Neighborhood to City: Project Is Too Suburban

The project, known as Curtis Park Village is a 72-acre, abandoned rail site, a brownfield, adjacent to an affluent, historic neighborhood, Curtis Park near downtown. The city council just approved the environmental impact report, 9-0.

"If we can't develop this, we can't do infill. If we can't do infill, we can't meet the objectives of SB 375 (a state law to encourage more development in existing areas)," said City Councilwoman Lauren Hammond, minutes before voting on a Curtis Park Village project years in the making and located on a toxic state Superfund site."

"A potential lawsuit by the Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association over the project's size and character remains possible. Association leaders told the council Thursday the project's 522 houses and 259,000 square feet of retail space are still too suburban and car-oriented for their early 20th-century neighborhood south of downtown."

"Please don't view the neighborhood as being against this project. We want a better village. We want an urban environment," said Andrea Rosen, SCNA board member."

Thanks to California League of Conservation Voters