CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date: March 16, 2026
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCILMEMBERS
TITLE: Study Session to invite public input and to provide direction to Staff regarding potential additional General Plan Amendments beyond what was recently completed as part of General Plan 2040.
SYNOPSIS
The City Council is requested to conduct a Study Session to invite public input and to provide direction to Staff regarding potential additional General Plan Amendments beyond what was recently completed as part of General Plan 2040. This Study Session is a follow up from the November 17, 2025 City Council hearing at which the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 978 amending the City’s Municipal Code Title 18 (Planning and Land Use) in its entirety and amending the Zoning Map to include the rezoning of 1,072 parcels throughout the city for consistency with the 2040 General Plan and 2023-2031 Housing Element.
DISCUSSION
Background
Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance Update and Associated Rezonings: On November 17, 2025, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 978 amending the City’s Municipal Code Title 18 (Planning and Land Use) in its entirety and amending the Zoning Map to include the rezoning of 1,072 parcels throughout the city for consistency with the 2040 General Plan and 2023-2031 Housing Element. At that meeting, the City Council directed staff to provide an opportunity within the first six months of 2026 for additional discussion on potential additional General Plan Amendments. This Study Session is in response to that request.
General Plan: The City adopted the 2040 General Plan (“General Plan”) on May 18, 2023. The General Plan is a long-range planning document that guides decision making and establishes rules and standards for future development and improvements citywide. The 2040 General Plan establishes the following Guiding Principles:
• Encourage Smart and Sensitive Development
• Foster Economic Diversity and Sustainability
• Barrier Free Mobility
• Balanced Growth
• Ensuring Public Safety
• Support Diverse Housing Options
The General Plan included several implementation programs, which outlined necessary amendments to the City’s Zoning Ordinance.
Housing Element: The City also adopted the 6th Cycle Housing Element for 2023-2031 on May 18, 2023 (certified by the State on November 22, 2023). Like the General Plan, the Housing Element also included several implementation programs that outlined requisite amendments to the City’s Zoning Ordinance.
Multi-Family and Mixed-Use Zoning Ordinance Update: On January 8, 2024, the Pleasant Hill City Council adopted Ordinance No. 967 approving the rezoning of Housing Opportunity Sites identified in the 2023-2031 Housing Element, as well as Zoning Ordinance amendments to residential land use and development standards (Chapter 18.20), and introduced new mixed-use district standards (Chapter 18.22), as well as related changes to other sections of the Ordinance.
Analysis
At the November 17, 2025 City Council Meeting, the City received many public comments expressing concerns with the rezoning of several areas throughout the City. The areas of concern identified in those public comments are summarized below, with additional context provided from the 2040 General Plan (also see Attachment D 2022 GPAC Preferred Alternative Memo).
Mixed Use Zoning District along Contra Costa Boulevard: General Plan Focus Area 5 The first area is along Contra Costa Boulevard,
generally between Harriet Drive to the north
and Anelda Drive to the south and
encompassing the Sherman Acres West
neighborhood to the east of Contra Costa
Boulevard (E. Vivian Drive) and the properties
along Linda Drive and Shirley Drive. These
properties were redesignated from a SingleFamily designation to a Mixed-Use designation (medium-purple color on map), as part of the
2040 General Plan and rezoned to the
corresponding Mixed-Use zoning district in
November 2025. The General Plan states the
following goal for this area:
“The 2040 General Plan envisions
transforming Contra Costa Boulevard into a
contemporary transit oriented corridor focused
on multi-modal opportunities and denser
development. In an effort to reduce
incompatibility between development types, all
single-family residential areas in this focus
area will be re-designated to Mixed-Use to
create consistency of development patterns. This shift in the fabric of Pleasant Hill from single-family to mixed-use will take decades to come to fruition and will require significant parcel consolidation.”
A majority of the public comments received as part of the rezoning effort were concerned with the rezoning of the single-family neighborhood surrounding E. Vivian Drive (east of Contra Costa Boulevard), and the single-family properties along Shirley Drive whose rear yards abut Contra Costa Boulevard. The concerns primarily focused on the potential impact of introducing commercial uses and higher residential densities within existing single-family neighborhoods.
Mixed-Use Neighborhood Zoning District along Gregory Lane: General Plan Focus Area 6 The second and third areas are along Gregory Lane, specifically the properties at the south end of Maureen Lane and the north side of Julian Way, all which abut Gregory Lane.
