Board approves Crestfield Townhomes ground lease and EIR for former Andres Duarte site amid community opposition

The Duarte Unified School District Board on Oct. 9 approved a resolution (No. 082526) certifying the final environmental impact report for the former Andres Duarte School site and authorizing a joint-occupancy development agreement and 99-year ground lease with Crestfield Townhomes LLC, passing 4–1.

Board members and district staff described a multi-year procurement and public-review process. Acting Superintendent Rick Crosby introduced outside counsel and development representatives who reviewed the project scope, community outreach, and financial terms. Counsel identified the actions before the board as certification of the EIR, adoption of CEQA findings and a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP), and approval of the development and ground-lease documents.

Developer representatives and their advisors told the board the project would convert roughly half the closed campus (about 6.5 acres) to residential townhomes and retain and upgrade about 6.32 acres as park and open space under district ownership. Robert Montano of Crestfield Development described revisions made after community feedback — moving park parking to Central Avenue, improving perimeter separation from adjacent homes, increasing park features and fixtures and doubling the originally…