Save Monte Cresta

1. Wildfire & Evacuation Safety

Monte Cresta Drive terminates at a narrow hillside intersection near Sequoia Way. Extending road access and density deeper into high-risk canyon terrain creates severe evacuation bottleneck risks for both existing and new residents during wildfire events.

This is not a hypothetical concern — in September 2020, a four-alarm fire in San Juan Canyon forced the evacuation of roughly 40 homes near Alhambra Drive, with officials warning that roads might not be passable by vehicle during the emergency response.

2. Steep Slope & Geotechnical Hazards

Extensive cut-and-fill grading on steep northwest-facing slopes risks destabilizing local soils and altering natural drainage runoff into San Juan Canyon during heavy atmospheric river storms.

Could this happen in Belmont?

Some of you might be familiar with the major landslide on Crystal Springs road a few years ago.

Could this happen in Belmont? We don’t know, but it is a similar slope steepness with somewhat similar baserock as far as we can read. Maybe the rocks are stronger here? How can it be known without a thorough analysis? Why does the City refuse to require a detailed slope stability analysis? Isn’t this an area where precaution is warranted?

Landslides are no stranger to these hillsides: a single 1982 storm triggered roughly 18,000 across the Bay Area, some of them deadly. See why in the U.S. Geological Survey’s short film Riding the Storm, which shows how steep slopes, weak rock, and intense winter storms make this region so prone to failure.

Steep Slopes, Erosion & Landslide Risk

3. Canyon Ecology, Tree Removal & Habitat Loss

Construction requires significant removal of native trees and habitat disturbance in a sensitive hillside transition zone connecting directly to protected open space in San Juan Canyon. The development blocks a wildlife corridor – a route that wildlife uses daily to access creeks and sheltered areas. Habitat segmentation (breaking continuous wilderness into isolated pockets separated by roads, fences, or housing) kills wildlife as effectively as habitat destruction, since they can no longer survive if they can’t travel from their feeding and water sources to their nightly shelter area. Deer, coyotes, bobcats require distinct ranges for foraging, drinking water, and breeding. Roads built through movement corridors create high risk for collisions and roadkills.

4. Cumulative Environmental Effects

Evaluating this road extension in isolation ignores the incremental compounding impacts on San Juan Canyon. The buildout of these parcels—combined with other recent and potential hillside developments—creates cumulative pressures on stormwater runoff, wildfire risk, traffic capacity, and habitat fragmentation that have not been adequately analyzed under CEQA.

Official City Project Portal

The City of Belmont maintains a dedicated project web page containing all public notices, environmental drafts, and commission agenda items related to Monte Cresta Drive.

Key Public Record Documents to Reference in Comments

Initial Study / Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND): Environmental review document detailing slope stability, biological resources, and proposed mitigations.

CEQA Section 15183 Exemption Checklist & Appendix H: Contains full compiled public comments and testimony submitted by neighbors during environmental review periods.

Public Works Exception Recommendation Letter: City engineering memo assessing requested cross-slope, parking, and road width exceptions under Belmont City Code Sec. 7-13.

Special-Status Plant Survey Reports: Focused botanical evaluations covering rare or special-status vegetation on and surrounding the road extension path.

San Juan Hills Area Plan & EIR (1988): Foundational planning document governing hillside density, grading restrictions, and canyon preservation standards.