Walnut Creek City Council Special and Regular Meeting – November 4, 2025
Walnut Creek City Council Special and Regular Meeting – November 4, 2025
The Walnut Creek City Council held a special meeting at 3:45 p.m. for commission reappointments (not video recorded) followed by a regular meeting at 6:00 p.m. on November 4, 2025. The regular meeting included a proclamation for Lung Cancer Awareness Month, a presentation from the Contra Costa Fire Protection District, approval of consent calendar items and two pulled items, public communications, councilmember reports, and public hearings on the 2025 Building Standards Code, sign ordinance update, residential care facilities zoning, and a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers.
Consent Calendar
- Items A–B, D–E, G–H approved unanimously: Approval of minutes (October 21, 2025); acceptance of warrant registers (October 17 and 24, 2025) and direct payroll transfers; authorization for master consultant agreements with five firms for land surveying services (not-to-exceed $150,000 each for 5 years); authorization to execute Amendment No. 1 with Verde Design for construction administration at Heather Farm Park ($21,000, total not-to-exceed $449,550); acceptance of work for Arbolado and Rudgear Parks athletic court resurfacing and filing Notice of Completion; designation of Councilmember Silva as voting delegate and Councilmember DeVinney as alternate for National League of Cities business meeting (November 22, 2025).
- Item 2C (Lesher Center beverage concession) pulled by Councilmember DeVinney for clarification: Approved unanimously after staff explained that the $750,000 not-to-exceed amount is largely reimbursed by rental clients, not city expenditure.
- Item 2F (Heather Farm Garden Association lease) pulled by Councilmember Silva: Approved unanimously; the lease is for $1 per year for approximately six acres, reflecting community benefit provided by the nonprofit.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Public Communications (non-agenda items): Speaker Jan Warren praised the Gardens at Heather Farm lease renewal, calling it a valuable asset. A resident raised concerns about California’s DUI enforcement decline and micro-mobility safety. Sharice Cound (field rep for Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan) reported on six bills signed into law, including AB 56 (social media mental health warnings), AB 578 (Fair Food Delivery Act), and AB 621 (AI-generated non-consensual images), and noted two vetoed bills related to menopause care and AI chatbot child safety.
Discussion Items
- Proclamation: Lung Cancer Awareness Month: Presented to representatives of the American Lung Cancer Screening Initiative at Berkeley. Statistics cited: lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide; over 230,000 diagnoses and 127,000 deaths expected in 2025; national screening rate only 18%; only 16% of high-risk Californians screened.
- Contra Costa Fire Protection District Presentation: Deputy Fire Marshal Aaron McAllister reported on Rodeo Hercules Fire District annexation (now 35 staffed stations, 41 companies), 670 total staff; 2025 aerial firefighting program (helicopter with belly tank, 232 drops, 70,000 gallons delivered, $1.8M contract with $1M from PG&E); 37 exterior fires in Walnut Creek in first half of year; average ~1,000 calls/month, mostly EMS; high call density in downtown and Rossmoor; planned $18M communication center remodel and $5M tech upgrades; purchase of 1,300 Civic Drive site for future Station 1 rebuild; EV fire incident June Jeep in below-grade parking structure (hydrogen fluoride exposure, gear replacement costly); upcoming zone zero defensible space regulations expected by year-end. Councilmember questions addressed seismic readiness, insurance challenges, and lessons from Palisades/Eaton fires.
- Sign Ordinance Update (Item 5b): Staff presented results of stakeholder outreach (23 survey responses), working group feedback from Planning and Design Review Commissions (Phil Newsom, Stephen Quok). Key themes: need for more permissive A-frame sign rules (but temporary not permanent), design flexibility, process improvements. Council provided guidance: support for more objective standards, clarity on temporary vs. permanent, focus on pedestrian-oriented areas, and improved permitting resources. No vote taken; staff will refine and return in early 2026.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar Items: Approved unanimously (see above for pulled items).
- Building Standards Code (Item 5a): Unanimously waived first reading and introduced ordinance adopting 2025 California Building Standards Code with local amendments, set public hearing for November 18, 2025.
- Residential Care Facilities Zoning (Item 6a): Unanimously waived first reading and introduced ordinance amending zoning code to implement Housing Element Program H-3.h (flexibility for residential care facilities, reduced parking). Council clarified that number of beds is regulated by the state (DSS), not the city. Motion passed 5-0.
- Gas-Powered Leaf Blower Ban (Item 6b): After public comment (many speakers supported ban, some HOAs and landscapers expressed concerns about cost and efficacy of electric blowers), council introduced the ordinance with amendments: effective date changed to April 1, 2026, and staff directed to report back on noise ordinance applicability and regional rebate opportunities at a future meeting. The ordinance will return for second reading on November 18, 2025. Motion passed 5-0.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. I am Cindy Darling, Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the Tuesday, November 4th, 2025 special meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council. Under California law, public comments and special meetings are limited to subjects on the agenda only. Therefore, public comments will be received at the time of the for the item identified bottle. After an opportunity for public comment, the city council will conduct the commission interviews. Commission interviews will not be video recorded, but can be viewed in person. And members of the public may sit in on the interviews, ask for public comment. Council reviews the questions and confirms that. Anyway, nobody's here. We are adjourned. We're going upstairs. And welcome to the 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 wanted to welcome everyone and talk briefly about the public comment process. For each agenda item, there will be an opportunity for public comment on that item. Thus, if you desire to speak to an item on the agenda this evening, please hold your comments until the city council considers that item. Additionally, we have a section on the agenda titled Public Communications, which is for public comments for items not on the agenda. Any comments during public communication should not relate to an item that is on the agenda this evening. 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 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 lectern at the appropriate time. Wait your turn, and then when you approach the lectern, please state your name, City of Residence for the record. You will 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 website for public review and are included in the meeting record, but will not be separately read into the record. Good evening. I am Cindy Darling, mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the Tuesday, November 4th regular meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the five of the United States of America. And you're probably proportional science. One nation under God, individual liberty, justice for all. City Clerk Susie Martinez, would you please call the roll? Councilmember Devini. Here. Councilmember Francois. Here. Councilmember Silva. Here, your pro tem welcome. Mayor Darling. Here. All right. And tonight, the first thing first, order of business is it is lung cancer awareness month. And we are issuing a proclamation recognizing the significant health impacts of lung cancer in our society.
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