Plan Bay Area in Walnut Creek: Big Brother or Smart Government?

Plan Bay Area, an attempt to manage the expected growth in the Bay Area through 2040, was developed by two regional agencies—the Association for Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).  The plan was approved on July 19 after a raucous and rambunctious group of 160 opponents urged its demise.

The plan was put together in response to a state law--SB 375--which requires each California community to lower greenhouse gas emissions, at least in part by planning new pedestrian-friendly housing, usually meaning apartments and condominiums, located near public transit hubs, such as BART stations. 

What is troubling to many in upscale areas like Walnut Creek and Lamorinda is the plan's requirements for a mix of very low, low, moderate, and high income homes. Opponents fear an influx of low income residents will lower property values, increase crime, and create overcrowding in schools.

The plan has its supporters in Walnut Creek, but it has also generated much opposition from those who feel their secluded, upscale way of life is under attack from unelected bodies engaged in social engineering.

The Plan Bay Area website states that each city retains the right to approve or reject individual projects based on environmental and other factors. However, zoning particular parcels of land for multi-family housing can make it more difficult for cities to reject projects without facing lawsuits from developers.

And, while cities can choose to ignore the Plan Bay Area housing numbers, they face the loss of local, state and federal transportation money if they do.

Plan Bay Area has yet to generate the kind of fervent opposition it faces in Lamorinda. Still, as its mandates for higher-density housing come before the council for approval, it's likely to get more notice from the general public. 

Walnut Creek Patch asked all five City Council members for their thoughts on the plan. Of those, three responded. Here are their thoughts. Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

Council member Bob Simmons:

It is too early to say how beneficial, if at all, this will be for Walnut Creek or the Bay Area, but, in Walnut Creek, we have already seen a benefit from the establishment of Priority Development Areas.  As a result of a grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the city initiated a process to establish a specific plan for the area known as the West Downtown. What is exciting and heartening is the sustained public interest in this process.  We have had four community workshops to date, and each has been attended by more than 100 people, and they have been thoroughly engaged in developing a vision for this area.  

You can read about this process by going to the City's website, Community Development Department and then the link for West Downtown.  

The next meeting will be sometime this fall, but it hasn't been scheduled yet.  There is a scheduled meeting for the Citizen's Advisory Committee, but this is different from the community workshops.  This is a community-driven planning process that highlights the best of the democratic processes, and it is personally rewarding to be a part of that process.

Regarding the bigger picture, while I have concerns about some aspects of the Plan Bay Area, the underlying concept of trying to connect transportation dollars with housing allocations as communities seek to implement SB 375 is exactly what we should be doing as we try to provide for the communities of the future.  I am encouraged by the positive aspects of this first effort, and I anticipate improvements in future versions of Plan Bay Area as we learn from our current efforts.

Council member Justin Wedel: 

• By adopting this plan, and with the support of our city government, total local control over land use issues have been incorrectly conceded to a regionalized government.
• The plan's one-size-fits all approach by definition removes our individuality and our ability to set our own direction, based on local control and our community needs.
• The plan fails to meet low income housing goals - based on it's own admission - ones of it's major goals.  The share of household income needed to cover housing costs is actually projected to raise under the plan, not shrink.
• The plan's conclusions and budgetary projections are grounded in grossly incorrect and/or cherry picked data   Unless the Bay Area expereiences  growth, both in public transportation and population,  never before achieved we will fail to meet projections, thus drastically increasing costs.

Council member Loella Haskew:

Under the plan, Walnut Creek retains all its local control over development.  It will be economic forces and local initiatives that establish the impact of the Plan on our community.