THE LEDE
When the Church Wants to Build a Neighborhood
Community Presbyterian Church has been part of Danville for decades. Now it wants to build 68 homes next to its sanctuary.
The footprint of Community Presbyterian Church at 222 W. El Pintado is 12 acres. It already holds a sanctuary, offices, a school, and a preschool. What the church now wants to add, on roughly three of those acres closest to Ilo Lane and Charles Lane, is 49 townhomes and 19 accessory dwelling units. And alongside that, a new 26,866-square-foot youth and ministry building, an expanded sanctuary, and a new outdoor pavilion.
The Danville Planning Commission held a public hearing on the proposal Tuesday. Town planning staff recommended approval.
The residential portion sits on 2.93 acres, less than a quarter of the total campus. The 68 units break down to 49 three-story townhomes with attached two-car garages, plus 19 ADUs built into the townhomes. Four of those ADUs would be deed-restricted for very-low-income families. The project is a few blocks from downtown Danville.
The thorniest element is trees. Developing the residential acreage would require removing 269 of them, including 47 the town designates as protected. The church proposes planting 273 box trees as mitigation, at a total cumulative trunk diameter that exceeds what would be removed. Whether that satisfies the commission is a separate question.
What makes this project interesting beyond the numbers is who is proposing it. This is not an out-of-county developer acquiring farmland. It is a local institution, one that many Danville families know through its school or its congregation, proposing to reshape a corner near downtown in order to sustain its future. Churches across California have faced this calculation for years. Land is the asset. Developing part of it is often the only realistic path to long-term financial health.
The project fits the broader California housing context too. Infill development near downtown, with some deed-restricted affordable units, is exactly what the state is pushing for. Town staff recommending approval is not surprising in that light.
The commission's decision and whatever comes next will be worth tracking. A project of this scale, in a residential neighborhood near the core of downtown, will move slowly even with staff support. But something is moving.
THE RUNDOWN
Blackhawk Plaza: 19 Days
The Ramanujan Group has until June 16 to file a restructuring plan for Blackhawk Plaza under federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, or begin making interest payments to its secured creditors. As of this week, no plan has been filed. Preferred Bank holds a $31 million note on the property. Nano Banc holds another $5 million. That is $36 million in debt on a mall that has been losing tenants for years. June 16 does not automatically trigger a resolution, but it forces a decision. Three weeks from now, Danville will know more about what happens to Blackhawk than it has known at any point since the bankruptcy filing in March.
SRVUSD and SRVEA Are Back at the Table
New negotiations are underway between the San Ramon Valley Unified School District and the San Ramon Valley Education Association, this time centered on a Memorandum of Understanding tied to the governor's proposed Discretionary Block Grant. If California allocates those funds as proposed, the MOU would restore half a counselor position at each of the district's 22 elementary schools, four social worker positions, and fourth and fifth grade class sizes for the 2026-27 school year. That is a meaningful reversal after two years of cuts.
The governor's budget still has to be finalized by June 30, and the state picture remains uncertain. Meanwhile, the SRVUSD board faces its own deadline: a vote on the 2026-27 budget at its June 16 meeting. The next three weeks are among the most consequential of the year for every family in the district.
Rancho Cantina Is Coming to Downtown
Danville residents Nico and Alice Tzikas are in the final stretch of renovating 501 Hartz Ave., the space that held Cocina Hermanas until it closed in March. The couple operates Rancho Cantina in Lafayette, a Californio-inspired restaurant built around a wood-fired grill, and they are targeting a mid-June opening for the Danville location. "I'll be upset if we're not open by July 1," Nico Tzikas told DanvilleSanRamon.com. The menu will mirror the Lafayette concept: wood-fired meats, ceviche, BBQ oysters, and a full bar. Two Danville residents opening a restaurant in their own town. Downtown could use the energy.
A Note from Memorial Day
A San Ramon man died in a chain-reaction crash on Dublin Boulevard on Memorial Day afternoon. Dublin Police Services said three other people were injured. The investigation is ongoing. Few additional details have been released.
FAMILY AND KIDS
The school year is nearly over, and the SRVUSD board calendar in June is the one that matters most for what families see in August. The board meets June 9 and again June 16. The June 16 meeting is the annual budget vote for 2026-27. How the Block Grant MOU negotiations resolve, and whether Sacramento finalizes grant funding on schedule, will determine whether elementary counselors and social workers return to campuses in the fall, and whether class sizes hold steady. Worth paying attention to.
Graduation season is approaching for both Monte Vista and San Ramon Valley. Ceremony dates will be confirmed by the district; watch for announcements in the coming weeks.
The Town of Danville has opened submissions for the 2026 Danville Student Film Festival. Middle and high school students, including graduating seniors from the Class of 2026, are invited to submit original films. Submission deadline is July 13. The festival screening is August 7 at the Village Theatre in downtown Danville. Details at danville.ca.gov/arts.
MEANWHILE, ON NEXTDOOR…
A weekly look at what the neighborhood is talking about. All posts paraphrased and anonymized.
