Grafton Plaza April 2009 Update
Charter Properties is developing an ambitious mixed-use project next to Grafton Station called Grafton Plaza. The tallest buildings at Grafton Plaza have been proposed to be as high as 150 feet tall with a mix of:
- Condos, townhomes, and shopkeeper units
- Class A campus office space
- A boutique hotel and wellness spa
- Shopping and dining experiences
While Grafton Plaza is still expected to move forward, the developer has recently changed the description of the project – which requires a re-evaluation of Grafton Plaza’s environmental scoping process. Dublin’s City Staff is preparing the new planning documents and revised project plan with a public hearing tentatively scheduled for summer 2009.
7:06 AM on April 29th, 2009
What are they changing that needs a new environmental review.
7:24 AM on April 29th, 2009
This is not grafton plaza related, but fallon gateway related. I did not see this posted by you john.
http://citydocs.ci.dublin.ca.us/weblink7/DocView.aspx?id=249087
7:29 AM on April 29th, 2009
Hi Anonymous on April 29, 2009 7:06 AM – I’m not sure what is changing with the Grafton Plaza project. I haven’t been able to get the scoop.
Thx, John Z.
7:31 AM on April 29th, 2009
Hi Anonymous on April 29, 2009 7:24 AM – I’m so glad that you mentioned Fallon Gateway! I attended last night’s Planning Commission meeting and will be posting an article about the Fallon Gateway project details within the next few days.
Thx, John Z.
8:06 PM on April 29th, 2009
Great…just what we need…more condos…
I hope they plan the parking better.
9:14 PM on April 29th, 2009
JohnLDUSD
WHY AREN’T YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT THE NEGATIVE IMPACT ABOUT TO HIT DUBLIN SCHOOLS DUE TO THE STATE BUDGET CUTS???
Here’s the deal. The state passed a tentative budget PLAN in February. In order for it to work, a bipartisan effort created 6 education and/or general fund-related ballot initiatives for a special election on May 19th. These initiatives are briefly stated as:
1A – Adds Budget spending caps and makes a rainy day fund to be developed during good times. Prevents future adds to spending when times are good.
1B – Billions of dollars already owed education from recent Prop 98 take-aways will be paid back first from this rainy day fund when it starts to fill up. IB does not exist without 1A.
1C – $5B will be borrowed from future lottery funds. If this does not pass, there is a $5B hole in the education budget.
1D – Temporarily redirects tobacco tax money from children 1-5 programs toward the state’s general fund to fill gaps created by sending money to vital programs like education.
1E – Temporarily redirects money from mental health programs to help close the budget gap.
1F – Bars pay raises for government leaders in budget deficit years.
To balance the budget the state (Arnold and the legislature) has created these balancing inititatives. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Arnold, Education leaders like Alameda County Supt. of Schools, California Secretary of Education Glen Thomas, most local education officials, and more all say these ballots must pass or our local schools will be hit harder than anytime in history. Even though different sides of the aisle have some reservations about one or two of them the above mentioned leaders feel it more important to get through this difficult period.
If we don’t pass them with a simple majority? The state budget falls apart. Dublin teachers get laid off. Dublin Programs shut down. Class sizes grow. Understand that this does not come from local district spending problems or lack of cuts already. We’ve already cut millions this past year and will still have to cut millions over the next year or two – even with these ballots passing.
What can you do? Join efforts to pass the ballots via phone banking and other grassroots events between now and May 19th. Stand side-by-side with teachers, and truckers, execs and parents, city and school board officials, and many others to pass these ballots. Its time for all of us to work for the kids future. Interested? Send me an email and I’ll plug you into the process. WIll you help?
John Ledahl
Trustee, DUSD
LedahlJohn@Dublin.k12.ca.us
925-551-5965
6:49 AM on April 30th, 2009
I support the budget cuts. Less money means the schools will actually have to spend their money wisely, including cutting unnecessary costs that have no place in public schools like music, sports, art, and other “subjects” that are nothing but glorified hobbies that won’t prepare you for the real world. Yeah, reading all that Shakespeare in high school really prepared me for my job as an IT Project Manager. After all, reading classic literature is far more important than the stuff school doesn’t teach you, like how to write a check, balance a budget, buy a house, etc.
10:45 AM on April 30th, 2009
THANK YOU TO Anonymous April 30, 2009 6:49 AM
We needed an example of what our kids should not become.
2:17 PM on April 30th, 2009
Music,sports,literature and art are not important?That is a rather interesting point of view.What is the real world to you?Is it sitting in front of a computer all day?What a depressing view of what a school should be.
