Antioch Residents Seek to Stop “The Ranch” and Save Sand Creek

On Thursday, residents of Antioch, in conjunction with Save Mt. Diablo are holding what they are calling a community forum to discuss “The Ranch” Development and Sand Creek.

The forum will be held at 7:00 pm on February 23 at Prewett Community Park, 4703 Lone Tree Way. The forum in partnership with Antioch residents and organizational allies such as Greenbelt Alliance, the Sierra Club and California Native Plant Society.

According to Juan Pablo Galvan of Save Mt. Diablo,  the main purpose of the forum is to inform local residents about proposed development south of Lone Tree Way and let them know how they can influence the process and make their voices heard.

The two main projects that will be discussed are:

1. ‘The Ranch’ development project: a proposal by Richland Communities for about 1,300 single-family houses over 550 acres, spanning the area between Empire Mine Rd and Deer Valley Rd.
2. Sand Creek Focus Area plan: a land use update to Antioch’s General Plan by the City of Antioch that could call for more than 4,000 houses to be built across four square miles of land that is currently almost entirely devoid of development, spanning from Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve to Brentwood. ‘The Ranch’ project would be located in, and influenced by, the Sand Creek Focus Area plan.

According to the flyer being distributed:

Antioch City Council and Southern California developers are considering opening the floodgates to massive sprawl development right in our own backyard—with more than 4,000 new housing units on beautiful unspoiled ranchlands south of Lone Tree Way in what the city calls the “Sand Creek Focus Area.” The city is also rushing to approve 1,300 housing units on the same land for a project cynically dubbed “The Ranch.” This would be one of the largest sprawl developments in the entire Bay Area, causing:

• Decreased property values
• Horrendous traffic and congestion in our neighborhoods
• Stretching police and fire services even thinner
• Destruction of our hills, watersheds, and wildlife
• Losing our limited water supplies forever

When asked why the organizers believe the City is rushing this project, even though its been on the books for more than a decade, here is the explanation given by Galvan:

1. More than 2,000 building permits have been approved in Antioch but not yet built. This while less than 40 permits were used last year, and only 50 are expected to be used in 2017. With such a backlog, is planning 4,000 more at this time the right thing to do?
2. Residents and several officials have repeatedly asked for more community engagement, such as city workshops, in the neighborhoods most affected by the proposed development. This has yet to occur, with only one Planning Commission meeting/workshop held in January 2016.
3. Despite only one workshop having taken place, over 70 people attended and provided input. More outreach should be done (hence our forum), but the feedback already given (see stats from workshop, cited in previous SMD comment letter, below) should be taken into account in plan preparation. This has so far not occurred, especially when one looks at participant feedback related to regional parks and hillside protection, and time should be devoted to correct this. As the process has gone on, less of the hills has been proposed to be protected, not more.
   1. 76% of respondents frequently use regional parks, and 82% stated they would be more likely to use a regional park with trails and access to nature than a typical local neighborhood park.
   2. 74% would use a walking/biking trail along Sand Creek.
   3. 84% believe they are often or mostly stuck in traffic on Lone Tree Way.
   4. 83% feel preserved hillsides without housing is more beneficial than housing on the hills.
   5. Preservation of natural areas and hillside preservation are, by far, respondents’ highest priorities.

If you go
7:00 pm on February 23 at the Prewett Community Park located at 4703 Lone Tree Way, Antioch.