YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa
Vol. 9, No. 11
Including Surrounding Communities
www.oakleypress.com
Council OKs wedding site by Dave Roberts Staff Writer A plan to put Oakley on the wedding map drew both support and opposition at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting in the most controversial issue city officials have faced since Walmart planned to move to town a year ago. Mountain View Christian Center proposed converting the 5-acre Hanoum Estate at 4790 Knarlwood Road into a venue for weddings, receptions, retreats, corporate meetings and parties accommodating up to 300 people. Those favoring the proposal said it would enhance Oakley’s economy and image. Those opposed live near the site and are concerned about increased noise and traffic and decreased safety and property values. Council members agreed to allow the site to become a party spot, but they imposed a number of restrictions in response to the neighbors’ concerns. The venue, which is billed on the church’s Web site as an “elegant country retreat,” is filled with amenities that rival some of the nicer wedding locales in Napa and Mendocino. The 9,000-square-foot Tennessee-style
A proposal to convert this 5-acre site on Knarlwood Road into a major wedding and party venue has drawn concern from neighbors. Photo by Dave Roberts
mansion, which includes a movie theater, library, billiards room and lounge, can accommodate up to 10 people on overnight stays. The landscaped grounds include two large ponds with fountains and paddleboats, a swimming pool, waterfall, tennis court, gazebos and a gravel parking area for up to 77 cars. Brian Donnelley, director of Hanoum
Estate, told the council that the facility would bring in visitors from throughout the country to Oakley, including corporate CEOs and church pastors. “They see Oakley through the filter of this property,” he said. “(Their comments include) see Wedding page 21A
Coming of age in far East County by Rick Lemyre Staff Writer This is the first of a three-part series on the efforts of two far East County towns, Knightsen and Byron, to retain their heritage and remain rural and small in the face of regional growth and changing local politics. This week: Setting the stage; Part two: The changes play out; Part three: Looking ahead. The downtown block of Knightsen Avenue is dark and quiet, except for the soft glow from the sign at Sonja’s Country Inn and the rhythmic clank of someone setting up metal chairs at the Garden Club next door. It’s a Thursday night in February, and the rest of the half-dozen buildings lining one side of the tiny town’s main drag – railroad tracks, the reason for the town’s founding, run along the other side – are locked up tight, the curb be-
Photo by Stacey Chance/DiscoveryBaStudios.com
Bucolic downtown Knightsen has remained relatively unchanged for more than a century. Residents are wary that recent changes made by the county could threaten their rural lifestyle. side them void of parked cars. Home to fewer than 1,000 souls (not counting the livestock), Knightsen has been a proud rural hamlet for more than 100 years, boasting a post office, a fire sta-
tion founded by volunteers and a 500-student school district whose test scores are more than a match for the bigger districts surrounding it. Folks swarm to town for the Annual Knightsen Family
Fun Days, and help fill the stands at the County Fair in support of the 4-H Club as it shows off animals and carries home ribbons. In 2005, a community services district was formed to get a handle on the occasional floods that vexed the town, which is situated just a half-mile from the San Joaquin River Delta. The Knightsen Town Advisory Council (KTAC) was established in 1994 to represent the town to the county supervisor and make recommendations on matters of development. (The prevailing attitude, for the most part, has been “No thanks.”) As the area’s representative to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors (BOS) is historically elected from the bigger cities of Antioch and Pittsburg to the west, Knightsen residents have trouble getting the see Coming of age page 9A
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March 13, 2009
THIS WEEK
Hands-on compassion
A host of caring communities were front and center in the effort to help those in need.
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RC racers get it in gear It’s not the famed Brickyard, but a local store is on track for maximum excitement with mini vehicles.
Page 18A
Comeback crushed
Their foe injected some doubt into the rout, but the Falcons finally stamped them out.
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INSIDE Calendar ..........................23B Classifieds ........................17B Cop Logs ..........................17A Entertainment ................14B Food .................................12B Health & Beauty ............... 7B Milestones .......................10B Opinion ...........................16A Sports ................................. 1B WebExtras! ....................... 1B
FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A