The author of this letter represents parents of students that attend Oak Meadow Elementary School and families that live in the Serrano residential communities that directly surround the proposed Costco development property.   Oak Meadow Elementary School is a Transitional Kindergarten-5th grade school with students ranging in ages 4 – 11 years old.  As parents, our responsibility is to ensure that our children are safe and healthy. The commercial development of parcels EDH 52 North and EDH 52 Costco South, adjacent to Oak Meadow Elementary School, may have consequences that could affect the safety and health of our children. The purpose of this letter is not to provide support for the Costco development, but in the event that El Dorado County approves the project, that it is completed responsibly.

We would like to inform El Dorado County of a letter that was sent by parents of Oak Meadow students on June 4, 2019 to the Costco CEO and Board of Supervisors warning of the dangers of developing a gas station adjacent to an elementary school. As was documented, “gas stations emit toxic air contaminants, including Benzene, a known carcinogen.  Benzene exposure has been linked with childhood leukemia. A study of gas station vent pipe emissions by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found benzene emissions were over ten times higher than estimates used in setback regulations that determine how close schools, playgrounds, and parks can be to certain facilities, including gas stations.” 

The current development proposal appears to include an option for a gas station at the EDH 52 North site and we insist that this be removed and excluded from any future iterations of the development plan for both EDH 52 North and EDH 52 Costco South.

In addition, we would like to address several traffic and safety concerns with the proposed development.  The Oak Meadow Elementary School driveway and parking lot was not developed with substantial growth and traffic increases in mind.  It is challenging to turn left into the school while yielding to oncoming traffic when driving south on Silva Valley Parkway with the existing morning and afternoon traffic.  The entrance of the school does not have a stop sign or traffic light to pause traffic flow and allow cars to safely enter and exit the school.  Parking at Oak Meadow Elementary School is extremely limited, requiring parents to park on the school blacktop or in Serrano gated residential communities, or arrive unreasonably early to find a traditional parking spot. Left-hand-turns out of the school are also not currently permitted, requiring parents to do U-turns at the Silva Valley Parkway and Serrano Parkway intersection to then drive back towards the freeway. In addition, the 25 mile per hour speed limit in the school zone is most often ignored by drivers.

We would like to request several accommodations to address these traffic safety concerns:

1. The current EDH 52 North site plan proposal includes a traffic light at the entrance of the commercial zoned property closest to Oak Meadow School.  This traffic light at the Clarksville Crossing and Silva Valley Parkway intersection does not provide access to the school in the current site plan.  We request that a driveway be extended from this proposed traffic light to directly access Oak Meadow Elementary School. Access from this traffic light will allow drivers to safely enter the school without yielding to oncoming traffic. Permitting left-hand-turns out of the school space at this light, or any other Silva Valley Parkway exit out of the school, will also aid with traffic flow on Silva Valley Parkway. If access to the school from the proposed traffic light will not be possible, then an additional stop sign or traffic light on Silva Valley Parkway in front of the existing school driveway needs to be considered with the proposal of EDH52.

2. The current EDH 52 North site plan includes undeveloped space directly next to the elementary school.  We request that this site be developed into a designated parking lot to accommodate additional parking needed for Oak Meadow Elementary School. Additional parking is needed to limit traffic flow into neighboring Serrano residential communities and maintain a blacktop for the students, reducing wear and tear from vehicles.

3. The current EDH 52 North and EHD 52 South site plan does not specify that a pedestrian crossing will be included at the traffic light at Clarksville Crossing and Silva Valley Parkway. We request that pedestrian crossing be added to allow families from the neighboring Serrano residential community to have direct access to Oak Meadow Elementary School, the proposed commercial development and Bucks Creek Trail. We also request that the rest of Silva Valley Parkway along EDH 52 North and EDH 52 South contain sidewalks.

The June 4, 2019 the letter from Oak Meadow parents also included information cautioning about health hazards resulting from diesel trucks.  “Diesel trucks emit diesel particulate matter, which contains over forty toxic air contaminants and is especially bad for children because of their developing lungs.” The risk that these diesel trucks pose has not been mitigated by moving the Costco site across the road to EDH 52 Costco South. This needs to be thoroughly researched by El Dorado County before approving the new site location.

We respectfully believe that it is the responsibility of El Dorado County to ensure the safety of the students at Oak Meadow Elementary School and the neighboring Serrano residential communities when deciding on the development of EDH 52 North and EDH 52 Costco South. We strongly urge you to incorporate our requests into any final permitting documents if the county moves forward with this project.

Sincerely,

Oak Meadow Elementary School and Serrano families