The Basics
An issue which is quickly gathering steam around town is the proposed land swap deal between the City of San Carlos and the San Carlos School District. One week ago, the SCSD sent a letter to the City of San Carlos, asking them to consider the a land swap which would include the City’s four acre parcel on the top of Crestview. Before going further, here are some background facts:
(1) Tierra Linda Middle School and the San Carlos Charter Learning Center (SCCLC) both occupy a piece of property in San Carlos across from Carlmont High School, at 750 Dartmouth Avenue.
(2) Both TL and SCCLC are governed by the San Carlos School District.
(3) Due to a variety of reasons, including an enrollment surge and aging facilities, the SCSD has been trying to find space to open a 4th-5th grade campus for all of San Carlos. The belief is that this would make room at all other schools by taking the 4th grade from the lower elementary schools and removing the 5th grade from the middle school locations.
(4) The SCSD would like to move the proposed 4th-5th campus to the space currently occupied by SCCLC at 750 Dartmouth Avenue. This would push SCCLC out and in need of a campus.
(5) In exchange for the City’s four acre parcel on Crestview, the SCSD would grant the City a similar sized parcel at upper Tierra Linda, which would allow the City to add much needed field and park space.
What It All Means
You can probably guess who is generally for this and who is against it:
In Favor of the Land Swap. There seems to be a substantial amount of support coming from SCCLC….and why not, they get a new campus and will not be sharing. Other schools are falling in line to support it, primarily out of the fear that they do not want to run the risk that it is their campus that gets selected to share with SCCLC if the land swap does not happen. Another powerful and very vocal group are the youth sports groups around town. With field space at an absolute premium, expect to be hearing from the different youth sports organizations around town. They will be encouraging you to make any support known to the city council.
Not in Favor of the Land Swap. Not so happy are the homeowners on Crestview and the streets leading up the hill to Crestview. Obviously, increased noise and traffic will occur, although just how much seems uncertain.
The SCSD’s Argument to San Carlos
The number one reason people move to San Carlos: The SCSD. They are indirectly, partially responsible for the massive upswing in our market and they are largely responsible for limiting the losses of 2009. Nearby towns which did not have a similar school system to support them were devastated in the real estate market downturn. With this demand comes a noticeable spike in enrollment that simply cannot be handled at campuses which are already beyond capacity. The SCSD also knows how starved the City is for additional park and field space. This is why they view this proposal as a win-win.
The Question Yet to be Answered
While the SCSD’s proposal seems very much worth considering, the question remains as to whether the City could do something else with the property, such as hold on to it, or sell to a developer for a considerable amount that could then be used for other, equally important projects around town.
Have thoughts on the proposed land-swap? Leave them below! The San Carlos Blog will be updated as more information on this topic becomes available.
6 Comments
Great post blog. I think this is a no brainer. San Carlos has a long history of selling off school land to private developers, it would be a great move for the community to reverse that trend and expand our schools.
Thanks Bob for getting this important issue out there.
Here’s what I don’t understand, however and have not seen in any of the documentation: if the city owns this land on Crestview, why not let SCSD build on the land they have and build another set of fields on the land on Crestview.
From what I’ve read, the land will have to be rezoned to have the school built up on Crestview, so why not rezone it to be a park? Maybe I’m missing something.
As an aside, if the SCSD hadn’t been so quick to sell off all their extra space decades ago, this wouldn’t be an issue…
I am a SCSD parent, (no expert on the subject) but I think the main issue with the Tierra Linda land has to do with volume in terms of students and traffic. What we have right now at the “big bend” (Alameda right before Dartmouth/ SCarlos Ave) seems like some sort of strange experiment toward poor city planning/design. There are actually 5 schools at that corner, Carlmont High, Tierra Linda, Charter Learning Center, Wonder Years Preschool, and Edison Montessori. If something doesn’t give we would have an additional fourth and fifth grade school added to the Tierra Linda property. That all leads to enormous commuting pressure on that corridor: school and pedestrian traffic, 280 commute traffic, not to mention additional students getting up the hill to Ralston Middle School.
Moving Charter to Crestview would basically swap one school for another, so at least the traffic and logistics along that stretch wouldn’t get worse. Of course it would be great for the Charter Learning Center families, and it would help the continuity between the 4th/5th grade school and TL as well.
The more I think about this I think it is a good idea. Perhaps it is just a daydream, but I would also would love to see the city revisit the scoot bus system which might help to alleviate some of the traffic problems along the alameda corridor.
The only routes up to Crestview are Club, Brittan and maybe Melendy. Would’t many of the CLC parents now have drive through the “Big Bend” intersection 4 times a day all the way to the top of the hill and back?
On another note, I really don’t understand how the City would be gaining a new athletic field in this deal. They already use the field at TL for after school and weekend sports. What would change? Sounds more like the City is giving away a multi million dollar asset that could provide needed cash and ongoing tax revenue that could benefit everyone in SanCarlos. Is it even legal?
Aside from the narrow traffic corridors and obvious attraction of cafeteria food smells to the local wildlife (this area is adjacent to open preserve space owned by SF Water), and if school space and playing fields dictate compromise to the area, would San Carlos consider throwing Crestview Park soccer fields into the trade possibilities?
In other words, relocate Crestview Park’s soccer field to the top of Crestview and put SLCS where Crestview Park sits currently (latter is already flat and graded; while there is animal access nearby, it is less than at the mountain top; SLCS would be closer to Edgewood, Aladeda and Brittan for traffic access and public transportation). For the top of the hill, there would be fewer traffic issues up tight streets, traffic would occur at different times than commuter hours, potentially less food odors attracting animals that live next door).
Such a plan might mitigate the nature of the change, (still green fields near the open space) and be somewhat of a compromise if the land couldn’t be sold for additional homes with a view and property tax revenue.
The hearing last night was very reminiscent of the 20-year long battle over turf, with neighborhood residents fighting a pitched battle against change. Understandable, but we have to consider what benefits the community as a whole. I’m sure the neighbors at Arundel don’t want an additional school near them, nor do the neighbors at Heather. However, the school district doesn’t have 20 years to fight to get resolution of their space problem. I’m hopeful that the City Council will put this up to a ballot vote, and that all sides will work expediently to do the fact finding and education necessary to make sure the City Council and the voters can make a thoughtful decision that we won’t regret in 20 years.