To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: General Plan Amendment (GPA) process to consider changing the General Plan land use designation from Heavy Industry HI to Residential Medium Density RM, County File #CDGP25-00002
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. AUTHORIZE initiation of a General Plan amendment (GPA) process to evaluate changing the General Plan land use designation from Heavy Industry (HI) and Public and Semi-Public (PS) to Residential Medium Density (RM) or Residential Medium-High Density (RMH) on an approximately 5.15-acre parcel located between Central Avenue and Michele Drive, approximately 80 feet east of the terminus of Jane Court, in the unincorporated Martinez area of Vine Hill, Assessor's Parcel Number 380-030-045. (County File #CDGP25-00002)
2. ACKNOWLEDGE that granting this authorization does not suggest any sort of endorsement of an application to amend the General Plan, but only the matter is appropriate for consideration.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None. If the authorization is granted, the project applicant will pay application fees to cover the cost of processing the GPA.
BACKGROUND:
Site and Area Description
The subject site is an approximately 5.15-acre vacant parcel located on the eastern edge of the Vine Hill community. Immediately west and south are single-family residences, while immediately east is a Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) parcel containing two large water tanks. To the north is a solid waste transfer station. Farther afield are a refinery, landfill, concrete batch plant, and other industrial operations, as well as the Martinez Gun Club. The site itself is long and narrow, sloping downward from east to west. Trees line portions of the perimeter. Access appears to be available from Michele Drive and Central Avenue. Attachment B is an aerial photo of the site and its immediate surroundings.
The site’s General Plan land use designations are HI and PS, and its zoning is Heavy Industrial (H-I). All properties to the north and east are designated HI/H-I except the CCWD parcel, which has a PS land use designation. To the west and south are properties designated RM and zoned R-6 Single-Family Residential District.
Project Description
The applicant, Discovery Builders, is asking the County to consider changing the General Plan land use designation of the subject site from HI and PS to RM, which allows a density of 7-17 units per net acre, in support of a proposal to subdivide the site into 65 residential lots and 4 common area parcels (see Attachment A). The proposed plans show the townhouse lots ranging from 952 to 1,621 square feet in area, with an average lot size of 1,270 square feet. Development would consist of 12, three-story townhouse-style multifamily residential buildings, situated on either side of a proposed 20-foot-wide paved private roadway within a 29-foot-wide private access easement (identified on the Vesting Tentative Map [VTM] as Lot A) extending in a north-south direction from an existing 50-foot-wide private access easement along Michele Drive. The proposal includes Parcels A through D, the common area parcels, having a combined area of 2.71 acres and identified on the VTM for site access, drainage, and landscaped buffer area. Attachments C, D, and E depict the proposed subdivision, residential buildings, and conceptual landscaping, respectively.
Staff Review
Impacted Community: The 2045 General Plan identifies Vine Hill and Mountain View as Impacted Communities (aka “disadvantaged communities”) under Senate Bill 1000, which requires the County to integrate environmental justice into the General Plan. This law is founded on the understanding that certain communities have experienced a combination of historic discrimination, neglect, and political and economic disempowerment. Often, this has resulted in a disproportionate burden of pollution and health impacts and disproportionate social and economic disadvantages in these communities.
Given the subject site’s proximity to several intense industrial operations, future residents may be at higher risk of exposure to harmful substances in the air, water, and soil, as well as odors. CalEnviroScreen 4.0, the current iteration of the California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool, ranks the census tract containing the subject site as 90-100th percentile in concentration of toxic releases, density of hazardous waste facilities, and proximity to solid waste sites, among other impacted community indicators.
The Vine Hill and Mountain View Community Profile in the Stronger Communities Element of the General Plan articulates the priority the General Plan places on preventing adverse health impacts. Guiding Principle 6 states, “Residents should be protected from adverse health impacts associated with traffic congestion along Highway 4 and Interstate 680,” while Guiding Principle 7 states, “Mountain View and Vine Hill residents should live in a healthy environment safe from short- and long-term air quality and health hazards associated with industrial facilities in and near the community.” As such, the proposed project must adequately address potential impacts to future residents and provide measures that substantially protect them from health hazards identified in the General Plan, CalEnviroScreen, and other relevant sources.
Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA)/Housing Needs: For the 2023-2031 6th Cycle Housing Element, the County received a RHNA of 7,610 housing units at varying levels of affordability. The Community Profile’s Guiding Principle 5 states, “The affordability and variety of the existing housing stock should be maintained and enhanced.” The applicant proposes to extend the existing neighborhood eastward and introduce townhouses, a housing type not found in the area. The project would be subject to the County’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance.
Safety: The project site is not located in a designated high or very high fire hazard severity zone (FHSZ), earthquake fault zone, or flood zone, but it is in a liquefaction zone and proximate to multiple industrial facilities that handle hazardous waste and emit pollutants, as described above. Accessibility, evacuation, and other safety-oriented policies in the General Plan must be considered as the project is reviewed, especially with this portion of Vine Hill having only single-road access.
Other Considerations: Staff notes that if the project is approved it may be appropriate to redesignate Parcels B, C, and D from HI to Resource Conservation (RC). Parcel B is the proposed location of a detention basin and Parcels C and D would be very steep if graded as proposed. The RC designation has several applications, one of which is to preclude areas such as these from further development. However, redesignating these parcels to RC instead of the requested RM would reduce the acreage designated for residential use, thereby changing the density calculation to yield a higher density across the area dedicated for residential use (though the unit count wouldn’t change). Because the project is already proposed near the upper end of the density range for the property at an estimated 15.78 units per net acre, it ultimately may be appropriate to redesignate the 65 residential lots and Parcel A (containing the private roadway) to RMH to reflect the true density of the area where the residences would be concentrated. The exact configuration of the land use designations will be determined through the entitlement review process.
Also, Michele Drive crosses the site near its northern end and provides access to the CCWD water tanks on the adjacent parcel to the east. Coordination with CCWD will be necessary to ensure that access to the tanks is not disrupted if the project reaches the construction phase. Furthermore, retaining the PS land use designation along Michele Drive may be appropriate in order to highlight the existence of CCWD’s access rights.
Conclusion
The subject site is adjacent to an existing neighborhood and in an area presumed to be impacted by nearby industrial uses. Staff recognizes, however, that CalEnviroScreen rankings are formulated at the census tract level and different areas within the same census tract may be affected differently by external environmental factors. It is reasonable to allow the GPA process to move forward so that the subject site can be studied more precisely. Analysis of the project must consider the substantial list of environmental justice and community health policies found throughout the elements of the 2045 General Plan. The applicant should be aware that exposing future residents to substantial pollutant concentrations and other conditions that may lead to adverse health outcomes is inconsistent with the policy guidance in the 2045 General Plan. The burden is on the applicant to demonstrate that the subject site is an appropriate location for residential development. Staff emphasizes that authorization to proceed with the GPA process does not imply staff’s or the Board's support for an application to amend the General Plan, but only that this matter is appropriate for further consideration.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the Board does not authorize initiation of the GPA process, then an application to amend the General Plan cannot be filed and the subject site will retain its HI land use designation. The proposed residential project could not move forward.