Sebastopol charter school site raises traffic, safety concerns

Sebastopol City Council members voiced continued concern this week about plans for a K-8 charter school at the edge of town, saying they fear the new campus would result in serious traffic congestion and safety risks posed in part by up to 600 vehicle crossings expected each day over a public bike and pedestrian trail.

The council’s unanimous decision to pursue additional compromise and accommodation in the project’s planning is not what members of the Sebastopol Independent Charter School community wanted to hear at a Tuesday night hearing on the subject, given hopes of having the new campus on the north end of town ready for students by fall of next year.

But it’s not clear how much weight the council position carries going forward, as approval of the site’s use for a new school is up to Sonoma County planning commissioners, who are scheduled to consider the project June 2. The city of Sebastopol, which reaches only to the edge of the campus property, can only state its preferences and hope they’re persuasive.

But the city’s refusal to grant its blessing is nonetheless extremely frustrating for school parents and officials, who are trying to find a unified campus for students currently divided between two sites, including one where rented classrooms must be vacated by the end of next school year.

The Waldorf-inspired school also wants space for agricultural and nature studies that are part of the Waldorf curriculum, as well as a school yard for recess. It plans to leave more than half of its 20-acre site undeveloped.

Mayor Sarah Glade Gurney said the council hesitations aren’t sufficient to demand the school find a different location.

“I think what we’re interested in is the key issues being addressed and mitigated,” Gurney said. “I think everybody on the council understood this is a dream come true for the school, and the school is a gem for Sebastopol.”

Several council members were frank, however, in their wish that the school had been able to find a location in town, rather than the mostly undeveloped lot it already purchased in a rural residential neighborhood east of Gravenstein Highway North, bordered by Hurlbut Avenue, Apple Blossom Lane and the West County Regional Trail.

Council members raised questions about morning and afternoon back-ups at key highway intersections, especially Mill Station Road; potential inconvenience to neighboring Hurlbut Avenue, a narrow, rural road; student safety on unimproved county roads along the route to school; and the visual impact of 92 parking spaces expected to be built along the county trail.

But council members objected primarily to plans for a campus access road across the trail - a de facto park, albeit a long, narrow one, they say - despite planned driveway stop signs, warning signage and bollards intended to protect the right-of-way of cyclists, pedestrians and others on the trail.

Bob Haroche, board president for the Charter Foundation, which actually owns the property, said school officials are analyzing some of the issues and recommendations raised by council members to see if some accommodation can be reached.

But Executive Director Chris Topham said the council’s remarks overall were disappointing, given the school’s track record and effort to address similar concerns the council raised 18 months ago.

“It is not an easy situation for charter schools, so this feels like a survival situation for us,” Topham said. “We have a clock ticking for us to get a permanent, secure, owned location, and this is by far the best bet that we’ve had in a long time. And we have been so active searching for a place.”

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story misstated the measure of estimated vehicle trips across the county trail.