the current facility on an empty plot of land at 6855 Villarreal Drive.
At this week’s meeting, the MAC also approved an application to build a single-family home on a currently empty parcel at 16674 Winding Boulevard.
Finally, the MAC continued an item that would have allowed a conditional use permit to be renewed on a now-expired permit for a T-Mobile cell phone tower at 10410 Crow Canyon Road.
The applicants had planned a mono-cypress faux tree tower and the MAC asked for something a bit more in keeping with the current landscape of the area- the tower would be on a hill crest, taller than natural trees in the area.
“Can we ask for a better landscaping plan for the cell tower?” asked MAC Chair Chuck Moore. “It’s on a ridge. It’s very visible.”
The MAC acknowledged that Castro Valley has had issues with unsightly and sometimes even “phallic” faux-tree towers in the past and asked the applicants to consider more branches or an otherwise more natural look before coming back to the MAC at a future date.