Antioch General Plan Update Advisory Committee Meeting Election Night Nov. 3rd
Will again discuss the General Plan Land Use Map
Save Mount Diablo again tries to stop Zeka Ranch development with disinformation to residents after losing in court six years ago
By Allen D. Payton
The City of Antioch has announced the fourth meeting of the General Plan Advisory Committee will be held on Tuesday November 3rd at 6:00 PM in the Antioch City Council Chambers at City Hall located at 200 H Street in Antioch’s downtown Rivertown.
According to the City staff report, “The fourth GPAC meeting will continue the GPAC’s discussion of land use and the General Plan Land Use Map. At the September 1st meeting, the GPAC received foundational land use information, including the Existing Conditions Report Land Use Chapter, the Land Use Designation Change Requests, pending, approved, and under construction projects, and a map of preliminary vacant and underutilized sites and sites with open space and conservation easements. The October 6th meeting addressed economic development and fiscal sustainability, which provides important context for the land uses Antioch should plan for.
“Our objectives for this meeting are:
• Receive GPAC input on the locations and land use changes that will best attract investment, catalyze redevelopment of underperforming properties, expand local employment, and increase entertainment/third-space opportunities
• Translate the GPAC’s previously identified priorities into specific land use mapping approaches to be tested in the Land Use Map alternatives.
“The GPAC is not being asked to identify every change recommended for the Land Use Map or to go through the City at the parcel-level. Rather, we are seeking big-picture direction on where land use changes can do the most to attract private investment and create jobs, which uses are missing from Antioch’s land use mix, and how underperforming shopping centers, corridors, and vacant sites should be repositioned. Based on GPAC and community input, the General Plan Update (GPU) team will prepare two to three Land Use Map Alternatives. “The alternatives will be presented in the Land Use Alternatives Report to the public, the GPAC, the Planning Commission, and the City Council for input before a preferred Land Use Map is identified.”
Another Effort to Stop Zeka Ranch
Save Mount Diablo is again trying to rally Antioch residents to oppose the Zeka Ranch new home development. It comes after they pushed Measure T in 2020 which would have devalued the property to pennies on the dollar without compensation by reducing the number of homes planned there from 300 to just eight on the 640-acre parcel, after the developer previously reduced the total from 1,100 homes.
That followed the East Bay Regional Park District drawing an arbitrary line on the map threatening the City they would sue if homes were approved outside the line, despite the voters voting six times to allow housing on the property as it’s located both inside the County’s and City’s Urban Limit Lines. (See related articles here and here)
Instead of fighting it, the Zeka Group voluntarily reduced plans to 338 homes on 196 acres, leaving over 440 acres as future open space.
Furthermore, the measure was tossed out of court because it also violated state law which prohibits downzoning residential property by either council action or citizen initiative. (See related articles here and here)
This time Save Mount Diablo is attempting to use the issue of fire danger and traffic on Empire Mine Road as the reasons, and they’re lying to Antioch residents in both fliers distributed door-to-door and a a post on the organization’s Facebook page on Thursday they wrote, “Please speak up to protect the Zeka property next Tuesday, November 3, at 6:00 PM, at Antioch City Hall, 200 H Street.
‘Zeka,’ the southwest corner of Antioch, is land mapped by CAL FIRE as being in ‘Very High and High Fire Hazard Severity Zones,’ so it’s *not* a good place to build homes. But developers want to cover 640 acres in dense housing. Instead, it should be protected: Zeka is surrounded on three sides by protected open space. If you live in Antioch, the city wants to hear your voice! Please show up and encourage them to protect this beautiful area.”
However, that is incorrect. The current plan only allows housing on a portion of the 640 acres, in fact less than 200 acres as mentioned above, which will result in an average of one home for every two acres for the entire parcel.
Plus, according to Save Mount Diablo’s map, the adjacent property to the east of the Zeka Ranch, known as The Ranch, where 1,177 homes have been approved to be built, is in the same exact Fire Hazard Severity Zone. Plus, the area on the east side of Deer Valley Road where most of the new homes that have already been built are located, is also in the same zone. So, City staff and past Councils already took that into consideration when approving the homes and zoning in the Sand Creek area.
Plus, all the homes west of Deer Valley Road that have either been approved or have yet to be are within the total 4,000 homes approved by the City Council in 2003. That is much less than the total 9,500 homes originally planned for the area prior to that year which also included the homes that were to be built around the Roddy Ranch Golf Course which is now open space.
More Misinformation in Flier Distributed to Antioch Residents
The reverse side of the flier which shows the Sand Creek Area map above asks the question in a headline, “A Square Mile of Houses Choking Empire Mine Road?” It also reads, “Tell City Leaders to…Keep Empire Mine Rd as Wonderful Recreational Path.”
But Empire Mine Road, which, except for emergency vehicles, has been closed to vehicle travel for years and only pedestrians, bicycles and horseback riders are allowed to use the road, and it will not be the access road for The Zeka Ranch project. Instead, the access will be from a road through the neighboring The Ranch project off of the future extension of Dallas Ranch Road, which, when it crosses Deer Valley Road, will connect to and become Sand Creek Road as shown in the map below.
Alternative Option
What the General Plan Advisory Committee can do is correct the arbitrary decision of the East Bay Regional Park District and change the zoning boundary to again allow the 1,100 homes on the flat land of the Zeka Ranch property.
Meeting Details
The GPAC meeting will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 6:00 p.m. inside the Council Chambers at City Hall 200 H Street in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown.
See agenda and meeting materials here: General Plan Advisory Committee Nov. 3, 2026 Agenda and Item5-1_LandUseMap_Draft
Public Comments
General public comments on items not on the agenda but on an issue related to the General Plan will be allowed at the beginning of the meeting. Then comments specifically about the agenda item will be allowed prior to discussion by the committee members. Prior to 12:00 p.m. the day of the meeting: Written comments may be sent to Community & Economic Development Department, City Hall, 200 H Street (P. O. Box 5007) or submitted electronically to planning@antiochca.gov. All comments received by that time will be provided to the General Plan Advisory Committee Members at the meeting.
To stay up to date on the General Plan Update process you can visit the project website at: https://antioch.generalplan.org/.
the attachments to this post:
Zeka Ranch SMD flier f&b
Zeka Ranch Land Use Plan w GP dev boundary
The Ranch Phase Map w Zeka Ranch access pt
Sand Creek Area map SMD
SMD Zeka Ranch flier 1
City of Antioch Land Use Map GPAC Mtg 110326
