Campbell Christian School Moves Forward with Expansion

The Campbell City Council Chambers had standing room only at last night's regularly scheduled meeting.

Supporters and opponents of the of Campbell Christian School at 1075 W. Campbell Ave. gave emotional yet controlled testimonies on how the proposed project would impact students, parents and the neighborhoods surrounding it.

The issues of heavy traffic and the potential use of the gymnasium during nights and weekends were at the top of opponents' lists of reasons to deny the project.

"This isn’t about the children, its about our quality of life," said one neighborhood resident. "The other thing is, no one has taken into consideration the traffic that comes down Victor from Safeway. It's become a fare way between Latimer and Campbell Avenue. Our children aren’t safe, our animals aren’t safe. This project needs to be modified or stopped."

But supporters argued that drivers are courteous and that traffic backups are not the norm.

"My family live on the corner of Victor and Campbell avenues," said another neighborhood resident. "Traffic does back up but people are really good about waiting and making space for us to pull out of our driveway. Our backyard connects to the playgrounds and we have never had any problems."

Stemming from the large number of residents concerned about traffic, council agreed to look at the city's General Plan and traffic circulation in that area since there has been (and will be in the near future) major development, including the new Safeway on Hamilton Avenue that adds to the existing traffic.

Ultimately, council voted unanimously to deny the appeal with an added amendment capping the community meetings the school is required to have with the neighborhood at two per year, with a three-year cap as well as an indemnity protecting the city of Campbell from any lawsuit.