Duarte council certifies EIR and approves Crestfield townhomes project amid parking, park and legal concerns

The Duarte City Council on Sept. 23 certified the final environmental impact report (EIR) and approved a package of land-use actions to allow the Crestfield Townhomes project — a 169-unit rental townhome development paired with a comprehensive upgrade to Otis Gordon Park — after a public hearing that ran more than three hours.

The project, which the Duarte Unified School District advanced through a ground-lease procurement process, won council approval on a 4–1 vote with Council member Calderon recused. Council member Truong, Council member Finley, Mayor Pro Tem Martin Del Campo and Mayor Garcia voted to approve; Council member Lewis voted no, citing insufficient information.

Why it matters: The district and developer said the lease revenue and family-sized units aim to help reverse falling school enrollment and produce ongoing funding for district priorities. Opponents said the sale or lease of school property risks loss of public recreation land, could spur displacement and raised questions about compliance with surplus-land rules and CEQA analysis.

What the council approved and what the project includes - The council certified the final EIR and approved several associated land-use actions: a general-plan amendment changing part of the site from public facilities to high-density residential and part to open space; a tentative parcel map to split the property; site-plan and design-review approval; a planned-development permit; and introduction (first reading) of a zone-change ordinance to allow R-4 (high-density residential) and open-space zoning for the park portion. The council also directed follow-up conditions described below. - The residential portion would occupy about 7 acres and include 169 for-rent townhome units organized in 25 residential buildings plus one recreation building. Units would be only 3- and 4-bedroom floorplans (132 three‑bedroom, 37 four‑bedroom) ranging from about 1,358 to 1,475 square feet (average ~1,425 sq. ft.). - The project includes roughly 6.3 acres of upgraded park (the project team described it as an increase from about 5.9 acres), new sports fields and lighting, a restroom, a meandering walking trail, accessible parking (the park lot would have 57 spaces), playground equipment specified to be inclusive, and roughly 431 new trees across the site per the developer’s landscape plan (applicant: 305 trees for the residential portion, 126 for the park as presented). - Affordable housing: the developer agreed to 28 units (16%) restricted to “moderate” income households as defined in the staff…