By Allen Payton

After three years in the development, the Antioch City Council voted 5-0 to table the Sand Creek Focus Area Specific Plan update to the city’s General Plan on Tuesday night, October 25.

The plan calls for 4,000 new homes in the area surrounding the Kaiser medical center on Deer Valley Road. Approximately 1,174 homes have already been approved in two developments at the east end of the valley.

The decision means that the current Specific Plan for the area adopted by the City Council in 2005 is still in force and that development can move forward under its guidelines. It also means the remaining developments will have to include any General Plan Amendments with the submission of their plans.

According to the city staff report on the agenda item, they made the recommendation because the city is undergoing the development of both a Habit Conservation Plan and the Natural Community Conservation Plan which will allow the city to mitigate any habitat and biological impacts. Those plans are expected to continue to be developed through 2018. Plus, the Ranch project which is proposing 1,337 homes on the west side of Deer Valley Road “is required to undergo extensive environmental review including the development of an Environmental Impact Report, under the California Environmental Quality Act.” The timing of its completion could be confused with the city’s efforts to finalize the Specific Plan Update. So tabling it now would avoid it in the eyes of the public, staff stated.

The final reason given by staff for their recommendation to table was cost. The City has to update the General Plan again in 2023 at an estimated cost of $800,000 and the fund currently has only $80,000 remaining. If the update continued to move forward it would deplete the fund by another $40,000 to $60,000.

What the council decision doesn’t do is to stop or preclude any development of new homes in the Sand Creek Focus Area. The two projects that have already been approved can move forward when those developers are ready to, and the other developers who own the rest of the land can also move forward on submitting their projects to the City for approval through the normal process.

Artist’s rendering of Almond Knolls apartment project.

By Allen Payton

During their July 25 council meeting, three members of the council who were in attendance approved the 58-unit Almond Knolls multifamily residential housing project located on Worrell Road near the intersection of Lone Tree Way.

Community Development Director Forrest Ebbs offered a brief introduction to the project. (See the staff report, here: Almond Knolls Apts staff report)

“This is an interesting example of an in-fill project. We get a lot of requests and interest in these lots,” he stated. “It’s encouraging whenever we receive those inquiries because there are a lot of gaps in our city. To accommodate some of our housing demand within our developed environment and to take some of the blight that can happen with some of these empty lots off.”

The project will be gated and on a 2.9 acre, vacant parcel. It includes five, two- to three-story apartment buildings surrounded by a looped, private drive aisle.

It also includes 58 covered vehicle spaces, 30 uncovered spaces and 12 uncovered visitor parking spaces. (See the project drawings and plans, here: Almond Knolls drawings & plans-1 and Almond Knolls drawings & plans-2)

The complex will have multiple open space areas, and a recreation area with a picnic area, fire pit and bocce ball court. It also allows for conversion to condominiums for possible sale of the units, in the future.

Kyle Masters of the Grupe Company, developers of the apartments, spoke of the projected rents for the units and that they also have their own property management company.

“They go through that process of qualifying the individuals who actually are going to live there,” he said.

Each applicant that looks to qualify for one of their units would typically have a monthly income of 2.5 times the monthly rent.

“We’ve elected to increase that to three times for this project,” Masters explained. “So, we’re looking at rents for the one-bedroom around $1,800 a month and for the two-bedroom it’s probably going to be around $2,300 a month,”

“So, if you take that multiple of three you get your monthly income that would be required, and you can do the math and realize that’s a substantial income that would be necessary to qualify to live in these units,” he explained.

To view council meeting video, click here and scroll to 1:41:30 for the Almond Knolls project.

The council voted 3-0 to approve the project, with Mayor Pro Tem Lamar Thorpe and Council Member Monica Wilson absent.

Almond Knolls Illustrative Site Plan

Vice Chair Parsons pushes for gated, senior housing community

By Allen Payton

Sand Creek Focus Area Specific Plan, Scenario 1 – Moderate Growth

After making the surprising recommendation to the Antioch Planning Commission to table indefinitely the General Plan Update for the Sand Creek Focus Area, Forrest Ebbs, the city’s Community Development Director modified it. At the commission’s Wednesday night meeting, he announced that he had changed his recommendation to a continuance of the public hearing on the update to the plan, for the remaining 2,800 of 4,000 planned homes.

