Last November, the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors approved a controversial Spieker Senior Development residential care facility in the Seven Hills Ranch area of unincorporated Walnut Creek, just west of Heather Farm Park.
But they couldn’t approve the route by which the developer wants to get there, which includes a small slice of land off Kinross Drive that belongs to the City of Walnut Creek.
The Walnut Creek City Council will discuss the matter in closed session at 3 p.m. Tuesday, before the public meeting starts at 6 p.m.
The council will discuss whether they want to sell the land to Spieker and, if so, at what price and what other terms they may want. There likely won’t be a public announcement of what their conditions may be until a later date.
The developer has said Kinross, off Ygnacio Valley Road, is the best ingress, both when constructing the 354 housing units within 30 single-story buildings. They also plan an 85,000-square-foot medical center, a multi-story clubhouse, a recreation building, a maintenance building, and a parking garage on the 30-acre site.
But the neighbors fought vehemently against the project, which would require removing 353 trees and extensive grading of hills, essentially transforming the area’s landscape. The area is private property and zoned for housing.
The group Save Seven Hills Ranch collected about 4,000 signatures against the project, citing increased traffic, the effect of four years of dust and noisy construction on nearby Seven Hills School, lack of emergency access, and lack of public benefits.
Opponents also complained the project doesn’t meet local affordable housing needs and would remove too much wildlife habitat.
Nevertheless, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the project, saying it provides desperately needed senior housing to the area.
Among the concessions required in the county approval was a financial assistance program whereby the facility operator would establish an annuity of $2 million toward subsidies for lower-income households that would not otherwise have the financial means to live in the facility.
Spieker will also pay $3 million over 10 years to county parks, trails, or open space in the Walnut Creek area. Spieker has said security concerns preclude it from allowing trails and public access to the site, but the company would dedicate 2.4 acres along the site west boundary for public purposes.
County staff said traffic projections for single family housing on the site would be higher than what would be generated by the Spieker development. Staff said the county projects 166 single family homes could be built on the site, not including extra attached units that could be added.
The developer has discussed constructing an emergency egress toward Heather Farm Park and likely has at least one other option for ingress. But Kinross is probably best equipped for the main entrance and exit.
The Council on Tuesday will likely instruct city negotiators to open talks with Spieker. The matter won’t be decided until there’s a public hearing at a later council meeting.
… sad… they ignore the residents views and perspectives – it’s not low income housing, and the EIR report was a sham… it’s being jammed through by the pro tem city council as usual… watch traffic get even worse on YVR (of course the city says “no significant impact”
city council getting kick backs…..
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Views feom private residences are not protected unless there is a legal instrument stating and doing so.
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Move on with you NIMBYism.
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The group Save Seven Hills Ranch was woefully ineffective with their current tactics. They should have planted the property with Red Legged Frogs and Spotted Owls. Maybe even a few California Tiger Salamanders as well. Then to top off their strategy, they can put in a call to the Berkeley Tree Sitters. Game over Spieker Properties!
This is a bad idea period.
Should be voted down, no discussion needed.
Conveniently those reports of endangered species turn up blank when dems want what they want.
Follow the money.. They will wreck a neighborhood if they approve this mess.
Leave it as an open space. WC has enough traffic.
It’s not zoned ‘open space’…. its zoned for residential development and has been for years.
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Where have the “concerned residents” been??
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They have been putting in a lot of time in fighting this huge development. It is not easy to get the word out
This area can’t support this project.
YV traffic is a nightmare now. People will be sitting in their cars backed up on Kinross in both directions trying to access their new homes.
And something nobody has thought of: Kinross is across from John Muir hospital Emergency. Ambulances have an impossible time already.
That said this project will go through anyway. It’s all about revenue, nothing else.
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Actually, residential development is a loser on terms of property tax revenue vs service demands.
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Any of the Diablo Hills homeowners whose property backs up to the proposed development needs to sell asap.
Someone’s private property that was zoned for housing. Now they want to build, what are we suppose to do? They probably would have never bought it if they couldn’t later build the housing it’s zoned for…
I am certain that the voiceless creatures who have lived there for hundreds of years might have something to say about their homes being annihilated in the name of “Progress.” If they could speak. Nature always bats last….
If this is approved after 4000 signatures against it were collected you know money has exchanged hands.
Roger that.
Walnut Creek has lost it’s charm anyway so they may as well light the fuse as it’s all downhill from now on.