The Pleasant Hill Planning Comission will hold a public hearing tonight at 7:30 p.m in the City Council Chambers to consider proposed ordinance amendments pertaining to emergency shelter uses. This is a study session only which means that no action will be taken by the commission at this meeting.
Emergency shelters are defined by State law as: “housing with minimal supportive services for homeless persons that is limited to occupancy of six months or less by a homeless person….” The proposed ordinance amendment is to comply with State law (Section 65583 of the Government Code – SB2) that requires all jurisdictions to identify at least one zoning district where emergency shelters may be established by-right, subject to specific development standards.
The amendment would also implement Housing Element Program 4.4 which requires the City to implement land use regulations for emergency shelters in compliance with State law. The proposed amendment would: a) designate emergency shelters as a use permitted by-right within the LI-Limited Industrial zoning district (note: emergency shelters are currently a conditionally allowed use within the LI-Limited Industrial zoning district); b) establish appropriate findings and development standards related to emergency shelter uses to ensure community compatibility; and c) incorporate various related amendments into corresponding sections of the Zoning Ordinance.
The Planning Commission will also consider the suitability of alternative zone districts where “by-right” approval of emergency shelters could be allowed and provide further direction to staff regarding the proposed ordinance amendment.
No action on the proposed amendment will be taken at this study session.
A future public hearing date will be set at the conclusion of the study session for further consideration of the proposed ordinance.
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Why is it that struggling middle class cities like Pleasant Hill, Concord, and Martinez are bearing the burden of homeless shelters and poverty housing while the affluent neighboring areas (walnut creek, lamorinda, danville, alamo, etc.) are not impacted by the problem at all?
I have seen this movie before. The limousine liberals from the affluent areas rush down to OUR city council meetings and plead for more affordable housing and homeless shelters – in OUR back yards not theirs!
@Concord Mike: The spot they want to put the emergency shelter is right on the border of Concord, PH, and WC. In fact, I live in WC and this piece of crap emergency shelter might be within 1/4 mile of my home.
Totally going to this meeting tonight and hopefully they will put it somewhere more fitting… like Concord or inner PH. Not next to my beautiful WC. lol
A lot of mumbo jumbo here. What’s the real driver of this effort? Someone wants more vacant land around?
I know that area where the proposed shelter is supposed to be and that is an area filled with homes. That would be terrible for those homeowners.
These are the type of people. we buy our homes to get away from!
What a sham … The city of PH is creating this zone at the fringes of their city so as to pass responsibility of problems that will most definitely occur onto surrounding communitites. If a potential shelter in PH were built to “care for” the homeless in PH, why wouldn’t you centrally locate it? I don’t know … Maybe you could put it in downtown so the homeless can have access to the city’s fine amenities !!!
@Gator: Exactly!!! Right on the fringe of the city so that Concord and WC PD will have to take care of the problems created by these vagrants. Or will it be the CHP since it’s unincorporated WC?
I missed the meeting last night, but would love to hear an update.
Does anybody know the outcome of last night’s meeting?
I went to the first 45 minutes of the meeting, but could not stay. The meeting was to address whether to locate the by-right area in the Light Industrial zone or in the POA zone, which is off Taylor and includes the PH Police Station. The meeting agenda indicated that no decision was going to be made, just more discussion and public input.
By the way, no homeless shelter is planned. All cities need to revamp their zoning so that homeless shelters can operate in some district with no conditional use permit. That would include WC, Orinda, etc.
The Commissioner who opened the meeting made some questionable remarks: (1) the selected district should not be on a major transportation thoroughfare, (2) the LI area has better access to grocery stores and casual dining than the POA area, and (3) the commission is proposing a 300 foot setback from school campuses to address Fair Oaks’ proximity to the LI area. Unfortunately, the 300 foot setback is not allowed according to the text of the law (Senate Bill 2) that requires this zoning designation to begin with.
The proposal to make the LI area the by-right zoning appears to be PH’s way of pushing its potential shelters as far away as legally possible. Also, the roll-over accident at Buskirk and Monument highlights the difficulty the PH police would have in responding to the LI area which is across the freeway from most of PH. Please come to the next meeting; we were standing-room only in the OVERFLOW area, and one of the employees indicated it was one of the largest turnouts ever. If you don’t want to speak, you can leave a comment card.
Thanks Bancroftian … I guess I’d like for the committee to be honest as to what their intentions really are … To say that the LI is closer to basic amenities is laughable at best. Grocery stores are just as close in the PAO as they are in the LI … I also found it unbelievable that one of the commissioners said the having the police department close by would not be a benefit. You’ve got to be kidding me! No the bottom line is that the commissioners want the deadbeat and bum element of the homeless to be as far away from their fine city as possible, preferably hanging out on monument blvd…
Gator, there are not many police officers at the police department; the officers are out on patrol … so yes … indeed … being next to a police department is not necessarily any safer than not.
J … I think youre missing the point …. Knowing that this building is where officers drive in and out of and having squad cars parked out back is a benefit …. It’s no different than having 1 home that’s well lit next to another that is not … Which do you think a criminal is most likely to target? If I asked John Q Citizen to guess in what building would you likely find an on duty police officer, do you think the answer would be Safeway?
By the way, the planning commission meeting was televised on Thursday night. The telecast started at 7:30 and was not quite over at 11:30, when I had turn it off. One of the Commissioners suggested approving both the LI and POA districts; I think he was the one who indicated he had lived on Las Juntas and Le Jean Way in the past. If that is the final approach, I think I could live with that. The Chairwoman seemed intent on just going with the LI district.
Some of the other comments were odd, and seemed skewed toward pushing through the LI district. For example, there was a suggestion that a warehouse could be more easily converted to emergency shelter than an office building. With little insulation and limited existing bathrooms, this statement was questionable.
Whether or not there are cops milling about the PD building, the LI district is definitely cut-off from the majority of PH’s patrol areas. With traffic congestion in the Monument underpass, I think adjacent police departments would end up bearing the brunt of any increase in crime.
By the way, SB2 requires that transitional and supportive housing be allowed in any residential zoning area without a conditional use permit; this seems to be yet another detail that escaped the notice of the planning commission and the city attorney.
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