“I’d like to modify my recommendation…to merely continue without a date certain,” Ebbs said. He suggested the commission could “continue this item to Sept. 20.”

“We’re going to spend time with our city attorney and CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) expert,” he explained. “We will deliver to the planning commission that it either A, proceed with the original recommendation (of adopting the update with the Amended Environmental Impact Report (EIR)); B, pursue a Supplemental EIR; C, continue or table the update; or 4, some other option.”

That is in response to letters from attorneys for two environmental groups and the East Bay Regional Parks District stating the Amended EIR is inadequate and the update requires a Supplemental EIR. That could take another year to 18 months to complete.

“We’ll have a scoping meeting on Sept. 6 on The Ranch project,” Ebbs stated. “It will require an EIR.”

That is because the developer of that project, Richland Communities, is not waiting for the update to be finalized, and has submitted their plan under the existing Sand Creek Focus Area Specific Plan, included in the city’s General Plan, and EIR approved by the city council in 2003.

Planning Commission Vice Chair Martha Parsons asked for “clarification.”

“The Ranch is out there,” she said. “I understand the Albers property…may be out there. Knowing what it costs developers with infrastructure and time tables, how much does staff want to put this off? Is there anything that will guarantee those that are already in the pipeline…I’m really anxious to get a senior housing project. Everyone is begging for a senior housing project.”

Ebbs responded by saying “Albers Ranch – the Olive Groves – is just a preliminary plan submittal. The Ranch includes a General Plan Amendment.”

“Anyone who would like to see these plans can see them on our website,” he said, turning to the few members of the public in the audience.

Parsons followed up, stating “what we do tonight will affect developers, plans, people’s livelihoods.”

Ebbs replied, “Two projects are read to come out of the ground in the next year,” referring to the Aviano Farms and Blackhawk’s Vineyards projects that were approved by the city council, last year. “It will be 16 or 17 years before they build the homes on the hillsides,” referring to The Ranch and Albers’ projects.

Parsons stressed her desire for an active, senior adult residential project.

“The public is telling me what they want…we live in an aging community…people are asking ‘when are we going to get a gated, senior housing community?’”

Ebbs assured her that “this will not affect them at all,” if the commission chose to table the update, which they’ve been working on for over a year.

“They (the developers) can apply for a General Plan Amendment,” he said. “But that is not illegal.”

“The city council will have the opportunity to make a decision,” Parsons responded.

The commission votes are recommendations to the council, which has the final say on new development projects.

Commissioner Kerry Motts told Ebbs, “You took away all my talking points. We will look on Sept. 20^th at the Supplemental EIR or something else.”

Following the discussion, and with no new public comments on the matter, the commissioners voted 6-0, with Commissioner Ken Turnage II absent, to continue the public hearing to Wednesday, Sept. 20.

Sand Creek Focus Area Specific Plan Update proposed land use map.

Would allow projects to move forward under existing General Plan

By Allen Payton

In the staff report to the Antioch Planning Commission for their meeting tonight, Wednesday, August 2, Community Development Director Forrest Ebbs is recommending the General Plan Land Use Element Update for the Sand Creek Focus Area Specific Plan be tabled “indefinitely.” That was in response to letters from attorneys for the East Bay Regional Parks District, as well as Save Mt. Diablo and Greenbelt Alliance, stating that the Amended Environmental Impact Report (EIR) which was recently completed, is insufficient and that a more complete Supplemental EIR is needed.

That, however will take more time to complete and it’s already been over a year of review by the commission and direction from the city council. If the commissioners follow Ebbs’ recommendation, then the original Specific Plan and 2003 General Plan EIR, approved by the city council at that time, allowing for approximately 4,000 homes, will remain in effect.

Under the current plan two new developments in the Sand Creek area that include 1,174 homes, were already approved by the city council in 2016. According to the staff report on the matter, “the largest development project in the Sand Creek Focus Area, The Ranch, has already been submitted, was determined to be a complete application, and could be considered under the current General Plan.”

“The development capacity of 4,000 units for the entire plan would not change under the update,” Ebbs said. “All we have been doing is shifting where those units would be built.”

The Ranch project, which has as many as 1,307 homes if the plan is approved with an active, senior adult community element, and any other projects could be delayed if the city pursues the Supplemental EIR. However, under the current plan, if they want to make changes proposed in the update, each developer will have to submit a General Plan Amendment of their own.