3:47 PM on April 30th, 2009
If your kids want to play sports, that’s great, you should pay for the cost for that– I don’t ask you to pay for my son’s violin lessons or Boy Scout costs or other hobbies, so why should I pay for your son to play football?
6:03 PM on April 30th, 2009
JohnL
Hey folks,
I knew this report of mine would bring out all the opinions – and that is what a blog is for. However, it is also for warning the community of impending doom.
To the person who doesn’t want public education to pay for music, art, sports, etc. – you are living in the wrong country. I assume your kids go to private school, given your bent. Public education has been a core fabric of our country for over a century. However you may get a lot more than you are asking for.
As I stated earlier, failure to pass the ballot initiatives will lead us on a path to destroy our schools (which are 47th in the nation in spending already). You will lose the sports, art, etc. as you want, but class sizes will grow, teachers will lose jobs and training, programs will shut down, and in some districts schools will shut down. Do you get it? Billions of dollars to be directed to just maintaining our status quo in schools will be lost. Am I making myself clear here? What do others think?
6:33 PM on April 30th, 2009
Wow – I am ashamed to know that we have neighbors in our community who do not support the well-rounded learning of our children. We can only hope that such ignorance did not breed more ignorance.
11:32 AM on May 1st, 2009
our schools need more money that is for sure, and our teachers are greatly underpaid. With that said, i still don’t think sports should be paid for by the school- it should be club-oriented and paid for by the parents of the athletes.
Given the budget cuts, we should see what are the core pillars of a public education (tackle football isn’t one of them)- Yes, sports are a great way to learn leadership and self motivation and physical challenges- However, fielding a tackle football team is probably the most expensive way to provide that (do you know how much it costs to field a tackle football team (equipment, insurance, medical, field,etc) compared to, say, a cross country team or other?)– Take a look at what Santa Clara University did.. They dropped their football team due to costs… Our public high schools should seriously consider that too– I have a hard time fighting for school funding increases or non-cutbacks when schools are still fighting for fielding so many sports teams that cost so much– In fact, let’s be upfront and honest.. What does Dublin spend on its high school sports program in total? How about the football team budget- Let us know and we can “vote” to see who agrees that that’s a great way to spend our tax money–
11:40 AM on May 1st, 2009
I’ll keep paying my taxes so you can have your dumpy public schools with the problems,etc —
I pay extra to send my kids to a private school where they are surrounded by kids whose parents care about their education and are given a much better chance to succeed-
Don’t worry, our kids will be nice to your kids when your kids are working for them later in life–
Enjoy your beloved football team (yeah, the football team that private schools continue to dominate, year in-year out)–
1:38 PM on May 1st, 2009
Ouch! I went to private schools all my life, but I would never make this comment. Hopefully your elitest kids attend very, very small schools where this type of ignorant thinking is contained.
2:34 PM on May 1st, 2009
Wow! Are we off-focus or what. I applaud those trying to counter this guys thinking, but we aren’t going to change his twisted thinking. Can we start ignoring him and look at the real problem?
Whether your kids go to public or private schools, good public education means better property values (and we need all the help we can get there), more involved parents and children, and a better future for the majority of our kids.
What do you think of the initiatives? While not perfect, they are the first consensus the state government people have reached in a long time. They contain spending restrictions going forward, money directed toward education and kids health, and prevent government people from making more money in hard times. And yes, they have some problems in the details that need to be monitored. I ask everyone to support them and help getting others to vote for them as well. Any takers?
2:49 PM on May 1st, 2009
I don’t get why we are not building a new high school in East Dublin. I can almost guarantee the new high school would have API’s comparable to Pleasanton and San Ramon.
5:51 PM on May 1st, 2009
Hey, who hijacked this thread (John)– this was a post about Grafton Plaza!– I wanna read Around Dublin for positive info about the cool stuff coming or happening in Dublin, not about politics or school issues,etc (save it for another site like Dublin Townhall, which is more politically based)–
7:50 PM on May 1st, 2009
My apologies for barging into this thread. Dublin Townhall seems to be dead (no activity these past weeks) and this issue is very important to all of us.It wasn’t my intent to debate public vs. private education. Just trying to rally the troups since if these ballot measures fail, it will impact everyone and real estate values. I’ll try there once more.
10:40 PM on May 1st, 2009
To the person asking about a 2nd high school… it’s pretty simple. There aren’t enough students to support two high schools in Dublin. A larger student population at DHS (and not to mention the new and improved facilities) means the school can afford more specialized classes (AP, electives, remedial, etc). API will go up as DHS continues to improve.