Moraga planning panel approves Saint Mary’s rugby clubhouse design review and stadium lighting, forwards master‑plan amendment to council

The Moraga Planning Commission on April 15 approved a design review and grading permit for a 9,785‑square‑foot Rugby Clubhouse and athletic field lighting at Saint Mary’s College and adopted a CEQA addendum, while recommending a campus master‑plan amendment to the Town Council.

The commission’s approval covers design review (DRB04‑23) and a grading permit (GRO1‑23) for the clubhouse, installation of stadium lighting at Saint Mary’s Stadium, the baseball stadium (Brother Ronald Gallagher Stadium) and the softball field (Contrail Field), and adoption of a CEQA addendum to the 2016 Campus Master Plan EIR. Staff told commissioners the clubhouse building permit cannot be issued until the Town Council approves the campus master‑plan amendment (GPO1‑23).

Staff planner Neil Mendez outlined the project and the requested actions. The two‑story clubhouse is sited on the east side of campus, will have about 9,785 square feet of floor area and rise roughly 36 feet above grade, and will include locker rooms, coaching and storage spaces on the first floor and a multipurpose room on the second floor with a wooden deck leading toward a nearby redwood grove. Water would be supplied by a private groundwater well and a 10,000‑gallon storage tank; firefighting water would be available via a hydrant connected to an existing 10‑inch East Bay Municipal Utility District main.

The proposal also includes LED athletic flood lighting on multiple poles: stadium mounting heights range roughly from 70 to 100 feet depending on topography. Staff said the luminaries would be down‑shielded and a photometric study provided by the applicant found no significant lighting spillover to off‑campus “sensitive uses” because of distance, intervening trees and…