Over the last month or so, I have received dozens of letters and emails urging me, as a City Council member, to oppose the "Clark Road Project." This is a proposed 144 acre development of 204 Single-Family Units near San Pablo Dam Road at Clark Road and Leisure Lane in El Sobrante. The developer is Kaiway Investment.

The letters I receive typically list several perceived negative aspects of the project and ask me to "consider a number of issues before voting on this matter." While I am always glad to receive opinions from constituents, I would like to suggest that contacting City Council members at this time is premature and probably a waste of time and postage. Like all land use decisions, the Clark Road project is in the EIR stage and goes first to the Environmental Assessment Panel (EAP), who will decide if the EIR is adequate. Their decision is appealable to the Planning Commission and ultimately to the City Council.

Later, the Tentative Map will come before the Planning Commission, and the Design Review Board may also review the design of the project. Each of these is, in turn, appealable to the City Council. The final step will be the Final Map, with a similar process. 

The point is that the place for those critical of the project to concentrate their energies is not the City Council but the Planning Department, the EAP, the Design Review Board and the Planning Commission. The hearings of all of theses bodies are public, but if citizens do not attend to register their concerns, and if they do not appeal what they believe are poor decisions, the City Council will never even come into the picture.

The Planning Department web site (http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/~planning/applications/lists/major.pdf) indicates that the Clark Road project is being staffed for the City by Mike Tsang at (650) 692-8114. He should be contacted for status reports, copies of the EIR or any other public documents and hearing schedules.