Protect Our Neighborhood

Head-Royce School, one of the largest private schools in Oakland, California, plans a major expansion that will have significant negative impacts on the surrounding residential community, the environment, neighborhood safety and public infrastructure.

 

Our neighborhood is diverse, middle-class and densely populated.  A grassroots group – the Neighborhood Steering Committee -- has organized and needs funds to pay costs and fees to oppose Head-Royce’s Master Plan as it is currently proposed.  We are worried that the size and design of the project will make the existing neighborhood problems already related to the school worse, not better.

 

The school wants to increase enrollment by almost 30% and to add faculty and staff. To deal with the increased traffic chaos, the school wants to build a pedestrian tunnel under Lincoln Avenue and to build a perimeter road on its property for student drop-off and pick-up.  The new road will pass within a few feet of the neighboring homes and will result in a third traffic signal in a one-quarter mile stretch on Lincoln Avenue. The school also wants to build a 450-seat, 16,000 square foot performing arts center, which will be adjacent to and tower over neighboring homes.

 

Neighbors have safety concerns about the project. The school is in a high-risk area for wildfires, on a steep hillside near the Hayward Fault. The school’s expansion plans do not address how the school and the neighborhood can safely evacuate at the same time in the event of a fire or earthquake.  Because the project will involve significant grading and soil removal of the hillside, neighbors are concerned that the construction of an underground tunnel and a 16,000 square foot building will create the potential for landslides and flooding.  

 

We need your help to retain experts to evaluate the human and environmental impacts of the project on the neighborhood.  And, while no one wants to pursue legal avenues, we need the services of a land use attorney to assist us in working with the City of Oakland to try to halt the unfettered growth of this private school.  Please join us in our effort to engage meaningfully with the City and Head-Royce.

 

Please note the following details pursuant to a request from GoFundMe:

1. I am a resident of the Lincoln Highlands neighborhood in Oakland, California.

2. I am organizing this effort on behalf of the Lincoln Highlands and Upper Dimond neighborhoods.

3. The funds raised will be used exclusively for legal cost and fees to evaluate and oppose Head-Royce School’s proposed Master Plan.

4. The monies will be sent to retained legal counsel, Leila Moncharsh (CA State Bar #74800), an Oakland land use attorney with over 40 years of experience.

 

For more information about the NSC and our efforts to help resolve issues resulting from the operations and activities of Head-Royce School, please visit our website http://headroycensc.org