Walnut Creek City Council Special Study Session and Regular Meeting - July 21, 2026
Walnut Creek City Council Special Study Session and Regular Meeting - July 21, 2026
The Walnut Creek City Council held a special study session at 4:00 PM and a regular meeting at 6:00 PM on July 21, 2026, at City Hall. The study session kicked off the 2050 General Plan Update, with no formal action taken. The regular meeting included a consent calendar, public hearing, and consideration of user fee policies and a citizen-initiated ballot measure for the Walnut Creek Senior Housing Transit Village, ultimately placing the measure on the November general election ballot. The meeting adjourned at 10:40 PM in memory of former Councilmember Sue Rainey.
Consent Calendar
- Approved (unanimously, 5-0): Consent Calendar Items 2a-f, including approval of June 16, 2026 meeting minutes, acceptance of warrant registers, adoption of Resolution 26-41 (Salary and Wage Plan), adoption of Resolution 26-42 (Subdivision 9698 Final Map at 1948 3rd Avenue), authorization of a 5-year exclusive beverage concession agreement with Agave Grill Corp DBA JR Catering & Events (not-to-exceed $750,000), and increased construction contingency for Contract 26-01 (Shadelands and Wiget Green Infrastructure Improvement project) to $118,650, acceptance of work, and authorization to file Notice of Completion.
- Item 2g (unanimously approved separately): Appointment of Mayor Kevin Wilk as Voting Delegate and Councilmembers Cindy Silva and Craig DeVinney as Alternate Voting Delegates for the League of California Cities Annual Conference Business Meeting.
- Item 2h (unanimously approved separately): Adoption of Proclamation declaring July 17, 2026 as Port Chicago Remembrance Day in Walnut Creek.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Study Session: No public comments were received.
- Regular Meeting: No speakers were present for Public Communications (items not on the agenda). Written comments were posted online.
- Public Hearing (Tourism BID): No public comments or written protests were received.
- User Fee Policy: No public comments were received.
- Senior Housing Initiative: One member of the public, Mark Hall (chairman of the campaign committee and principal owner of the Ignacio Center site), spoke in favor of the initiative. He argued that the project would allow the owners to improve the entire block by undergrounding a parking garage and creating a mixed-use commercial center, benefiting the North Downtown area. He noted the office market vacancy and stated the initiative was a first step. Cecily Barclay, land use attorney for the proponents, also provided clarifying technical details. No other public comments were received.
Discussion Items
- 2050 General Plan Update (Study Session): Principal Planner Crystal De Castro and consultant Eric Yurkovich (Alta Planning + Design) presented the process and engagement strategy. Council members shared one-word descriptors for Walnut Creek today (resilient, family, community, welcoming, livability) and for 2050 (connected, family, community, adaptable, livability). Pressing issues identified included transportation and mobility, economic vitality, climate change, public safety, and meeting housing needs. Council stressed the importance of flexibility, regional cooperation, and youth engagement. Success metrics included high participation, an adaptable document, and community ownership. No formal action was taken.
- Proposed User Fee Cost Recovery Policy and FY27 Master Fee Schedule: Administrative Services Director Kirsten LaCasse presented the draft policy and fee schedule. Key refinements included a four-tier cost recovery framework (community benefit, community & individual benefit, individual benefit - voluntary, individual benefit - non-voluntary), a proposed 10% resident discount for applicable fees, annual inflationary adjustments, and market-based pricing. Council provided input and direction:
- Resident Discount: Council directed that the resident discount be limited to residents of the incorporated City of Walnut Creek, not including unincorporated areas with a Walnut Creek address. Councilmembers Darling, DeVinney, Francois, and Silva supported this; Mayor Wilk preferred including unincorporated residents, but the majority held.
- Cost Recovery Target: Council asked staff to study and return during the next budget cycle with information on an overall cost recovery target (percentage of subsidy from General Fund). A top-down target was not set tonight.
- Other: Staff was directed to clean up terminology (prefer "discount" over "preferential pricing") and to address consistency for nonprofit and grandfathered groups.
- Fee schedule adoption is scheduled for August 18, 2026, with an effective date of January 1, 2027.
- Walnut Creek Senior Housing Transit Village Initiative (Elections Code 9212 Report): City Attorney Steve Mattas and Assistant City Manager Charles Ching introduced the matter. Jim Simon (RSG) presented the 9212 Report findings. The initiative would rezone a 2.4-acre site at N. California Blvd. and Ygnacio Valley Road to create a new Mixed Use - Residential Senior & Commercial (MURSC) zone, allowing senior housing by right. Key fiscal findings: one-time implementation cost ~$250,000; net annual fiscal benefit ranging from ~$191,000 (225 senior units, no commercial) to ~$469,000 (280 senior units with 60,000 sq ft commercial). The site is not the subject of a current development application. Council discussed legal constraints, density bonus implications (20% density bonus available for senior housing by itself), consistency with the North Downtown Specific Plan (including street sections and setback requirements), and the inability to amend the initiative without voter or applicant consent. No formal decision on the measure was made during the discussion; the vote followed public comment.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar and other routine items: Unanimously approved as noted above.
- Public Hearing - Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID): Resolution 26-43 adopted unanimously, levying annual assessments for FY2027. No protests were received.
