Pinole City Council
February 9, 2026

1 February 9, 2026
1 2
3 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
4 PINOLE PLANNING COMMISSION
5 6 February 9, 2026
7 8 THIS MEETING WAS HELD IN A HYBRID FORMAT
9 BOTH IN-PERSON AND ZOOM TELECONFERENCE
10 11
12 A. CALL TO ORDER: 7:00 p.m.
13 14 B. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
15 16 C. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Before we begin, we would like to acknowledge the 17 Ohlone people, who are the traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respects to 18 the Ohlone elders, past, present and future, who call this place, Ohlone Land, the land 19 that Pinole sits upon, their home. We are proud to continue their tradition of coming 20 together and growing as a community. We thank the Ohlone community for their 21 stewardship and support, and we look forward to strengthening our ties as we continue 22 our relationship of mutual respect and understanding. 23 24 D. ROLL CALL
25 26 Commissioners Present: Bender, Huey, Martinez, Uch, Vice-Chairperson Menis and 27 Chairperson Sandoval
28 29 Commissioners Excused: Lam-Julian
30 31 Staff Present: David Hanham, Planning Manager
32 Heba El-Guindy, Public Works Director
33 Justin Shiu, Associate Planner
34 35 Vice-Chairperson Menis reported on his ex-parté communications to his email list about the 36 topics on the meeting agenda.
37 38 E. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD
39 40 There were no comments from the public.
41 42 F. MEETING MINUTES
43 44 1. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes for January 26, 2026 45 46 MOTION with a Roll Call vote to approve the Planning Commission Meeting Minutes for 47 January 26, 2026, as shown.
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1 MOTION: Sandoval SECONDED: Menis APPROVED: 5-0-1-1
2 ABSTAIN: Martinez
3 ABSENT: Lam-Julian
4 5 G. PUBLIC HEARINGS:
6 7 1. SM26-0001 Subdivision of Parcel Located at 2860 Pinole Valley Road (APN:
8 430-330-027) for Land Dedication Trail to the City of Pinole 9 10 Planning Manager David Hanham introduced the item. 11 12 Public Works Director Heba El-Guindy provided a PowerPoint presentation for SM26-0001 13 Subdivision of a Parcel located at 2860 Pinole Valley Road for a land dedication trail to 14 the City of Pinole, and recommended the Planning Commission adopt Resolution 26-02, 15 approving the subdivision of one lot into two lots located at 2860 Pinole Valley Road, 16 consistent with the Tentative Map contained in Attachment B. 17 18 Responding to questions from the Planning Commission, Public Works Director El-Guindy 19 clarified the following:
20 21 • The creek itself was under the jurisdiction of the Contra Costa Flood Control 22 District (CCFCD). Parcel B did not include the creek. (Bender) 23 24 • The PowerPoint presentation included concepts that had been prepared by 25 Friends of Pinole Creek Watershed. Once the subdivision was approved, the 26 design process would start and the types of furniture to be installed and what would 27 qualify under grant funding would then be identified. There were no current plans 28 available for review other than survey work and the title report. (Uch) 29 30 • The path was currently a dirt multi-use path that while not heavily used due to its 31 condition was used by pedestrians/cyclists and students. Presently, there were 32 lights aiming towards Pinole Valley High School (PVHS) that reflected onto the 33 trail, and along the fence area where the boundary was shown in the PowerPoint 34 presentation, a fence that belonged to PVHS which had multiple overhead lights. 35 The trail lighting that was planned to be added would be solar powered and would 36 not have energy extension/electricity, but be lit during the evening and night hours. 37 Staff expected safety with numbers and with the increased use of the trail were 38 expecting that activity to enhance safety. Staff had not looked into security but 39 would collaborate with the CCFCD, the City’s Information Technology (IT) 40 Department and Friends of Pinole Creek Watershed, to possibly consider the 41 addition of security cameras. The IT Department was researching the use of 42 security cameras and alarms for various facilities within the City, and this site could 43 potentially be added. (Martinez)
44 45 • The Clean California Grant was close to be being approved. The initial application 46 was for $200,000, but staff had learned the initial ask may be increased to 47 $300,000. (Huey)
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1 • Staff hoped the City would secure the Clean California Grant that would cover 2 furniture, debris removal and vegetation management for Parcel B, but would not 3 include the creek itself and the embankment within Parcel B. The grant would 4 cover the art pieces, wayfinding signage to the trail and creek and larger scale 5 signs at both ends of the trail at Sarah Court and Pinole Valley Road. Lighting 6 could be implemented soon, as a priority, and as a capital improvement as part of 7 City-wide improvements under the Public Works Department, which would allocate 8 funds for the installation of the lights given the priority of the safety element. Staff 9 also continued to search for a number of grant programs for the pedestrian/bicycle 10 bridge and widening and resurfacing or surfacing of the multi-use path with 11 permeable pavement given the environmental impacts of having regular pavement 12 that would specifically be for a trail use. (Huey)
