The Antioch Police Department is excited to announce the 57th installment of the Neighborhood Cleanup Program. This is a collaborative community effort which involves active participation from The Antioch Police Department Crime Prevention Commission; Neighborhood Watch Program; Volunteers in Police Service; community volunteers and the Public Works Department.

Collectively, “We”, everyone who works and lives in the City Antioch, can make a difference and improve the quality of life. It’s our community and it’s our chance to make a difference.

The City of Antioch Neighborhood Cleanup program is not just for residential neighborhoods. It is a program that will change venues on a monthly basis and it will include business and commercial areas as well. Neighborhoods that are free of trash and refuse are inviting, and a clean community instills a sense of community pride.

The 57th Neighborhood Cleanup event will occur on Saturday, December 6th from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in the neighborhoods surrounding Eagleridge Park at Eagleridge and Greystone Drive. Volunteers should report to the parking lot of John Muir Elementary School at 615 Greystone Drive.

Volunteers will receive instructions and the equipment necessary to accomplish the goal. The targeted area is within walking distance. Excluding inclement weather, future Neighborhood Cleanup events are scheduled for the first Saturday of every month and the locations will be announced in advance.

Remember, cleaning up your neighborhood can make life better for your family, your neighbors and your community!

By Allen Payton

About 100 Antioch residents attended a meeting on Wednesday night, November 12, 2014 regarding the Downtown Specific Plan and City-wide General Plan Land Use and Zoning Ordinance Update. Some shared their concerns and offered ideas to the city’s staff and a consultant.

In a presentation by constultant Dick Loewke, he stated that “Home values in Antioch are only 60% of what they were before” the economic downturn. “But they are stabilizing and growing,” he added.

One area of housing that is currently not in the city’s housing mix is transit-oriented development, which includes densities of up to 30 to 40 units per acre. That is expected to occur around the new eBART Station at Hillcrest Avenue.

Also in his presentation, Loewke stated that high-density an medium-density housing won’t work in Antioch’s downtown, at least not in the next five years, because the cost of “construction is greater than the price structure.”

“What is feasible,” he stated, “is single-family, compact housing on small lots…with common walls…of 12 to 14 units per acre. That will work in today’s market.”

He mentioned potential job sectors, such as the service industry, such as boat and RV repair and maintenance as areas the city could expand its economy, as well as restaurants. Also, administrative and medical jobs are areas of potential expansion.

Following the presentation, residents had the opportunity to speak and provide their input to the plan updates, but only to Loewke, his son and Mindy Gentry, the city’s Senior Planner in the Community Development Department. None of the council members were in attendance, nor City Manager Steve Duran. However, Lori Ogorchock, who was elected to the council, last week, did attend the meeting.

Clay Baskin shared his concerns about crime, that it can’t be ignored as a factor, and how the city has been talking about revitalizing downtown for 20 years.

Others shared that the emphasis shouldn’t be on more housing.

“I would like the city to not plan for people who are not here,” one woman said. “Not just more housing.” She advocated for “waterfront recreation for all, not carpetbaggers.”

Another resident said the downtown businesses need to be open longer.

Jim Lanter, who owns an insurance agency located in downtown, said there needs to be more events, downtown to bring people to the area.

Former owner of Lamothe Cleaners, which had operated in Antioch since the 1950’s, Tom Lamothe, said he there needs to be more businesses before more housing in downtown.

Bruce Ohlson, an advocate for bicyclists said the city needs at least one street north-south and one street east-west with a continuous bike lane for travel.

The next update meeting will be held in the Council Chambers at City Hall, next Wednesday night at 7 p.m. and will be a joint meeting of the Antioch Planning and Economic Development Commissions. For more information visit www.ci.antioch.ca.us or call the Community Development Department at (925) 779-7035.

The City of Antioch invites you to a community meeting for you to provide feedback regarding the Downtown Specific Plan and City-wide General Plan Land Use and Zoning Ordinance Update.

Two dates to choose from: Wednesday, November 12, 7:00 p.m., Prewett Park Multi-Purpose Room, 4701 Lone Tree Way and Wednesday, November 19, 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 200 H Street. That is also a joint meeting of the Planning and Economic Development Commissions

The City of Antioch is embarking on the initial steps leading to preparation of a Specific Plan for downtown and an update to the Land Use Element of the City’s General Plan and Zoning Code.

