Dear City of Fairfield Planning Commission and Committee,

We represent thousands of residents in Fairfield and we are writing to express our disapproval and frustration of the proposed Wiseman Company residential building development (“Aurora at Green Valley Apartments”) between L’Academy Language Immersion Preschool and the Fairfield Cordelia Library. We believe that the construction of these buildings will create excess and irreparable harm to the local community. In the best interest of Fairfield and especially, its Green Valley and Cordelia residents, we ask that you intervene and center the needs of the local community first and foremost. 

The traffic congestion on Business Center Drive and Green Valley Road has increasingly become problematic and will continue to amplify with this construction project. The proposed 84 unit building involves creating 84+ parking spots. It's likely that residents in these units may have more than one vehicle per unit, along with their guests and other visitors. This will result in added traffic congestion along Business Center Drive, and the single lanes in and out of the driveways in the proposed area. Spillover parking from the residential area will impact and deter the community from accessing the library and the walking trail which are an integral part of the community’s social fabric. The construction will also block and prevent families who utilize that particular fenced side of Nelda Mundy Elementary School to pick up their children from school. The traffic surrounding the main entrance of the school has already been cumbersome and taking away this avenue will create a burden for families and residents adjacent to the school.

Additionally, traffic congestion will be harmful to the health of the environment and local residents, both immediately and in the long run. Fumes from exhaust due to excess traffic — as well as from construction  — can negatively harm respiratory health, especially for young and developing children who would be primarily impacted during their school days. The congestion also means compacted and limited emergency exit route options, including in the case of wildfires due to climate disaster or earthquakes. Time and efficiency are critical during disasters and a matter of life or death.

Finally, many community members are concerned about the excess exposure and surveillance that will be placed on children who attend L’Academy, and Nelda Mundy Elementary School from building residents who have clear view of playgrounds. In light of ongoing mass school shootings, you can understand that parents are very wary about the safety and security of our children. Additionally, excess traffic near schools can increase pedestrian accidents for children walking to and from school. 

We ask the Commission to reflect on this proposal and many additional and recent local development proposals holistically. Collectively, they will all compound traffic congestion in Green Valley and impact our health negatively. Additionally with the increasing population size and continued focus on luxury housing and hotels, and industrial buildings, the community’s basic needs (which have been voiced many times) have yet to be considered: 

• Additional public schools given existing capacity issues at Nelda Mundy Elementary School, Green Valley Middle School, and Angelo Rodriguez High School in the context of population increases
• Additional health care services and centers given that the closest emergency centers can require up to 30 minutes in travel with traffic conditions
• Grocery stores given that there is just one grocery store to serve both Cordelia and Green Valley
• Services for houseless individuals and transformational action to end homelessness in our community  

We ask you to act in the best interest of the residents by halting this development process. We understand that the developer and the City have gone through standard legal processes to get to this point. We community members who intimately understand the conditions of our lives and neighborhoods on a day-to-day basis — and are planning to build out our futures here  — are utilizing our voice as a form of evidence and data. We ask the City to make decisions with community members, through a democratic process that truly engages our community’s vision by prioritizing people over profit. 

We look forward to being more and more engaged to ensure our concerns are recognized and addressed. Thank you for your time.