440 Home Ranch Project to Be Discussed by Antioch City Council

On Tuesday, the Antioch City Council will discuss phase one of The Ranch Project which consist of 440 residential lots and a mix-used component, a fire station, 6.6 acres of parkland, stormwater detention area and roadways.

The project is being proposed by Richland Planned Communities who are now requesting approval for phase 1 of the overall project.

The project site is located within the Sand Creek Focus Area of the General Plan, which contains lands designated by the Antioch General Plan for open space, residential, commercial, and mixed-use development. The project site is surrounded by a single-family residential subdivision to the north, undeveloped land to the south, Deer Valley Road and Kaiser Permanente Antioch Medical Center to the east, and undeveloped land to the west.

The Ranch Project will be completed in three phases

Staff Report

The applicant for The Ranch Project submitted its first preliminary development plan (PDP) in fall of 2015 for the construction of a master plan containing 1,667 residential dwelling units, including hillside estates, a number of parks, a commercial area, and the 2.00-acre fire station site.

At an early Planning Commission workshop on the PDP, numerous residents opposed the project as being too dense and too impactful on hillsides and traffic. Local citizens and an environmental group led the charge to try to significantly reduce the size of the original project proposal. A year later, in response to insights shared by Planning Commissioners and the public, the applicant submitted a second PDP reducing the unit count to maximum of 1,307, including optional senior housing in the plan area to help reduce impacts to noise, air and traffic, as well as a reduced number of units to be constructed on the hillsides.

The revised plan was better received by the Planning Commission and the project applicant proceeded to submit a formal application in June 2017. The City commenced environmental review of the project and released a Draft EIR in March 2018 for public review and comment.

However, in February 2018, a local environmental group filed a Notice of Intent to circulate an initiative petition known as the “Let Antioch Voters Decide Initiative: The Sand Creek Area Protection Initiative” (“Let Antioch Voters Decide Initiative”). Subsequently, in April 2018, a citizen’s initiative known as the “West Sand Creek Open Space Protection, Public Safety Enhancement, and Development Restriction Initiative” (“West Sand Creek Initiative”) was also submitted. Both initiatives covered the same approximately 1,852-acre portion of the Sand Creek Focus Area west of Deer Valley Road, which includes the project site and other parcels. Both initiatives obtained the requisite number of voter signatures to qualify for the ballot, and both initiatives were submitted to the City Council on July 24, 2018, for the Council’s consideration pursuant to Elections Code, Section 9215. After careful consideration, the Council unanimously voted to adopt the West Sand Creek Initiative and requested a 9212 Report (an analysis of the impacts of an initiative) on the Let Antioch Voters Decide Initiative.

The Let Antioch Voters Decide Initiative was eventually adopted by the Council on August 28, 2018. On or about October 18, 2018, two legal actions were filed against each initiative. On May 31, 2019, the trial court determined that the Let Antioch Voters Decide Initiative could not be adopted by the City Council after it had previously adopted the West Sand Creek Initiative and that the initiative must be placed on the ballot. The City Council voted on June 9, 2020 to place the Let Antioch Voters Decide Initiative on the November 3, 2020 ballot. On November 21, 2019, the trial court invalidated the West Sand Creek Initiative on the grounds that the City Council’s approval of a development agreement was invalid and could not be severed from the remainder of the West Sand Creek Initiative.

The applicant therefore revised The Ranch Project for a third time to be consistent with the Council-adopted West Sand Creek Initiative and prepared a new EIR, which was certified by the Antioch City Council on July 28, 2020. The Ranch Project is consistent with the West Sand Creek Initiative, including the overall maximum buildout potential, land plan, and circulation. The proposed development of the Phase I area of The Ranch Project site would be generally consistent with what was previously analyzed for the site in the 2020 EIR prepared for The Ranch Project.

The Antioch City Council approved the following entitlements for The Ranch Project on July 28, 2020:

• Certification of The Ranch Project Environmental Impact Report, adopting Findings of Fact, a Statement of Overriding Consideration, and a Mitigation and Monitoring and Reporting Program;
• Approval of a General Plan Amendment;
• Approval of a Rezone of the project site to Planned Development and adoption of the development standards;
• Adoption of the Master Development Plan, Planned Development Design Guidelines, and a Resource Management Plan; and
• Approval of a Development Agreement between the City of Antioch and Richland Planned Communities, Inc.

Recommended Action -the following actions:

1. Introduce, by title only, and waive the first reading of the Planned Development Guidelines Ordinance.
2. Adopt the Resolution approving the Master Development Plan Amendment.
3. Adopt the Resolution approving two Vesting Tentative Maps, a Use Permit and Design Review.

CEQA: Environmental Impact Report for The Ranch Project was approved by the Antioch City Council in July 2020

Antioch City Council Meeting
June 27, 2023
200 H St, Antioch CA

• 5:00 pm – closed session
• 6:00 pm – Special Meeting
• 7:00 pm – Regular meeting
• Agenda – click here