Walnut Creek City Council Special and Regular Meeting - April 15, 2025
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Walnut Creek City Council Special and Regular Meeting - April 15, 2025
The Walnut Creek City Council held a special closed session at 5:00 PM followed by a regular meeting at 6:00 PM on April 15, 2025, in the Council Chamber at City Hall. All five councilmembers were present: Mayor Cindy Darling, Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Wilk, Councilmembers Craig DeVinney, Matt Francois, and Cindy Silva. The regular meeting included presentations, public hearings, and a briefing, concluding at 9:06 PM.
Consent Calendar
- Approved unanimously (5-0) the consent calendar comprising nine items:
- Approval of April 1, 2025 City Council minutes.
- Acceptance of warrant registers (March 28, April 4, 2025) and direct payroll transfers (April 4, 2025).
- Adoption of Resolution No. 25-15 accepting a Grant of Easement for Emergency Vehicle Access at 2800 Mitchell Drive.
- Adoption of Resolution No. 25-16 declaring support for preserving the federal tax exemption of municipal bonds.
- Adoption of Resolution No. 25-17 declaring support for the Acalanes Union High School District's Measure T parcel tax.
- Acceptance of work for Contract 24-01 (Overlook Storm Drain project) and authorization to file Notice of Completion.
- Acceptance of $71,000 Community Development Block Grant for Civic Park Community Center patio replacement.
- Authorization to transfer approximately $789,878 in unused project funds to the Traffic Impact Fee Fund.
- Adoption of a proclamation declaring April 2025 as Fair Housing Month.
- Public comment was received from Stacey Schweppe (Walnut Creek resident) in support of Measure T (Consent Item 2e), stating the parcel tax would advance academic programs and maintain high-quality schools.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Stacey Schweppe (Consent Calendar): Expressed strong support for Measure T, noting it helps attract qualified teachers, maintain class sizes, and provide academic services.
- Steve Elster (Friends of Walnut Creek) (under Builder’s Remedy): Argued that the city’s housing element was substantially compliant as of August 1, 2023, based on HCD’s later certification, and urged the council to consider court challenge to the builder’s remedy application.
- Charles Kreling (Walnut Creek resident) (under Builder’s Remedy): Questioned why the city was legally vulnerable, what could have been done differently, and suggested the state may have acted in bad faith.
Discussion Items
- Water District Presentations: Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) Division 3 Director/President Ernesto Avila and East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) Ward 2 Director Luz Gomez provided updates on water supply, infrastructure, emergency preparedness, and rates. CCWD noted 99% of water comes from the Bureau of Reclamation, plans to pipe the aging canal ($1.5+ billion), and that water conservation has kept consumption flat despite population growth. EBMUD highlighted its 1.4 million customers, planned rate increases of approximately 12–14 cents per day per median household (FY26-27), and a Walnut Creek Water Pre-treatment project (construction 2027-2030). Both agencies emphasized seismic resilience and mutual aid connections.
- Public Hearing – TEFRA Revenue Bonds (699 Ygnacio Valley Road): Housing Analyst Jennifer Llamas and CMFA Financial Advisor Jarod Suzuki presented a request for the California Municipal Finance Authority to issue up to $65 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds to finance a 93-unit affordable housing project (“Civic Crossing”) by Resources for Community Development (RCD). The city has no financial obligation. No public comments were heard. Motion to adopt Resolution No. 25-18 approving the bond issuance carried unanimously (5-0). Financial closing is scheduled for May 15, 2025, with construction to start shortly after.
- Public Hearing – Off-Street Parking and TDM Ordinance: Assistant Planner Henry Rood presented a zoning amendment to lower minimum parking requirements in the Multiple-Family Residential Zone, implementing “Flexible Demand” (Option C) as directed by council on April 1, 2025. New minima: 0.5 spaces for studios, 1.0 for one-bedroom, 1.25 for units with two or more bedrooms. Staff found current requirements produce 50% excess parking across study sites. No public comments were made. Motion to waive reading and introduce the ordinance (with an addendum) carried unanimously (5-0). A second reading is scheduled for May 6, 2025.