13 14 • Staff had not formalized counts that were typically done as part of data collection 15 regarding the users of the trail. That could be done pursuant to City Council 16 direction to capture the peak periods during the week or weekends, to determine 17 whether the users were commuters or recreational users, or those accessing the 18 shopping center or school during the week. Friends of Pinole Creek Watershed 19 may have some data and staff could check but the Public Works Department did 20 not have formalized counts. (Huey)
21 22 • The PowerPoint presentation could be modified with more details on future steps 23 and potential sources of funding prior to uploading to the City website. (Vice24 Chairperson Menis) 25 26 • If approved, the land would be donated to the City of Pinole and under the City’s 27 jurisdiction. (Vice-Chairperson Menis)
28 29 • The item before the Planning Commission was only the Parcel Map. (Vice30 Chairperson Menis) 31 32 • The City currently maintained the area of Parcel B to secure the safety of the users 33 since the vegetation left unmaintained could potentially harm users of the dirt path. 34 The City was maintaining the location and it would not significantly increase the 35 need for staff time or costs when the land was donated to the City. The future 36 improvements, particularly for the bridge, were intended to reduce the potential for 37 the ultimate need to replace the bridge. Staff hoped the maintenance could be 38 more organized given the improvements and overall conditions of the area. (Vice39 Chairperson Menis) 40 41 PUBLIC HEARING OPENED
42 43 Jonathan Jarvis, Friends of Pinole Creek Watershed and the lead for the Pinole Creekside 44 Project, appreciated the support from the City for this project. The trail was predominantly 45 used by PVHS students and the community that lived on Sarah Court. The trail was active 46 and while there were no hard numbers for total usage, it was clear that during the day the 47 trail was heavily used.
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1 Mr. Jarvis reported the trail had been identified by the Friends of Pinole Creek Watershed’s 2 Monthly Trash Clean-Ups as a trash hot spot, and it was felt if the trail could be improved 3 with the installation of trash receptacles, which the City had done, and the removal of non4 native vegetation and with improvement to the trail tred, there could be more respect for 5 the area. Friends of Pinole Creek Watershed reached out and obtained a pro bono design 6 by a landscape architectural firm. These design concepts were available on the Friends 7 of Pinole Creek Watershed website.
8 9 Mr. Jarvis added there was a need for lighting and students had expressed concern with 10 the trail when dark. The addition of lighting, art work, amenities and furniture, were all 11 suggestions from the public and the students who wanted to be able to see and feel a 12 connection to Pinole Creek. Friends of Pinole Creek Watershed also appreciated the 13 opportunity to participate in any grant opportunities that would improve the trail and 14 removing the non-native species along the edge of the trail and replanting with native 15 species, which would be part of the grant and which would significantly reduce the 16 maintenance. Friends of Pinole Creek Watershed also reached out to the Ohlone 17 community who were interested in supporting the work and the planting of any native 18 plants that could be interesting for cultural and traditional uses. He suggested this was a 19 great project, and he appreciated the Planning Commission’s consideration that would 20 facilitate the opportunity to improve the trail and its access for students and the public. 21 22 PUBLIC HEARING CLOSED
23 24 Vice-Chairperson Menis thanked Mr. Jarvis for answering some of the questions he had 25 with the proposal, particularly that there had been outreach to the Ohlone Tribes. He also 26 noted that the audio in the Council Chambers had briefly cut out during the speaker’s 27 comments, and some of the comments may not have been audible. 28 29 Commissioner Bender referenced Attachment A, Planning Commission Resolution 26-02, 30 Conditions of Approval, Condition 6, Tentative Subdivision Map (b), and noted the 31 reference to Appian Professional Plaza, should be stricken. 32 33 Commissioner Bender also referenced Page 31 of 37 of the agenda packet, the first page 34 of Attachment A, Planning Commission Resolution 26-02, and the seventh WHEREAS 35 clause, which read: WHEREAS, the project meets the criteria for a Categorical Exemption 36 as Minor Land Divisions pursuant to Section 15315 of the California Environmental Quality 37 Act (CEQA) Guidelines because it involves a minor land division of less than four parcels 38 within an urbanized area consistent with the General Plan and zoning and the property 39 does not have an average slope greater than 20 percent; and … He asked where the 40 reference to 20 percent had originated since the staff report noted no more than 30 percent 41 of the subject lot had slopes of 10 percent or greater. 42 43 Planning Manager David Hanham explained that the staff report was stating what the 44 actual slope was within the area. The reference to 20 percent was what the Subdivision 45 Code required.
