In November 2015, San Rafael residents approved a bond measure that would fund improvements to San Rafael Schools. Among these improvements were the modernization of the stadium complex at San Rafael High School. As part of the project procedure, the San Rafael School District, under provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA ) is required to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR), to make it available to the affected parties, and to provide them an opportunity to comment on the proposed project. The School District will then be required to address those concerns in a final EIR.
Unfortunately, the Point San Pedro Road Coalition received notification of the opportunity to comment on the DEIR only ten days before the deadline to submit comments (January 30). Even then, the notice was provided as a courtesy by the S.R. Community Development Department rather than being directly notified by the S.R. School District. We have asked the School District to correct this oversight on future communications regarding this project.
Our major concern pertains to what impact the project will have on the traffic on Point San Pedro Road and on 3rd Street. With the limited time available to us, we prepared and submitted a brief response to the DEIR. The Point San Pedro Road Coalition plans to monitor this project and work with the School District and the City on solutions that will minimize traffic congestion in the area of San Rafael High School. The Montecito Area Residents Association (MARA), which represents the community directly adjacent to the High School, is also actively involved and has responded to the DEIR as well as has the City of San Rafael.
To keep our residents informed, here are the links to the relevant documents related to this DEIR as of this date:
S.R. High School Master Facilities Long-Range Plan and Stadium Project DEIR (Dec 2016)