The Town of Moraga substantially revised its General Plan in 2002 to include new, specific policies and standards for consideration of housing projects in the Bollinger Valley area north and east of St. Mary's College. Based on these directives, we worked closely with civil and geotechnical consultants to devise environmentally sensitive design solutions to a range of site access, ridgeline preservation, utility delivery, rural character preservation and other issues. We also conducted a community outreach effort, engaging residents of adjoining neighborhoods in discussions about needed traffic and safety improvements, privacy concerns, and a wide range of related issues. Ultimately, a series of plan alternatives were developed for evaluation in a project-level EIR, including the Open Space and Clustered Housing Alternative depicted on this page. This plan alternative includes 100 lots of just under one-half acre in size, clustered on just under 30% of this beautiful 186-acre site.

Highlights of this plan include:

1. Preservation of over 70% of the site as permanent open space;

2. Inclusion of a major public recreation amenity in the form of a 3-mile long public trail system;

3. Integration of an expanded wildlife movement corridor linking Tassajara Creek with the major open space reserves to the east;

4. Careful clustering of homes within the "bowl" portion of the site to avoid visual impacts from public streets;

5. Integrated design of a series of water quality basins and roadway improvements to enhance the privacy of adjoining properties;

6. Delivery of water storage and supply facilities to serve the entire area for fire protection purposes;

7. Environmentally sensitive planned roadway improvements to correct extreme preexisting deficiencies; and

8. Various traffic calming and traffic reduction features.