Antioch Council to consider new type of residential development Tuesday night
Vineyard Crossing Preliminary Development Plan includes 71 homes, 70 ADU’s
By Allen D. Payton
During their meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, the Antioch City Council will consider a new type of residential development consisting of 71 single-family residences (SFRs) and 70 accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on 71 residential lots. The 14.6-acre project site is located north of Oakley Road and west of Phillips Lane. ADU’s, formerly referred to as “in-law units” or “granny units” have become a significant form of in-fill development in the past two years following approval of new state legislation.
According to Selna Partners law firm, “In 1982, California allowed the construction of ADUs statewide, but gave local governments control over where to locate and how to regulate them. That changed in 2016 when the State Legislature approved bills requiring cities and counties to allow ADUs on most residential lots, preempting local zoning. More than 24,000 ADUs were permitted in 2022, up from 1,000 in 2016. State data indicates that currently 20% of the housing units built annually in California are ADUs, which is the equivalent of 20,000 new homes.”
Furthermore, “in 2022, the Legislature passed yet another round of bills to combat local resistance. The most impactful were those that enabled ‘mandatory’ ADUs: structures that met specific, basic criteria essentially could not be denied by a local government. 2022 bills, AB 2221 and SB 897 resulted in amendments to the California Government Code dictating that an ADU with the following characteristics, must be approved by the local planning and building department(s) with no discretion from a zoning board or planning commission:
- A detached structure that does not exceed four-foot side and rear-yard setbacks for a lot with an existing or proposed single-family dwelling.
- 800 square foot floor area limit.
- 18-foot height limit, plus two feet for a single family residential zoned parcel to accommodate a roof pitch aligned with the pitch of the existing house.”
According to the City staff report on the agenda item #, “The proposed unit mix includes three different SFR floor plans that range in size from 1,492 to 1,697 square feet (sf) and two different ADU floor plans that range in size from 603 to 750 sf. Each SFR included in the proposed project would have an attached two-car garage with a driveway and each ADU would include a driveway for one vehicle parking space.”
Also according to the City staff report, “The Preliminary Development Plan (PDP) the council will review is a non-entitlement action and does not require environmental review. The future project application review would require compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The purpose of a PDP is to gather feedback from the Planning Commission and others in order for the applicant to become aware of concerns and/or issues prior to final development plan and tentative map submittal. As standard practice, preliminary plans are not conditioned; rather a list of needed items, information, and issues to be addressed is compiled for the applicant to address prior to submitting an entitlement application.”
The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers inside City Hall at 200 H Street following a 5:30 p.m. Closed Session on four legal matters. See the complete meeting agenda. The meeting can be viewed online via livestream on the City’s website or on Comcast local cable channel 24 or AT&T U-verse channel 99.
the attachments to this post:
Vineyard Crossing project area map
Vineyard Crossing home designs
Vineyard Crossing site map
Vineyard Crossing Prel Devlpmt Plan
