Walnut Creek City Council Meeting – March 4, 2025: Approves Housing Element Report and Closed Session Actions
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Walnut Creek City Council Meeting – March 4, 2025
The Walnut Creek City Council convened for a Special Meeting (Closed Session) at 4:00 PM and a Regular Meeting at 6:00 PM on March 4, 2025, at City Hall. All five Councilmembers (Mayor Cindy Darling, Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Wilk, Councilmembers Craig DeVinney, Matt Francois, and Cindy Silva) were present. The meeting included a proclamation for American Red Cross Month, approval of the consent calendar, detailed councilmember reports on regional issues, and a unanimous vote to accept the 2024 Housing Element Annual Progress Report.
Consent Calendar
- Items 2a-2e were approved unanimously (5-0) via a motion from Mayor Pro Tem Wilk, seconded by Councilmember Francois. This included approval of meeting minutes, acceptance of warrant registers, adoption of Resolution 25-05 for a $16,481 Tobacco Grant Program award from the California Department of Justice for police enforcement, acceptance of the Fiscal Year 2025 2nd Quarter Budget Update, and awarding a $611,935 contract to Vintage Contractors, Inc. for athletic court resurfacing at Arbolado and Rudgear Parks.
- Item 2f, pulled by Councilmember Silva for a brief comment, approved the final language for the 2025 and 2026 Major City Goal regarding the General Plan Update via a unanimous (5-0) motion by Silva and Darling.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jan Warren (Woodlands resident) spoke during Public Communications about the deteriorated pour-in-place rubber surface at the Heather Farms all-abilities playground, describing it as having potholes. Public Works Director Rich Payne confirmed spot repairs are planned in the near term, but a full replacement is deferred until the adjacent pool facility is completed to avoid damage. Later, during the Housing Element item, Warren requested an update on the 699 Yerba Buena Road affordable housing project and suggested freezing the city’s in-lieu affordable housing fee to signal support for developers.
- Charles Kreling (Planning Commissioner) urged the council to include fire insurance accessibility in its legislative agenda, arguing that new homes cannot be occupied without consistent and affordable fire insurance, directly linking the insurance crisis to housing production goals.
Discussion Items
- 2024 Housing Element Annual Progress Report: Interim Principal Planner Crystal DeCastro presented the report. The City’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for 2023-2031 is 5,805 units. To date, building permits have been issued for 59 units (1.6% of goal), but approximately 1,400 units are in the pipeline (24% of goal). Of the pipeline units, ~25% are affordable. Staff highlighted that 110 of 144 housing element program actions have been implemented since certification. Councilmembers questioned metrics, the role of builder’s remedy projects, and barriers including high land costs and interest rates. Housing Manager Stephanie Bryan reported an ADU survey is being developed with ABAG, and acknowledged challenges for homeowners such as PG&E coordination, strict building codes, and a daunting permitting process. City Manager Dan Buckshi noted the biggest challenge is meeting the 60% below-market-rate RHNA target (over 3,000 affordable units), calling it “a money game at the end of the day.” Staff confirmed the 699 YVR project is targeting a financial close in mid-April with construction start on May 1, and affordable housing RFP results will come to Council in May.
Key Outcomes
- Closed Session Actions: City Attorney Steve Mattas reported the Council (5-0) authorized filing a Petition of Review in Chuluunbat v. City of Walnut Creek. For the Equestrian Center license negotiations (390 N. San Carlos Drive), the Council provided direction to negotiators with no reportable action.
- Approval of Housing Element APR: Councilmember Silva moved, seconded by Mayor Darling, to accept the 2024 Annual Progress Report and forward it to the California Department of Housing and Community Development and the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation. Passed unanimously (5-0).
- City Manager Report on Wildfire Preparedness: Dan Buckshi updated the Council on new CAL FIRE Local Responsibility Area fire hazard maps released on February 24. The maps will impact building codes and defensible space requirements. The maps are available for public comment on the ConFire website (cccfpd.org).
- Councilmember Reports: Reports covered regional legislative priorities, MCE rate setting (no residential increases since 2023), Recycle Smart waste characterization studies, Contra Costa Transportation Authority autonomous vehicle insurance issues, the Walnut Creek Education Foundation’s funding gap ($4,529 below national average per pupil), and changes to the annual Community Service Day (two separate events planned for Sept 2025 and April 2026).
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. I'm Cindy Darling, the mayor of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the Tuesday, March 4th, 2025 special meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council. For the record, I would like to note that all the council members are in attendance, and the special meeting is called for the purpose of holding a closed session related to the following items a conference with legal counsel on existing litigation and a conference with real property negotiators. Does any member of the public wish to comment on a closed session item? Why no, I don't see any. So therefore, I will we will adjourn up to the second floor conference room for the closed session. Thank you. Good evening. I am Cindy Darling, mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the Tuesday, March 4th, 2025 regular meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council. The City Council is conducting this meeting from the City Council Chamber, and the meeting is being video streamed and can be viewed live or later on the city's website. As some attendees may be attending in their first city council meeting, I wanted to welcome everyone and talk briefly about how this is gonna go tonight. For each agenda item, there will be an opportunity for public comment on the item. Thus, if you desire to speak on an item on the agenda this evening, please hold your comments until we get to that item. Additionally, we have a section on the agenda entitled Public Communication, which is for public comments for items not on the agenda. Ums during public communication should not relate to an item that's on the agenda this evening and consistent with section 9.5, the city council handbook. 30 minutes will be initially allocated for public communications for items not on the agenda. Additional time for public communication for items not on the agenda will be provided at the end of the open session portion of the meeting if necessary. If you desire to provide a public comment, please complete a speaker identification card and line up behind the lector at the appropriate time. I'll tell you when that is. Again, everybody is gonna have their two minutes to make their remarks. Written comments submitted ahead of time and received up to two hours before the meeting have been posted to the website for public review and are included in the meeting record, but not reread separately into the record. So now I hope you all will stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible liberty and justice for all. Councilmember DeVini. Here. Councilmember Francois. Here. Councilmember Silva. Here. Mayor Pro Tem Welk? Here. And Mayor Darling. Here. All right. Next on the agenda is a proclamation declaring March as Red Cross Month. We are recognizing the Red Cross this month because they are the people that are there when you need the help. We recognize the compassion of all the people of Contra Costa County, and we renew our commitment to lend a helping hand to our neighbors in need. Red Cross volunteers are here to donate blood, help in emergencies, provide a whole host of services, and have been doing that for over 140 years. And so I would invite Matt Smith, our Red Cross volunteer, to join me up here. And I can present you with a proclamation. Appreciate that. Thank you so much. Go ahead and give the council. Will there be a photo up at the end of the day? There will be a photo my boss had got to get a picture. All right, good evening, everybody. My name is Matt Smith. I am a Walnut Creek resident. Um I'm a volunteer with the uh Contra Costa and broader Red Cross.
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