CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSION
SPECIAL JOINT MEETING
Special Meeting March 18, 2026
6:30 P.M. Antioch Community Center
6:30 P.M. – SPECIAL MEETING/STUDY SESSION
Mayor Bernal called the Special Meeting to order at 6:34 P.M., and City Clerk Mandy called the roll.
Present: Council Members District 2 Rocha, District 4 Wilson, Mayor Pro Tem (District 3 Freitas and Mayor Bernal
Commissioners Aguillard, Riley, Perez, Vice Chairperson Jones, Chairperson Webber
Absent: Councilmember District 1 Torres-Walker, Commissioner Spijker and Commissioner Suman (arrived at 6:35 P.M.)
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Mayor Bernal led the Pledge of Allegiance.
STUDY SESSION
1. HOUSING ELEMENT POLICY IMPLEMENTATION DISCUSSION INCLUDING
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT INCENTIVES AND OBJECTIVE DESIGN
STANDARDS
Interim Planning and Economic Development Director Storer, Associate Planner Tinclair and Assistant Planner Boyd presented the Housing Element, American with Disabilities Act Incentives, Objective Design Standards staff report and PowerPoint presentation recommending the City Council and Planning Commission provide feedback on the Americans with Disabilities Act Incentives and Objective Design Standards.
Americans With Disabilities Act Incentives
Assistant Planner Boyd, Principal Planner Scudero and Interim Planning and Economic Development Director Storer responded to inquiries from Council and the Planning Commission regarding the Americans With Disabilities Act Incentives.
Councilmember Freitas expressed concern about the modified parking requirements noting that reducing availability, size and covered parking was an issue for those with disabilities.
He suggested staff visit these types of developments to determine the practicality and impact of incentives. He also expressed concern regarding the appropriateness of the revised common open space requirement.
ANTIOCH CITY COUNCIL
PLANNING COMMISSION
Special Joint Meeting
March 18, 2026 Page 2 of 4
Commissioner Aguillard requested universal design be considered to provide enough qualified options for people with disabilities.
Commissioner Riley felt that reducing guest parking to facilitate more units would be a good incentive for developers.
Councilmember Wilson thanked staff for the report and stated her priority was making sure the incentives result ed in more accessible units and that those units remain accessible in perpetuity.
Chairperson Webber requested staff provide building code standards for accessible units within inclusionary housing as well as how near the accessible units needed to be to parking.
Interim Community Development and Economic Development Director Storer provided the ADA parking requirements.
Councilmember Freitas discussed the importance of ensuring that the reduction in fees for assessable units would be legally defensible.
Mayor Bernal speaking to the incentive to modify the maximum building height, stated that he believed increasing the height to 55 feet would be catastrophic for adjacent development.
He commented that if fee waivers were considered, the impacts needed to be studied. He requested staff provide the Council and Planning Commission with a list of the developers who participated in the meeting. He agreed with Councilmember Freitas that it would be beneficial to look at a project that had similar concessions.
Following discussion, Principal Planner Scudero stated the consensus of the City Council and Planning Commission was to bring this item into to the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance and General Plan Update discussions.
Objective Design Standards
Councilmember Freitas expressed concern s regarding the architectural design of recent projects in Antioch and the current design guidelines, noting that the existing language was subjective and that the provided examples did not accurately represent projects in Antioch.
He emphasized the need fo r clearer Objective Design Standards and suggested that the photographs should either depict Antioch or include references indicating their locations.
Councilmember Rocha and Commissioner Aguillard agreed with Councilmember Freitas.
Mayor Bernal stated revisiting the Objective Design Standards could be added to the general plan process; however, it needed to be a priority.
ANTIOCH CITY COUNCIL
PLANNING COMMISSION
Special Joint Meeting
March 18, 2026 Page 3 of 4
Interim Planning and Economic Development Director Storer stated he would work with staff to identify a possible funding source for updating the Objective Design Standards and determine if they could merge them all into one document.
Acting Director of Community Development Scudero stated staff could reach out to consultants to get an estimate of costs; however, if direction was to re write the guidelines completely, it would be a much more involved process.
Councilmember Freitas replied that the City needed to make a strategic investment to positively influence the community. He emphasized that this effort should be a collaborative initiative involving the City Council, Planning Commission, and staff.
Mayor Bernal stated that Council needed to be informed of the state density bonus law waivers and concessions.
Principal Planner Scudero commented that, regardless of how well the Objective Design Guidelines were defined, they would not prevent a developer from submitting a project eligible for waivers under state density bonus law.
Commissioner Jones requested a list of the concessions and waivers currently being utilized, in order to strategically incorporate standards that would help mitigate their impact.
Commissioner Riley stated that he believed the design standards could be improved; however, he cautioned against establishing restrictions that might discourage developers from choosing to build in Antioch.
Councilmember Freitas expressed concern that the state possesses authority that exceeds that of local government.
Chairperson Webber agreed with Councilmember Freitas and spoke in support of raising the standard.
In response to Mayor Bernal, Associate Planner Tinclair provided an update on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Transit Oriented Communities Policy (TOC), and grants received by the City.
Joel Keller former BART Director and former Antioch Mayor and Councilmember provided a brief background of BART service to Pittsburg and Antioch. He also discussed the impact of the Antioch BART station closing.
Interim Planning and Economic Development Director Storer provided the parking requirements within the housing element. He summarized that the direction from the City Council and Planning Commission this evening was to direct staff to seek a funding source for the creation of new objective design standards.
ANTIOCH CITY COUNCIL
PLANNING COMMISSION
Special Joint Meeting
March 18, 2026 Page 4 of 4
Councilmember Freitas reiterated that he believed the creation of new Objective Design Standards should include input from staff, Planning Commission, City Council and the public.
ADJOURNMENT
On motion by Councilmember Wilson, seconded by Commissioner Suman, the City Council and Planning Commission unanimously adjourned the meeting at 8:40 P.M.
Respectfully submitted:
Kitty Eiden
KITTY EIDEN, Minutes Clerk