- User Fee Cost Recovery Policy & Master Fee Schedule: Council provided direction to staff to refine the policy and fee schedule, with the following specifics:
- Resident discount applies to incorporated Walnut Creek residents only.
- Staff to return with an analysis of a potential overall cost recovery target (General Fund subsidy percentage) during the next budget cycle.
- Adopt consistent terminology (use "discount").
- Staff to address implementation for social clubs and nonprofit rates.
- The policy and final FY27 Master Fee Schedule will be presented for adoption at the August 18, 2026 meeting.
- Senior Housing Transit Village Initiative: Council adopted Resolution 26-44 (as amended) to place the initiative on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot. The resolution was amended to (1) remove Section 8 (authorizing ballot arguments) – council opted not to file a council argument; (2) modify Section 2 to direct that the full text of the initiative NOT be printed in the sample ballot, instead providing a statement that the measure is available upon request from the City Clerk’s office (per Elections Code §9280). Council also directed staff to post the full text of the initiative on the city’s website. The vote was unanimous (5-0).
- Adjournment: The regular meeting was adjourned at 10:40 PM in memory of former Councilmember Sue Rainey.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. I'm Kevin Wilk, mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the Tuesday, July 21st, 2026 special meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council. This special meeting is called for the purpose of holding a study session related to the following 2050 general plan update City Council kickoff. Under California law, public comments at special meetings are limited to subjects on the agenda only. Therefore, public comments will be received during the item identified. And I'd like to invite a principal planner, Crystal DeCastro to provide the presentation. Good evening, Mayor Well, and that's why members of the council. I'm Crystal Z Castro, Principal Planner and Project Manager for the General Plan Update. Tonight marks the beginning of an important effort to update Walnut Creek's General Plan, our community's long-range blueprint that will help guide the city's future through 2050. Our current general plan was adopted in 2006, so that was about 20 years ago. So since then, Walnut Creek has evolved, state regulations have changed, and now there's new opportunities and challenges that have emerged. This update is an opportunity to take a thoughtful look at where we are today and work together to develop a shared vision for the future. So we're excited to be here tonight to have this conversation with council and the community. So let's take a look at tonight's agenda. First, we'll provide an overview of the general plan update and process and how we're approaching the work. Second, we'll talk about engagement strategies and what we've heard so far to date, and um what we're hearing from the community and the stakeholders. And finally, we'll have a discussion on key issues and outcomes for the general plan process, which will help shape the direction of the update. Since this is a study session, we're not asking counsel for any type of decision or uh formal action tonight, and nothing like that is being requested. So with that, I'll turn it over to Eric Yerkovic with Alta Planning and Design, the city's general plan consultant, who's gonna go through the update and lead us through the discussion. So, Eric. Uh good evening, council members. Um my name is Eric Yerkovich. I'm a principal at ALTA Planning and Design. Super happy to be back with you this evening. Um, as Crystal said, this is a really exciting opportunity for us to have an opportunity to begin a conversation with council about the general plan update to really root it in our shared values for the future. Um California requires that every community in the state maintain and periodically update their general plans. These are really roadmaps for the future. Everything from our homes and our neighborhoods to our roads to the services we provide to parks and open space, they're all part of the sort of thoughtful planning processes going forward. Once adopted, the general plan becomes a document to really help guide decision making by the city council, by commissions, by staff on issues around land use, transportation and mobility, housing, and other uh issues of community concern. The plan itself sets forth a 20-year vision for the future, building on the assets and great things about the community, but also addressing the challenges and vulnerabilities that every community faces in the future. But what I like to say about a general plan is not it's not just about planning for the future, it's about making sure that we understand the pressing concerns and issues today, and that we tie together those future vision goals, strategies that we implement in the general plan with the concerns of community members today, so that everybody can have a chance to participate in thinking about the future. Now, California law requires that every community address those mandatory elements on the left side of your screen there. Um the city recently adopted two of those elements and updates, uh both the safety element and the housing element, and we're not going to be updating those through this process. Um we are also going to be talking about those other issues of community concern. So we're going to be talking about arts and culture, healthy communities, economic development, and more. So while general plan law is very rigorous in some ways, it's very open that we get to talk about issues that are of community importance. Now, I think at the heart of every general plan update is an update to the land use and mobility plan for the community. The land use really is the organizational feature for a community where we think about how spaces come together. So, where do we put homes and neighborhoods? Where are community amenities and businesses going? How do we mix them together? Those land use decisions affect a lot of everyday choices that individual members of the community make. So how we travel, our health and sustainability, the places where we gather, socialize, and recreate within a community. So it's important when we talk about the general plan to make sure that we share out what how it actually impacts individuals' daily lives in the work that we do. Our job through this general plan process isn't to start from scratch. There's a ton of work that's already been done here in Walnut Creek that we're really here to build upon. So it's our team's job to honor the work that you've done as commission as council commissions and community members, lift that up, learn from the lessons learned in those processes, refine the goals, the policies and the implementation activities within the general plan to reflect those. So our goal is really to build on all that great work that you've done through all of your planning and implementation initiatives here within the city. Now, because general plan updates last three to five years, sometimes eight if you're unlucky. We try and really break the process down into these sort of digestible chunks where we're doing certain technical analysis and then community engagement at the same time.
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