BIA|Bay Area continues to oppose a move in Walnut Creek to eliminate a key regulatory provision that has led to the construction of hundreds of housing units that might not otherwise have been built. The City Council is is seeking to end the city’s longstanding practice of allowing the use of the conditional use permit to convert commercial properties for residential uses. Instead, city officials want to require developers to pursue the more difficult General Plan amendment process. The Walnut Creek Planning Commission has twice recommended the city craft a more nuanced approach that would preserve the option at a time when the region faces an unprecedented housing shortage.
Click here to read BIA|Bay Area East Bay Executive Director Lisa Vorderbrueggen’s letter to the Planning Commission on Dec. 17, 2015. The City Council is expected to consider the issue in January.