- Consideration – Builder’s Remedy Process Briefing: Community Development Director Erika Vandenbrande, with City Attorney Steve Mattas, provided a general overview of state Builder’s Remedy law (California Housing Accountability Act), unrelated to any specific project. They detailed the timeline of Walnut Creek’s housing element adoption and HCD certification, noting the city’s housing element was adopted January 24, 2023, submitted January 27, 2023, and certified by HCD on October 24, 2023, after several addendums. The briefing explained that a Builder’s Remedy project applies when a jurisdiction lacks a substantially compliant housing element; the city received one such application (Mitchell Townhomes, 422 units, 13% affordable) on October 18, 2023, during the gap. Councilmembers expressed frustration with HCD’s process and changing requirements. Motion to receive the report carried unanimously (5-0).
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar approved 5-0 (Resolution Nos. 25-15, 25-16, 25-17; proclamation adopted).
- TEFRA Bonds – Resolution No. 25-18 adopted 5-0, authorizing up to $65 million in bonds for the 93-unit Civic Crossing affordable housing project.
- Parking Ordinance – Introduced 5-0; second reading set for May 6, 2025.
- Builder’s Remedy Briefing – Received 5-0; no further action taken.
- Closed Session – Held as noticed regarding security/safety training for public facilities; no report out.
- Staff Announcement – City Manager Dan Buckshi announced unscheduled vacancies on city commissions (Design Review, Planning Commission alternate, Library Commission, Building Appeals Board); applications due May 12, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. I'm Cindy Darling, Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the Tuesday, April 15th, 2025 special meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council. This special meeting is called for the purpose of holding a closed session related to the following uh consultation with Walnut Creek PD regarding security safety training for public facilities. Does any member of the public wish to comment on a closed session item? Seeing none, um, the city council will reconvene in closed session. So thank you very much. All right, good evening. I'm Cindy Darling, the mayor of Walnut Creek, and uh welcome to the Tuesday, April 15th, 2025 regular meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council. The City Council is conducting this meeting from the City Council Chamber. This meeting is being video streamed and can be viewed live or later on the city's website. As some attendees may be participating in their first Walnut Creek City Council meeting, I want to welcome everyone and talk briefly about the public comment process. 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 the city council considers that item. Additionally, we have a section of the public agenda on the agenda entitled Public Communications, which is for public comments for items not on the agenda. Any comments during public communication should not relate to an item on the agenda this evening. And consistent with section 9.5 of the City Council handbook, 30 minutes will be initially allocated for public communication for items not on the agenda. Additional time for public communications for items not on the agenda will be provided at the end of the open session porting of the meeting portion of the meeting if necessary. If you desire to provide a public comment, please complete a speaker identification card, the little ones, and line up behind the lectern at the appropriate time when I call. Wait your turn, and then when you approach the lectern, state your name and city of residence for the record, and you'll have two minutes to address the city council. Please keep in mind that this is a city business meeting. The City Council has adopted rules of decorum to ensure that meetings are conducted efficiently and effectively, and that all members of the public have a full, fair, and equal opportunity to be heard. The City Council handbook outlines decorum expected in the council chamber and can be found on our website. All remarks should be addressed to the City Council. Please do not use threatening, profane, or abusive language which disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of the council meeting. Again, each speaker will have two minutes to make your remarks. Written comments submitted and received up to two hours before the meeting have been posted to the city's website for public review and are included in the meeting record, but will not be separately read into the record. And so now please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. All right. Councilmember DeVinny. Here. Councilmember Francois. Here. Councilmember Silva. Here. Mayor Pro Temwell. Mayor Darling. Here. All right. This time I'd like to invite up President Ernesto Avila from the CCWE and Director Luz Gomez, who represents Ward 2 for East Bay MUD to provide a short presentation on our water and utility districts. Welcome, Ernie. Give me give you an annual update of what's happening in the world of water and contractor water. Going to the first slide, what many folks may or may not realize is the Contra Council Water District is its own special district in terms of having its own members of the board representing five key regions or the multiple regions within Contra Custom Water. We're separated into uh divided into five regions that are noted here. I am currently serving as a president of the board with Antonio Martinez as vice president, and we've got a great uh board of directors. I think the one of the things that most folks don't realize is that we did a little bit of a tally, and we have about between all of us about 120 to 130 years of water and water utility experience. So just to let you know if you're in good hands in terms of the kind of policies we're dealing with right now, but most folks may not realize that, so I thought I'd share that little tidbit. What most people also may not realize is that we get about 99% of our water from the Bureau of Reclamation. So Bureau of Reclamation through the Central Valley Project is the main facility and set of facilities that provide us water in Walnut Creek and throughout our region. If you were to try to figure out how what our water supply situation is at any given time, look up what the situation is or how full Lake Shasta is. Lake Shasta provides just about all of our water.
openpublica.com