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Residents urge Bassett Unified to keep Florence Flanner parcel as open space, cite CEQA and historic condemnation limits
Summary
Multiple speakers at the Jan. 21 meeting urged the board to stop plans to convert a 4.3-acre Florence Flanner school parcel to 105 condominiums, citing the property's condemnation history, CEQA requirements, habitat concerns and calls for a park instead of housing.
Multiple community members urged the Bassett Unified board on Jan. 21 to preserve the Florence Flanner School parcel as open space rather than allow a proposed 105-unit condominium project on the 4.3-acre site.
Speakers representing the "Parks Not Condos" coalition warned the board that converting the parcel risks legal and environmental review obligations under the California Environmental Quality Act and cited a 1959 condemnation when the district acquired the site, which they said limits permissible uses to education or other public benefits.
Alonso Rodriguez, speaking for Parks Not Condos, said the parcel serves ecological habitat for migratory birds and that development without a thorough CEQA review "would be a disservice to our environment and a violation of the law." He urged the board to preserve the site for education or community use.
Don C. Moss warned that if the board walks away from a sale or lease the state surplus-land process could trigger low-income housing developers, producing an apartment project with no required off-street parking under recent changes that affect such projects. "The net result will be an apartment building twice the size" of a nearby example he cited, he said, and urged the board to "carefully consider the long-term results of your actions."
Other speakers, including neighborhood residents and local organizers, described the parcel's past public access (baseball diamonds and a track), and said the district had closed and leased the site to a private nursery and posted a "no trespassing" sign. Several speakers called for restoring public recreational fields, school-related athletic facilities or a park instead of housing. Speakers repeatedly asked the board to require an Environmental Impact Report and to respect the parcel's condemnation covenant.
Why it matters: the 4.3-acre parcel sits within a densely populated area and residents said local parks and open space are scarce; neighbors argued that the community needs public recreation space for children and seniors. Public commenters framed the issue as both an environmental and social-equity concern.
Ending: Speakers said they stood ready to work with the board on an alternative that preserves open space or restores the parcel for public benefit. No board action on the parcel occurred that night; comments were part of public testimony.