The Specific Plan will include policies and guidelines to enhance existing neighborhoods as well as to guide new development downtown.

The General Plan Land Use and Zoning update will focus on the types and locations of businesses and examine appropriate land use designations City-wide.

We are currently seeking community input help us evaluate the key opportunities and constraints which will influence this overall planning program.

Community Meeting Format:

Opening remarks from staff (10 min).

Opportunities and Constraints analysis presented by project consultants (20 min).

Remaining time for public feedback on the range of potential opportunities identified.

City decision makers want to hear your feedback on this initial planning work, in order to help shape the future policies that will guide land use and development, design/aesthetics, parking, circulation, transit, and the economic vitality of the community.

Come voice your ideas and opinions and tell us what you see in your city’s future!

For more information visit: www.ci.antioch.ca.us or click here for the announcement flyer about the meetings.

Or call the Community Development Department at 925-779-7035.

Newly elected Antioch School Board Trustee Debra Vinson, Velma Wilson and local youth at the Deer Valley Plaza, last Friday afternoon.

By John Crowder

A small group of parents has decided to be proactive in addressing problems at a local shopping center by taking steps to engage students as they pass through Deer Valley Plaza (DVP) at the end of the school day.

DVP has been at the epicenter of student violence and disruptive behavior over the past few months. As widely reported in the news media, a group of students involved in fights and other troubling actions at the center, just down the street from Deer Valley High School (DVHS), has led some of the businesses located there to lock their doors at the end of the school day. The businesses, mainly fast food restaurants and Starbucks, have kept their doors locked from the time school lets out until most students have passed through and dispersed from the area.

Velma Wilson, a youth education advisor with the NAACP East County Branch, and a parent of two students who attend Antioch schools, determined to act to change that. For the last few weeks, she and others from the community, including her husband, Clarke, and Antioch Mayor Wade Harper, have been stationing themselves in the parking lot of DVP under a blue tent. There, they talk with students who come by, offering them sodas and snacks, along with words of encouragement. Wilson said that the idea for meeting with students had come from Harper, and it was his tent they were using.

On Friday, November 7, Herald staff dropped by the Plaza, unannounced, to take a first-hand look at what was happening. On that day, Wilson was joined by her husband, her two children, and two other adults, Darice Ingram and Debra Vinson. Harper was unable to be there on that day, as, according to Wilson, he was visiting a security guard who had been wounded in a gun battle in Antioch outside a local Starbucks earlier in the week.

Darice Ingram, a founder of Parents Connected, and also a member of the Antioch Unified School District (AUSD) personnel commission, invited students who were passing by to stop and talk. She encouraged those she spoke with to be serious students, and, among other things, to consider taking Advanced Placement classes and to focus on preparing for college. “Most students are just kids that need to know someone cares, someone holds them accountable, and expects great things from them,” she said. She also praised Wilson for taking the initiative, noting that Wilson had provided treats for the students out of her own pocket.

Debra Vinson, who was elected last Tuesday to the AUSD board of trustees, was also in the parking lot greeting students. As they approached, she would introduce herself, ask their names, and how their school day had been. She said that, as a school board member, she wanted to be visibly involved and make sure she was accessible to everyone with a stake in the schools, including the children who attend them. “Safety concerns are shared by everyone in Antioch,” she said, “and I want to see, first-hand, what is happening with our students.”

The impression left by observing these interactions was far different than the one derived from the recent news reports. First, not all students were from DVHS. Several students who came up to meet with the parents stationed in the parking lot were from Dallas Ranch Middle School, a bit of a walk from the site. Wilson said that students from four different schools routinely came by, or passed through, the center after school let out each day.

The students were also very polite. “I have one rule,” said Wilson, “that students look me in the eye and shake hands.” Far from the belligerence frequently attributed to teens, the students on Friday seemed more shy than anything else, only reluctantly taking the sodas and snacks offered by Wilson and the others.

“Jesus said, ‘suffer the little children to come unto me,’ and that is what I want to do,” said Wilson. “We can choose community over chaos. It’s imperative that we come together as a community to be better role models for our youth.”

Wilson is in the DVP parking lot every Tuesday and Friday, from 3:00 until 4:30, when school is in session.