Walnut Creek Council Votes 3-1 For North Main Apartments

The Walnut Creek City Council put together three votes to give a go-ahead Tuesday night to an "in-fill" apartment project on North Main Street.

The council held a public hearing on the Mill Creek Residential Trust's plans for a four-story, 126-apartment building at 1960 Main St., the former site of the Walnut Creek Motor Lodge, which was demolished in May.

At 11:20 p.m., the council voted 3-1 to deny an appeal of the conditional use permit, exempt the project from a CEQA requirement for an Environmental Impact Report, and approve the conditional use permit.

Council member Kish Rajan voted no.

"The project has many positive and laudable attributes," said Rajan. "I appreciate the effort for sustainable strategies (in the plans for the building)."

But, he added, "I'm not comfortable with the project in general and the context in which it's happening. There are a meaningful number of projects coming at us in the downtown area and the potential impacts are significant."

The 1960 N. Main St. project is the first of a number coming to the city for approval in coming months and years, an anticipated 1,200 housing units in the larger area of the northern downtown. Rajan said he was concerned about traffic and public safety impacts.

The city is discussing plans to transform the Walnut Creek BART station into a pedestrian-friendly transit village, complete with 600 apartment units, commercial space and a six-level parking garage.

Council member Kristina Lawson had recused herself from the discussion and the vote because of a previous employer's relationship with the applicant.

Council member Bob Simmons said it was a dispute among experts for the applicant and for the appellant (the Carpenters Union Local 152, which in August appealed a conditional use permit granted by Walnut Creek's Planning Commission). In such a dispute, Simmons said, he relied on the counsel of the city's "able and qualified" staff, which recommended the council deny the union's appeal.

Mayor Cindy Silva was definite. "This is a very good project, reflective of what we want to do," she said. "If we are bringing additional people into Walnut Creek, we need to know where we will house them."

Investment

It was an appropriate project to put residences near BART and downtown corridors, she said, and it is consistent with the city's general plan. It will generate jobs in Walnut Creek and the developer is willing to invest $35 million in the downtown, Silva pointed out.

Earlier in the debate, a lawyer for the carpenters union cited the potential of 1,200 housing units in the pipeline with the prospect of adding traffic to Ygnacio Valley Road and argued for an Environmental Impact Report. "We're out to ensure that adverse impacts are adequately analyzed and mitigated," said Richard Drury.

Walnut Creek lawyer Wilson Wendt spoke on behalf of the applicant. He noted that the apartment plan was projected to add 81 trips on Ygnacio Valley Road in the afternoon peak hour, below the 100-trip threshold mentioned in the city's general plan to trigger CEQA review.

In the public hearing, Derek Anderson of the Greenbelt Alliance supported the project. He said the alliance advocated such "livable, compact, transit-accessible opportunities."

Walnut Creek resident Steve Campi said the "elephant in the room," not being mentioned, was which general contractor the developer would use, presumably one that would not hire union labor and had thus attracted the attention of the carpenters union.