Partnership Will Provide Land for Future School and Park in Dougherty Valley

From the San Ramon Unified School District

The City of San Ramon, Shapell Homes and the San Ramon Valley Unified School District announce this week a partnership that designates land for a future park and elementary school in the Dougherty Valley community.

An 8.6 acre site has been identified and is located approximately 1/2 mile southwest of the and Library in a yet-to-be developed area of the Dougherty Valley (site is adjacent to a future 30 acre community park).

Shapell Homes is providing the land to the School District, with an understanding that the play fields will also serve as permanent parkland for the City of San Ramon. This partnership resembles the shared joint use cooperative between the City and the School District that exists at all of the other school sites in San Ramon, and has become a model for other communities.

Officials from all three organizations are pleased with the outcome of the discussions and anticipate successful completion of an agreement to finalize the details of the partnership.

“This is a win for everyone,” said San Ramon Mayor Billl Clarkson. “To develop more park space is a goal of our City. We also believe that this will help ease congestion in the community by pulling traffic away from other congested neighborhoods.”

The partnership paves the way for a new elementary school to be built which will help alleviate the enrollment crunch at the four existing elementary schools in the Dougherty Valley, and reduce the number of families being diverted away from their neighborhood schools.

“This is clearly a benefit for the City, the developer, and most certainly for the school district and the families of the Dougherty Valley,” said Greg Marvel, President of the San Ramon Valley Unified School District Board of Education. “While we still need to pass a facilities bond to build the school, having the land and some of the infrastructure provided will save the school district and taxpayers millions of dollars.”

Dan Coleman, Vice President of Shapell Homes added that Shapell is pleased to help find a solution to the increased school enrollment.

“From the time we first began our work in the Dougherty Valley we have been committed to the quality of life for the entire community. Student enrollment has exceeded all projections, largely because of the reputation of the school district, the City and the homes we have built,” Coleman said.

All three parties will continue to work together on finalizing the terms of this partnership in a series of formal written agreements which will spell out the details related to planning, implementation, funding and joint use of the park and school site.

While the three parties have been meeting for nearly a year to discuss and review options and alternatives related to a joint use school and park site, only recently has this specific proposal for a new site in the Dougherty Valley taken shape.

Meetings among City and School District staff, and representatives from Shapell Homes, took place over the last several months to specify a site that will become available in the near future.