The Planning Commission meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 200 H Street in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown.

Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy Final Environmental Impact Report

The Final Environmental Impact Report (Final EIR) (SCH# 2016052041) for Plan Bay Area (PBA) 2040, the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP)/Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) (proposed Plan) for the San Francisco Bay Area is available for review as of July 10, 2017. Additional information and notice of public meetings is provided below.

The proposed Plan is a regional strategy for accommodating household and employment growth projected to occur in the Bay Area region through 2040, and a transportation strategy for the region based on expected revenues. The primary objective of the proposed Plan is to achieve mandated reductions of greenhouse (GHG) emissions and to provide adequate housing for the projected 2040 regional population level pursuant to The Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008 (Senate Bill (SB) 375, Statutes of 2008). The proposed Plan sets forth a transportation and land use blueprint for how the Bay Area can address transportation mobility and accessibility needs, regional housing responsibilities, economic conditions and forecasts, environmental concerns, and GHG emissions reduction requirements through the year 2040.

The region includes nine counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma) totaling approximately 4.4 million acres (7,000 square miles). In 2015, the region had 4.01 million jobs, 2.76 million households, and 7.57 million people. The proposed Plan would accommodate projected growth for an additional 688,000 jobs, 666,000 households, and 2.06 million people by 2040 with a transportation investment strategy of $303 billion. MTC is required under State and Federal law to update the RTP/SCS every four years.

The Final EIR includes the Draft EIR, a copy of each comment on the Draft EIR received by MTC/ABAG during the public comment period, responses to comments on environmental issues raised in those comments, and corrections and clarifications to the Draft EIR.

The Final EIR is now available for public review online at the web link listed below or a free electronic copy may be obtained by contacting MTC at the contact information provided below.

http://2040.planbayarea.org/reports

MTC Public Information
375 Beale Street, Suite 800
San Francisco, CA, 94105
415.778.6757 office / 415.536.9800 fax
eircomments@mtc.ca.gov

The document will also be available for public review in at least one library in each of the nine member counties. A list of library locations is available at the website listed below:

http://www.planbayarea.org/2040-plan/access-plan

MTC/ABAG will be conducting two public meetings to consider certification of the Final EIR and adoption of the proposed Plan. All interested agencies, organizations, and individuals are welcome to participate in these public meetings for the Final EIR. Oral comments will be accepted during these meetings.

July 14, 2017       

Joint MTC Planning Committee with the ABAG Administrative Committee (9:30 a.m.) at the Bay Area Metro Center – Board Room, First Floor, 375 Beale Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. At this meeting, the decision-makers will make a recommendation to the MTC Commission/ABAG Executive Board regarding certification of the Final EIR and adoption of the proposed Plan.

July 26, 2017       

MTC Commission/ABAG Executive Board (7:00 p.m.) at the Bay Area Metro Center – Board Room, First Floor, 375 Beale Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. At this meeting, a final action will be taken regarding certification of the Final EIR and adoption of the proposed Plan.

The following statement is required to be included in this notice: Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15087(c)(6), the nine county Bay Area region contains hazardous waste sites as enumerated under California Government Code Section 65962.5.

Do you need an interpreter or any other assistance in order to participate? Please call us at 415.778.6757. We require three days’ notice in order to provide reasonable accommodation.

為了便於參加，您需要口譯員或其他任何協助嗎？請致電415.778.6757聯絡我們。我們需要提前3天通知才能提供合理的輔助服務。

¿Necesitas un intérprete o cualquier otra asistencia para participar? Comunícate al 415.778.6757. Necesitamos aviso con tres días de anticipación para proporcionar asistencia razonable.

Rendering of a proposed CyberTran transit station. Courtesy CyberTran International, Inc.

Moves Sand Creek new home area forward; approves cameras for high-crime area of E. 18th Street and Cavallo Road

By Dave Roberts

The Antioch City Council on Tuesday joined the city councils in Oakley and Brentwood in endorsing an innovative rail transit system that could extend the East County eBART line through far East County at significantly less cost.

The ultra-light rail transit (ULRT) system by a private company, CyberTran International (whose investors include a company partially owned by Antioch Herald publisher Allen Payton), is seeking funding to demonstrate the viability of the system on a track in Richmond, and then to roll out the above ground line possibly in East County connecting the Hillcrest eBART Station to stations in Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay and the Byron Airport.

