Breaking the deadlock

A new urbanist plan unites public officials, citizens, and developers over a contentious transit-oriented project in the San Francisco Bay area. The extensive surface parking around the transit station in Pleasant Hill, California, has been the subject of potential development plans for 20 years. Located at the end of the line of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, the transit authority wanted to more fully utilize the 18-acre site. But every plan put forward by developers — including a retail/entertainment project with a “megaplex” cinema and a single-use office development — were vehemently opposed by residents because they generated too much traffic. Meanwhile, Contra Costa County, where Pleasant Hill is located, constricted its urban growth boundary in 2000, moving 14,000 acres out of reach of developers. This decision increased pressure for infill development, especially on sites that are connected to transit and can minimize auto use in the increasingly congested area. Supervisor Donna Gerber, a proponent of the growth limits, heard author Peter Katz speak about the New Urbanism, and the county subsequently hired him as a consultant. Then the county hired Lennertz Coyle & Associates of Portland, Oregon, to create a new urbanist specific plan in a charrette which took place earlier this year. The plan — which is going through entitlement — mixes residential, retail, and office uses in the form of a pedestrian-scale town center, which the suburban area lacks. The plan calls for 38,000 square feet of retail, 255 residential units (205 rental, 50 for-sale), 553,000 square feet of office, and 5,000 square feet of civic buildings. The plan also takes advantage of special site features. The Pleasant Hill station is at the juncture of two regional corridors — the BART rail line and the Iron Horse Trail, a 60-mile swath of open space on an abandoned rail line. On the horizon is Mount Diablo, a 3,800 ft. high peak in a nearby state park The plan envisions a small square adjacent to the rail station, connected to a linear park which terminates with a view of the mountain and a connection with the Iron Horse Trail. The project will serve as a “front door” to the trail, according to Katz, giving a place for recreational users to hop on and off the trail, perhaps grabbing a bite to eat at a restaurant on the square. The trail, meanwhile, is a major amenity for future residents. The developers, Millennium Partners and Mohr Financial, will be able to charge a premium for residential units because of the rare combination of access to open space and transit, according to Dena Belzer, the financial consultant for the project. “The project designed through the charrette is definitely feasible from an economic standpoint,” says Belzer. “And it meets the community’s demand for an urban village rather than a suburban project.” The county agreed to pay for the cost of the replacement of nearly 1,500 surface parking spaces with structured parking. This decision lowered costs enough for the developers that they agreed to include residential and retail uses in the project — instead of just office space, which they previously wanted. The county, in turn, was granted most of the ground lease revenues from BART, the owner of the land. The county also benefits from future tax revenues — which go to the county redevelopment agency for 25 years, and then into the general coffers. BART gets increased ridership. The office space will create demand for reverse commuting, which is expected to utilize underfilled trains in the morning and evening. Also, more people will be able to walk to trains, and a planned shuttle bus system will reduce the driving needs of BART users who live within a mile of the station, freeing up more spaces for people who live farther away. Full lots currently discourage people who otherwise might use BART, Belzer says. The project is likely a year away from final approval, because it deviates from the county’s plan for the site in terms of density and setbacks, Gerber says. But support for the plan is strong, she says. “This is by far the best plan from the public’s perspective,” she says. It has the potential to become an important model for transit-oriented development in the Bay area. “It will show developers and citizens that there is a more sustainable, better way to do things,” Gerber explains.