46 47 Associate Planner Justin Shiu added the CEQA Exemption also referenced the 20 percent 48 slope.
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1 Public Works Director El-Guindy explained the slopes that were less than 20 percent were 2 actually less than 10 percent for the majority of the land. She also noted there would be 3 accessibility improvements on both ends of the multi-use path at Pinole Valley Road and 4 Sarah Court. Currently the access points were not Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 5 compliant and would be improved as part of the surfacing of the multi-use path and access 6 locations.
7 8 The Public Works Director also clarified that while the public hearing was for the 9 subdivision of the parcel, if the Planning Commission desired staff could come back with 10 a presentation in future months as the project progressed. 11 12 Chairperson Sandoval thanked staff for the presentation and appreciated the offer for staff 13 to provide an update as the project progressed.
14 15 Vice-Chairperson Menis asked for consideration of a future update, as suggested, as a 16 future agenda item.
17 18 Mr. Hanham confirmed that could be done but noted the Planning Commission would have 19 no say or approval authority since this project did not involve design review. For 20 informational purposes, an agenda item could be brought back. 21 22 MOTION with a Roll Call vote for the Public Works Director to provide an update on the 23 project as it progressed, as a future agenda item.
24 25 MOTION: Menis SECONDED: Martinez APPROVED: 6-0-1
26 ABSENT: Lam-Julian
27 28 MOTION with a Roll Call vote to adopt Resolution 26-02, with Exhibit A: Conditions of 29 Approval, A Resolution of the Planning Commission of the City of Pinole, County of Contra 30 Costa, State of California, Approving a Tentative Parcel Map (26-0001) to Establish a Two 31 Lot Subdivision at 2860 Pinole Valley Road, APN: 430-330-027, subject to the correction of 32 the typographical error in Condition 6 (b) of the Conditions of Approval. 33 34 MOTION: Sandoval SECONDED: Bender APPROVED: 6-0-1 35 ABSENT: Lam-Julian
36 37 Chairperson Sandoval identified the 10-day appeal process of a decision of the Planning 38 Commission in writing to the City Clerk.
39 40 H. OLD BUSINESS: None
41 42 I. NEW BUSINESS: None
43 44 J. CITY PLANNER’S/COMMISSIONER’S REPORT
45 46 Mr. Hanham provided the following updates:
47 48 • Future agenda items included the Objective Development Design Standards (ODDS) 49 and Parklet Program.
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1 • Staff was working with on-call consultants on the preliminary stages of obtaining costs 2 for updates to the General Plan, Specific Plan, Environmental Impact Report (EIR) 3 and Downtown Master Plan.
4 5 • Staff continued to work with the current developers of Appian Village. Five buildings 6 were currently under permit, the foundations were done for all five, and it was hoped 7 occupancies would occur in the next 8 to 12 weeks, weather permitting. 8 9 Vice-Chairperson Menis asked about the status of the former Kmart property, to which Mr. 10 Hanham reported staff was working with the developer to have the demolition permit 11 approved, but had no further information on any permits for the actual building. 12 13 PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
14 15 There were no comments from the public.
16 17 PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
18 19 K. COMMUNICATIONS
20 21 Vice-Chairperson Menis reported upcoming community events included the Senior Food 22 Distribution at the Senior Center from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on February 10, 2026, with 23 application eligibility required, and Coffee with a Cop on February 11, 2026 at Alamode 24 Donuts from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.
25 26 PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
27 28 There were no comments from the public.
29 30 PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
31 32 L. NEXT MEETING
33 34 1. Planning Commission Regular Meeting on February 23, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. 35 36 M. ADJOURNMENT: 7:50 p.m.
37 38 Transcribed by:
39 40 Sherri D. Lewis
41 Transcriber