Shelley Sentry
1223 Calbourne Drive
Diamond Bar, CA9/789
Email: Shelley [email protected]
Cell: (909) 525-8958
December 19, 2023
Dear Diamond Bar City Council:
I am requesting the following items be questioned be addressed by the City of Diamond Bar as they respond to the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Royal Vista Housing Project. Responses to the draft are due no later than January 5, 2024:
1. Traffic driven to Diamond Bar residential streets: On Appendix M Traffic Impact Assessment, pg. 96 - 97 it says no traffic study was done with regard to the effect of traffic on Calbourne Drive and reads as follows:
"Local residential streets are located north of Colima Road and east of the project site. This existing residential neighborhood is generally bounded by the SR-60 Freeway corridor to the north, Colima Road to the south, and the existing Royal Vista Golf Course to the west (refer to Figure 2-2). No -96 LINSCOTT, LAW & GREENSPAN, engineers LLG Ref. 1-20-4388-2 Royal Vista Residential and Parks Project O:VOB_FILE14388-2|Report\4388- Rpt3.doc new project-generated trips are anticipated to travel through the residential neighborhood to the east of the project site (e.g., no project trips are assumed to travel on Calbourne Drive), as the project will have direct access to and from Colima Road. The limited crossing opportunities across the SR-60 Freeway corridor, as well as the neighborhood's limited connectivity to the surrounding roadway network, do not provide an attractive viable alternative route for motorists traveling in either the east-west or north-south directions. Additionally, local residential streets are also located south of Colima Road south of the project site. The limited connectivity of the existing neighborhood to the south does not provide an attractive viable alternative route for motorists traveling along Brea Canyon Cutoff Road or Colima Road. Based on the expected future operations along nearby major arterial corridors and the existing network connectivity in the vicinity, it is determined that the conditions which would require a detailed local residential street cut-through analysis are not present. The proposed Royal Vista Residential and Parks Project is not anticipated to generate cut-through traffic in the vicinity of the project site which would adversely affect the character and function of nearby local residential streets.
This is a flawed theory written by someone who is not familiar with the area. Anyone leaving the condos and wishing to travel East on Golden Springs will not subject themselves to the traffic congested on Colima between Fairway and Colima/Golden Springs. Instead they will turn right out of the complex and travel up Calbourne Dr. to access Golden Springs Road. This would include people who want to travel to the local Target Store and other retail and restaurants located in Diamond Bar. If they really believe that there will not be a single trip from these homes, than anyone leaving the complex should be barred from turning right with signage forbidding it, and construction that makes it clear turning right is not an option.
2. Access on Colima/Golden Springs Road will be left wide open. The EDIR contemplates leaving the current opening to the Golf Course on Golden Springs near Calbourne Drive open.
Currently, there is a gate that is closed off at dusk every night. Leaving this wide open will invite crime to the area. Since the current crossing light at this opening will be removed, leaving this fence open will also be an extreme safety hazard, as people traveling from one side of the trails to the other will likely attempt to jaywalk across the street. The road is curved there and its extremely difficult to see oncoming traffic. Its not about if someone will be hit and killed in the street, its really a matter of when it will happen.
3. No Fences for bordering Diamond Bar properties: The developer has refused to provide any kind of protective fencing to protect Daimond Bar properties from what will now be a HOA operated "Open Space" to the general public. The DEIR does not reveal what the CC &R requirements will be for people using the park, nor do they detail how they will control the general public that could be a loud and constant disturbance to residents, robbing them of their quite enjoyment of their property, not to mention the added security risk to every single home that backs to the proposed trails and parks. The only security measures mentioned in the DEIR is added lighting. Are 'football field' lights going to be used? Would said light be shining into the bedroom windows of residential property throughout the night?
4. Truck Loads of dirt will be transported down Brea Canyon Cut Off. The truck trips to/from the site to carry dirt was not evaluated in the DEIR. The DEIR states 11,400 trucks. We calculated that approximately 8,900 truckloads would be needed to remove dirt to the Olinda Landfill in Brea (which the DEIR assumes is the likely repository), requiring approximately 17,800 truck roundtrips. The substantial influx of trucks, materials, deliveries, and 2,000+ more vehicles after completion will significantly impact the roads in Diamond Bar, and inevitably create more traffic. They anticipate taking Fairway to Brea Canyon Cut-off to the 57 on and off ramps at Diamond Bar Blvd. Everyone in Diamond Bar already knows that Brea Canyon Cut off is a curved and steeply graded road and has narrow spots where it becomes a two-lane street that not only becomes congested at certain times during the day, the street is also know for the many accidents that happen on the road when people fail to maintain control of their vehicles up and down the curves.
This is just a start of the items I see that were not addressed, or not adequately addressed in the DEIR.
As I continue to read over the 700 page document, I will update my list and send you a copy of any other concerns I have.
Sincerely,
Shelley Gentry