The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Construction noise angers some who live near school
Residents think they should have been notified about the project
By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL
Torrington Drive resident Juana Guevara is used to having cars go by her house on their way to the Challenger School on Hollenbeck Avenue, but earth-moving trucks and heavy machinery were a surprise at 6:30 a.m. Aug. 18.
"I woke up in the morning, and there was heavy equipment behind my house," Guevara said at the Aug. 22 Sunnyvale City Council meeting.
The trucks were part of a roadway project at the school intended to cut down on traffic in the residential neighborhood and get students and their parents away from neighbors' driveways.
Guevara said she was angered because the driver of one of the trucks was the first person to tell her about the project; by the next morning, she said, her neighbors were out in their yards talking about it.
The night of Aug. 24, residents met with officials from the private school and the Sunnyvale Elementary School District. The main complaint was the lack of advance notice to the neighborhood.
The project will create a road wrapping around the school, on school property, connecting Hollenbeck Avenue and Torrington Drive. Although neighbors found out about it Aug. 18, the school and district had been talking about it for the better part of three years, said Clay Stringham, director of development for Challenger Schools.
Stringham said the project was a response to continued traffic concerns in the area caused by lines of cars on already-busy Hollenbeck before and after school. "We really thought--in this case--that we were doing such a community service that everybody would be grateful," Stringham said. Residents said one concern is that the new road will run along the open space that many residents use for recreation.
"It isn't what they're doing; it's how they're doing it," said Kim Hawes on Thursday. "The attitude was, 'We are a private entity, and we owe you nothing.' " Although Challenger is a private school and was under no obligation to notify the residents, Principal Jesse Grapes agreed a dialogue should have taken place beforehand with the community. "It's like if I hung the pictures on the wall without my wife, I would get in trouble."
The land is owned by the Sunnyvale School District, under state jurisdiction. As Councilman John Howe pointed out at the council meeting, the city is explicitly prohibited from having a formal voice on the project. There was a public school board meeting for approval of the project. Stringham said the district felt--and still feelsthat this is a good solution for the entire area.
"We're trying to benefit the community. We're not trying to take advantage of anyone, but I think the end result will be positive," he added.
Although the city is not involved, according to director of community development Robert Paternoster it may get involved--which could halt the project--if it is found the road project requires a modification to the master plan for the school site.
To contact the Sunnyvale School District, call deputy superintendent Ben Picard at 408.522.8200, ext. 208. To contact the school, call director of development for Challenger Schools Clay Stringham at 801.558.8018.