The eBART line now under construction from the Bay Point BART Station with stations at Railroad Avenue in Pittsburg and Hillcrest in Antioch costs $56 million per mile, CyberTran President Dexter Vizinau told the council. His ULRT system would cost about $30 million per mile and have the advantages of providing more stations, perhaps at shopping centers, and provide cars that would go nonstop from any station along the line.

“The problem is that [traditional] transit is too costly to build, operate and maintain,” Vizinau said. “There is a $78 billion backlog in transit maintenance in the country. The only way to pay is to raise taxes. Something has to change and it has to be innovative. We believe we solve that problem.”

Vizinau cited the support of U.C. Berkeley, and the three national labs, in the development of the CyberTran system. He also held up a letter from the U.S. Department of Transportation stating the system was further along technologically than any other innovative transit system in the country.

Mayor Sean Wright noted that few Antioch residents are likely to use the system. “It doesn’t affect Antioch – we’re done and through,” he said. But it does have the potential of reducing traffic from far East County residents on Highway 4 through Antioch, which pleased Council Member Lori Ogorchock. “Anything to reduce traffic and congestion,” she said.

Vizinau said his company has been working on the project for 23 years and is ready to break ground. The main challenge is finding the funding. A 10-mile ULRT line from Hillcrest Station to Brentwood would cost about $300 million.

The company was set to receive $42.9 million from the county’s Measure X half-cent sales tax hike that fell three percentage points short of passing in November, he said. Another tax-hike attempt could be made in two years, he said.

The council unanimously voted to support the project and the company’s efforts to obtain funding, which was a bit of déjà vu as the Antioch Council passed a similar resolution of support seven years ago for the project. That effort was successful in obtaining $15 million in federal funds for innovative transit in the U.S. But, President Obama failed to release the funds before he left office in January, Vizinau said.

Sand Creek Focus Area

In other action, the council listened to concerns from residents opposed to the proposed Sand Creek Focus Area, which updates the city’s General Plan to accommodate as many as 4,000 homes on 2,781 acres surrounding Sand Creek in south Antioch. The area is bordered by homes on the north, Black Diamond Mines park on the west, the city limits on the south and Brentwood on the east.

Residents and environmental groups told the council that the proposal contains too many homes, not enough open space, that it will further burden local schools, roads and police services, and that there hasn’t been enough community input into the proposal.

Council members noted that the plan focuses on land use zoning, and that its approval is not equivalent to approval of actual residential development, which would have to be done separately. Over 1,200 homes have already been approved in the area.

The next step in the proposal is conducting environmental impact studies in the coming months, which would then be reviewed during a public hearing by the Planning Commission.

18th Street at Cavallo Road Cameras

The council also approved $156,412 to place police surveillance cameras at the intersection of East 18th Street and Cavallo Road, which has been the scene of a recent shooting.

Interim Police Chief Tammany Brooks said that installation of cameras in another high-crime area, the Sycamore corridor, in November have been effective. Council Member Tony Tiscareno, who lives near Sycamore, agreed that police sirens have become less frequent in recent months.

A resident who lives near Cavallo and 18^th teared up as she thanked the council for putting in the cameras, saying she’s seen drug activity on that corner and that her husband witnessed a drive-by shooting.

Water Upgrade

The council members voted to spend nearly $3.3 million to eliminate use of ammonia and chlorine in the city’s water treatment plant. Those chemicals have been deemed hazardous and highly corrosive, according to Project Manager Scott Buenting.

Affordable  Housing Progress Report

The council also approved the filing of a state-mandated housing progress report. The state has mandated that it provide over the next six years an additional 1,448 housing units with 349 of them for very low-income households, 205 low-income units, 214 moderate-income units and 680 units for above moderate-income households.

Last year 42 building permits were issued – 41 of them for above moderate-income single-family homes and one for multifamily apartments providing 84 extremely low-income units. Ogorchock noted, “We’re not reaching the goals we’re supposed to be reaching.” The developer of a proposed 126-unit affordable housing project on Wilbur Avenue complained that city fees have made it too expensive for the project to go forward.

LISTENING FORUM #2: If you couldn’t make Thursday night’s Forum, join Antioch Mayor Sean Wright and Mayor Pro Tem Lamar Thorpe Saturday, March 18th at 10am for a cup of coffee and presentation. They want to hear from you about potential housing, open-space and job growth.

