The Collaborative Plan

Overview

10 acres
56 single-family homes
Average lot size: 5,450 – 8,500 sf
Average home size: 2,500 – 3,500 sf
Same low density as surrounding neighborhood

Shaped by Public Input

Trumark Homes’ plan for La Puerta is the product of working with our neighbors, the City of Claremont and Claremont Unified School District over several years to identify a shared vision and goals for the site. The collaborative plan for La Puerta:

Eliminates ALL proposed changes to La Puerta Sports Park and Cahuilla Park
Reduces overall unit count by 15%
Increases average lot size by 15%
Removes privacy gates/walls

Creates new, self-contained overflow parking
Enhances housing designs to create better exterior visuals for surrounding neighbors
Maintains low-density zoning of the surrounding neighborhood

Responding to the Community

The La Puerta plan is the product of more than two years of discussions between the City of Claremont, Claremont Unified School District, the local community and Trumark Homes. This valuable feedback has helped to create a collaborative vision for the school site that matches the character of the surrounding neighborhoods and provides benefits to residents throughout Claremont. See below how the La Puerta Plan has improved as a result of the public’s input.

Issue	Initial Plan	Feedback	Compromise Plan
Sports Parks	Plans included major upgrades to La Puerta Sports Park and Cahuilla Park	A group of neighbors – called “Keep La Puerta Public” – demanded no park alterations as part of this project	New plan eliminates the proposed park plans – the community will be contained entirely on the former school site
Homes	65 single family detached homes that matched local density	Reduce amount of overall unit count	Reduced homes by about 15%; plan now includes 56 single-family detached homes (still at the same density zone as the local neighborhood)
Lot Sizes	4,799 average lot size	Increase lot sizes to 10,000 sf.	While 10,000 sf lot sizes cannot be achieved and are not supported by the market, Trumark has increased avg. lot sizes by 15% with lots up to 8,500 sf
Forbes Ave.	12 lots along Forbes with 4,400 sf average	Reduce units and increase lot sizes along Forbes	Reduced unit count and increased lot size averages by 20%

An Update on our Plans for La Puerta

April 5, 2024

We have an important update regarding our plans for the former La Puerta school site, and we wanted you to hear it from us first.

Trumark Homes has worked with the local community for the past four years to develop a collaborative vision for the future of La Puerta. Through dozens of meetings, workshops and conversations, we created a plan for 56 single-family homes on large lots to match the low-density character of the surrounding neighborhood. It’s a plan that protects local priorities and benefits the community, and as a result, it has received significant support from Claremont residents.

We’re proud of this collaborative plan and have been working closely with the City to bring the vision to reality. Yet, as the Claremont Courier reported, the City Council made a significant change to the development code last year that prohibits us from constructing the project as proposed. In short, they changed the rules after our application was submitted, and the 56-unit project we’d prefer to build is no longer feasible.

We have been in talks with the City to resolve this issue for several months but, unfortunately, we haven’t reached a viable solution. As a result, Trumark has re-submitted an application to the City for a revised plan that complies with the new code. In industry speak, we’re pursuing what’s known as a Builder’s Remedy.

Rest assured, this updated plan for La Puerta still maintains the existing boundaries of the school site and does not include any changes to La Puerta Sports Park. It still provides millions for infrastructure improvements and will fund major modernization efforts across Claremont Unified School District campuses. The only change is the addition of 35 affordable housing units (20 single-family homes and 15 multi-family homes) to help address our region’s housing needs. Single-family homes will remain along Forbes Avenue and the other perimeter edges of the project, and the plan will still receive the same rigorous environmental review and mitigation.

While this represents a slight departure from our progress together, we remain committed to developing a new community at La Puerta that fits with its surroundings and is a positive addition to North Claremont.

We look forward to sharing more information about the next steps as they become available. In the interim, please reach out with any comments or questions at info@lapuertaclaremont.com.