RECYCLING REVELATION A neighbor shared takeaways from a tour of a California recycling center: only plastics numbered 1 and 2 are being processed to any meaningful extent, bagging recyclables sends everything to the landfill, and less than 10 percent of what goes in the blue bin actually gets recycled. Lids, pods, detergent jugs, and laundry sheets all came up. The thread generated more than 200 comments, numerous Ridwell referrals, and at least one neighbor who resolved to simply use the gray bin for everything going forward.
THE DUCKS OF BLACKHAWK A neighbor posted photos of the drained pond at Blackhawk Plaza and asked what could be done for the ducks left behind. A few ducklings have reportedly died. The thread split between heartfelt concern, practical notes about how far ducks can fly, and the observation that with Draeger's closed, the staff who used to quietly watch out for the birds are gone too. No resolution emerged, though several people noted there is water at the nearby golf course. The whole thread had the unmistakable energy of a community watching something it loved slowly disappear.
WHAT WAS THAT SOUND A Memorial Day flyover shook windows across San Ramon and Danville. Neighbors ran outside. Nobody could see anything. Multiple threads launched simultaneously. Best confirmed answer: fighter jets in tight formation at high altitude, transponders not showing on civilian flight apps. Half the replies were alarmed. The other half typed some version of "the sound of freedom."
THE SCAMMER ON THE OTHER END A Wood Ranch resident listed furniture for sale and spent a week fielding responses from what turned out to be bots and fraudsters, every single one. The conversation that finally ended it: proposing to meet at the police station. The post landed hard. Neighbors across several neighborhoods chimed in with their own experiences. The consensus: meet in public, cash only, and trust your instincts about who you're talking to.
ONLY IN DANVILLE
The Pianos Are Getting Painted
The deadline has passed, and the artists are working. The Town of Danville's Community Pianos program accepted design submissions through May 22 from local middle and high school students. The selected artists will spend part of their summer painting two upright pianos, which will then be placed in downtown Danville for anyone to sit down and play. It is not a grand project. But walk past on the right afternoon, and there will be a stranger at a painted piano on a Danville sidewalk playing something. That is the whole idea.
ON THE CALENDAR
SRV Softball NCS Division I Championship | Friday, May 29, 4:30 p.m. | DVC, Pleasant Hill Details
San Ramon Valley's varsity girls softball team is in the NCS Division I Championship game on Thursday at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. They beat American Canyon and Livermore to get here, extending a winning streak that now sits at ten games. Their opponent is College Park, which just knocked out top-seeded Alameda 3-1 in the semifinals. Ranked 28th in California. This is a title game worth the drive.
Danville Farmers' Market | Every Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Near the Museum of the San Ramon Valley, downtown Danville Details
Running every Saturday through late September. Local produce, baked goods, and the kind of Saturday morning routine that makes the rest of the week easier.
Danville Student Film Festival | Submissions due July 13 | Screening August 7, Village Theatre Details
Student filmmakers have until July 13 to submit original work. Screening night is August 7 at the Village Theatre on Hartz Avenue. A proper old-fashioned screen for a proper local festival.
THE NUMBER
68
New homes proposed at the Community Presbyterian Church campus on West El Pintado, a few blocks from downtown Danville. Forty-nine townhomes and 19 accessory dwelling units. Four units would be deed-restricted for very-low-income families. Town staff recommended approval at a Planning Commission public hearing Tuesday.
FINAL THOUGHT
June in Danville is a deadline month. Blackhawk has one. SRVUSD has one. Sacramento has one. And somewhere on West El Pintado, neighbors of Community Presbyterian Church are waiting to find out what kind of neighborhood they are going to be living next to. Not every question gets answered on schedule, but at least some of them are about to be.
THE SIDELINE
Wolves Softball Is Playing for a Championship
The biggest local sports story this week does not involve baseball. San Ramon Valley's varsity girls softball team is in the NCS Division I Championship game on Friday.
The Wolves finished the regular season 22-6, second in the EBAL at 11-2, and ranked 28th in California. They have won ten consecutive games, including playoff wins over American Canyon (6-3) and Livermore (5-4 in a close one on Tuesday). The NCS Division I Championship is Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. Their opponent is College Park, the fourth seed, which knocked out top-seeded Alameda 3-1 in the semifinals. A team that has won ten straight and is playing with this kind of momentum does not fold easily. This is a title game.
Monte Vista Baseball Had a Season Worth Remembering
Monte Vista went 19-7 overall and finished a perfect 8-0 in EBAL play, claiming the league title outright. The Mustangs entered the NCS Division I tournament ranked 63rd in California, carried an 11-game winning streak into the postseason, and fell in the quarterfinals to Clayton Valley Charter, 3-1. Clayton Valley was 23-3 at the time and had won 18 of their last 19 games. It was a tough draw, and the Mustangs played well enough to be proud of how they got there.
Track Sends Local Athletes to the State Conversation
At the NCS Meet of Champions at Dublin High School, San Ramon Valley's Hope Diekmann won the Section 300 hurdles title outright in 42.53 seconds, finishing runner-up in the 100 hurdles on the same day. She anchored relay teams that placed third in both the 4x100 and 4x400. Over in the 800, Monte Vista's Ava Padilla placed third in a deep field with a time of 2:10.79. SRV's Nikolas Brown finished third in the pole vault at 15 feet, 2 inches.
The Danville Dispatch is an independent local newsletter. thedanvilledispatch.com