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Goodness Village in Livermore appears on track to build a community center, following unanimous approval of the project by the Livermore Planning Commission last week.
The two-story, approximately 7,126-square-foot hub will include staff offices, common dining and meeting areas, laundry and fitness rooms as well as outdoor space for residents of the 28-unit tiny home neighborhood.
Its construction will mark a major improvement for the village, which provides safe and supportive housing for formerly unhoused residents in the Tri-Valley.
In addition to the new construction, the planning commission also granted permission to permanently operate Goodness Village on the Crosswinds Church campus at 1660 Freisman Road.
Approval by the planning commission at a regular meeting Feb. 18 is final, barring an appeal to the Livermore City Council within 15 days of the decision. No challenge had been filed to date.
“This community center is not just a building,” Goodness Village Executive Director Kim Curtis told the commissioners. “It’s a place of transformation.”
Since 2021, nonprofit Goodness Village has offered tiny homes and wrap-around services to previously unhoused Tri-Valley residents.
In the neighborhood, care includes 24/7 behavioral health support, individualized case management, a vocational training program and a wellness team for residents.
The new communal building will give residents space to gather, recover, and thrive, Curtis explained. “It will be the heart of the village,” she said.
The fitness and mindfulness space will help people starting to recover from trauma, Curtis said. The maker-space will foster creativity and micro-business opportunities. The laundry room will serve as a much-needed expansion from the current single-washer and dryer set-up. Lastly, everyone will be able to gather in the dining room, instead of a maximum of six people in the single-family house currently operating as the community center.
“We have not received an appeal and do not anticipate receiving an appeal based upon the positive support for the project and the lack of opposition,” city spokesperson Stephanie Egidio told Livermore Vine Feb. 26.
During the public hearing, former Livermore vice mayor and councilmember Bob Carling spoke in favor of the community center project.
The model neighborhood Community First! Village in Austin, Texas serves over 370 formerly homeless neighbors who were previously struggling on the streets, Carling explained. He added, “The proposed community center at Goodness Village seeks to mirror the success of the village in Austin, and provide a resource to continue the healing of those escaping homelessness.”
Taking a turn for the personal, Vice Chair Tracy Kronzak said after experiencing a precarious situation over 25 years ago, “It is a privilege to be a planning commissioner capable of reviewing this project. Although, had things gone differently, I would have also been a very, very, very grateful patron of Goodness Village.”
Once constructed, the community center will be located behind the Crosswinds Church and obstructed from view of the freeway.
Commissioner Jacob Anderson — who attends the Crosswinds Church — commented on the beauty of the building design and expressed excitement about the development.
In response to Chairperson Yolanda Fintschenko’s question about mitigation efforts against heat, staff explained that sunshades, trellis and canopies will help control heat in the building.
During the commissioners’ discussion, they agreed the proposal met the requirements of the general plan, the El Charro Specific Plan as well as the Livermore municipal and development codes.
Additionally, at about 37-feet tall, the building is under the 40-foot limit established by the city’s scenic corridor policies and is consistent with the 2.2 degree view angle of the scenic corridor. No environmental impact report is required for the project because it is within the scope of the EIR for the El Charro Specific Plan certified by City Council in 2007.
Commissioner Daniel Leary was absent from the meeting, landing the favorable vote at 3-0.
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