The Moderate Growth proposed land use map for the Sand Creek Focus Area.

Information to clear up confusion on details of Sand Creek Focus Area Specific Plan Update

By Mayor Pro Tem Lamar Thorpe

I understand that as a city government, we have horrible track record of not meaningfully engaging residents in determining our future. This has fueled a lot of uncertainty and misunderstanding in recent weeks about potential housing developments, particularly in the area south of Lone Tree Drive. Many residents have asked me, “Why is the Antioch City Council approving a 4,000 unit housing development within the Sand Creek area?!” The short answer—we’re not. However, a proper answer requires more explanation.

First, I want to reiterate what I said during my campaign. I’m still a huge proponent of fair and equitable smart-growth policies, preserving open-space and land-locking Antioch to place pressure on developers to reinvest in the city’s older communities. We’re already seeing this happen. Right now, the city is reviewing two mixed-use development projects near BART, Highway 4 and Delta Fair Blvd – an area that desperately needs reinvestment.

That being said, the last major portion of developable land in Antioch is what we in City Hall call the Sand Creek Focus Area (SCFA). According to our general plan (the city’s blueprint for development, mandated by state law), the SCFA is a large-scale planned community that balances housing and employment opportunities. Below is an image of the SCFA, which extends from the Brentwood border to East Bay Regional Parks. This is about the distance between Lowe’s and the Contra Loma Regional Park entrance.

Right now, there’s a lot of talk about what will happen in the SCFA, but the area itself has been a focus of the city for decades. In 2003, the city council then determined that up to 4,000 housing units would be allowed within the SCFA. They also determined that 280 acres of the SCFA would be dedicated for job generating uses, such as business parks, mixed-use medical facilities, and commercial space. The construction of Kaiser Hospital and Dozier Libbey Medical High fulfilled a portion of this goal. For those of us concerned with over-development, the 4,000 number was actually an improvement. Before 2003, the city envisioned 8,000 new housing units for the area.

Of those 4,000 new housing units, the previous city council, (under former mayor Wade Harper), already approved about 1,200 units for two developments east (going towards Brentwood) of Deer Valley Road: Vineyards at Sand Creek, is a 641-unit, upscale, gated community that will be serviced by Brentwood Union School District; and Aviano Farms, a single-family market rate community of 533 residential units to be served by Antioch Unified School District. Aviano Farms was initially approved in 2005 (yes, 12 years ago) as an adult community, but the previous city council re-designated the project. For the record, I didn’t like this change. We need senior housing in Antioch to balance our youth population—plus senior housing has less impact on traffic, schools and police services.

Together, these projects constitute 1,174 new residential housing units, or roughly 30 percent of the 4,000 allowable housing units in the SCFA. Keep in mind, both these communities will be either adjacent or very close to the Brentwood border. It is estimated that 75 percent of sales taxes paid by future Vineyards residents will go to the City of Brentwood because of its proximity to Sand Creek Road, which includes popular attractions like the Streets of Brentwood.

That means there’s only about 2,800 allowable units left in the SCFA, not 4,000. Which brings me to present day and what the Antioch City Council is considering.

The council is not being asked to approve a project. On February 14, we only reviewed recommendations by city staff to update the general plan, so we could specifically deal with the remaining 2,800 housing units. This update also includes the percentage of open space, preservation of hillsides and hilltops, and how to fairly distribute the remaining housing units. Please understand, updating a city’s general plan happens every five years or so. Antioch’s general plan has not seen any major changes since 2003.

At the Feb. 14 meeting, the council directed staff to bring back this matter at a later date so that we could have time to hear from the community.

Following the meeting, Save Mt. Diablo and other environmental groups held a February 23 event at Prewett Community Park to address projects that have been proposed but have not yet been approved for the SCFA. I attended this event and listened to the concerns of residents. I was impressed with how many turned out to this event.

However, there seems to be some confusion, which is why I wrote this article and invite you to attend my listening forums so that I can get feedback from you about the proposed Sand Creek Focus Area updates. In addition, I’ll be posting the presentation by our Community Development Director, Forrest Ebbs, on my Facebook page so that you can see his presentation and offer me feedback using social media starting on March 16th.

Thursday, March 16th, 7-8:30pm

Saturday, March 18th at 10-11:30am

Lone Tree Elementary School, 1931 Mokelumne Drive, Antioch

I look forward to hearing from you.