These properties were redesignated from a Single-Family designation to Mixed Use Neighborhood designation (light purple color on map below), along with adjacent properties fronting Gregory Lane (generally between the Contra Costa Canal Trail east of Pleasant Hill Road and Pleasant Hill Park to the east), as part of the 2040 General Plan, and rezoned to the corresponding Mixed-Use Neighborhood Business zoning district in November 2025.
The General Plan states the following Goal for this area (areas highlighted for discussion):
“The 2040 General Plan envisions transforming Gregory Lane into a neighborhood mixed-use corridor anchored by higher intensity development at the intersection of Pleasant Hill Road to the west and Downtown/Contra Costa Boulevard to the east. In an effort to reduce incompatibility between development types, all single-family residential areas in this focus area will be reassigned with the lower intensity Neighborhood Mixed-Use land use designation to create consistency between development patterns.”
The majority of public comments
received focused on the
redevelopment of these areas with
commercial and/or higher density
residential uses and potential
impacts to existing neighborhoods
that share access from the same
neighborhood-serving streets. In
response, the City Council added
new, clarifying language to the
City’s development standards for
Mixed-Use Zoning Districts
(18.20.040.P) to restrict access for
new developments from internal,
neighborhood serving streets:
P. Access. Any development proposal (excluding single family residential development) submitted after December 17, 2025, for any parcel with a Mixed Use zoning designation abutting Contra Costa Boulevard, Gregory Lane or Oak Park Boulevard shall provide exclusive vehicular and service access from these same streets.
Cleaveland Road and Beatrice Road
The final area of focus is along Cleaveland Boulevard, which abuts the single-family neighborhood to the east along Beatrice Road. The previously applicable Planned Unit Development zoning district (PUD 410) applied to the west side of Cleaveland Road, north of Astrid Drive and atypically included properties with different General Plan land use designations.
By law, zoning and general plan designations must be aligned, so City staff sought to rectify the inconsistency through the rezoning process. In November, the properties within PUD 410 were rezoned so that each property’s zoning designation aligned with its applicable overarching General Plan land use designation. Staff further notes that the General Plan land use designations for these properties have remained unchanged for over 35 years.
Further, regarding the implications for future development, PUD 410 was considered a “shell” PUD, meaning it contained no specific land use or development standards. Therefore, future development in this area would be subject to the standards within the zoning district aligned with the overarching General Plan land use designation. Accordingly, rezoning these properties made no change to the already applicable development provisions, such as height, density, setbacks, etc.
A majority of the public comments expressed concerns with the existing Multi-Family designation for this area, most specifically for the existing single-family homes along the east end of Beatrice Road and the three large vacant properties between Beatrice Road and Cleaveland Road, two of which are owned by the Contra Costa County Flood Control District. The concerns were related to the potential impacts of higher density residential development adjacent to existing singlefamily neighborhoods and potential flood impacts associated with such developments.
Discussion Items
Staff has identified four areas to discuss; however, the discussion is not limited to only these areas.
The City Council may identify other areas for staff the to explore for potential General Plan Amendment. City Council direction can include specific areas of focus, potential changes to General Plan Land Use Designations, or no changes to the General Plan. Thus, to assist in next steps, staff requests City Council’s feedback and direction.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this Study Session. Potential fiscal impact for future General Plan amendments will be evaluated once direction is provided to Staff.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public Contact was made through posting of the City Council agenda on the City’s official notice bulletin board, at the Pleasant Hill Senior Center, and at the Pleasant Hill Police Department. In addition, a notice of this public hearing was published twice in the Contra Costa Times Newspaper on February 16, 2026, and March 2, 2026. Further, notification was provided on the City’s electronic sign, A-Frames at the Police Station and Pleasant Hill Library, respectively, and notices of the meeting have also been posted on both the front page of the City’s website (www.phillca.gov) and on the project website (www.phillca.gov/2026gpstudy). Additionally, public notices were mailed to all property owners and current residents within 500 feet of all properties rezoned under Ordinance No. 978 for a total of 6,895 notices. Finally, the agenda and staff report were posted on the City’s website.
RECOMMENDED CITY COUNCIL ACTION
No formal action is required, though staff recommends that the City Council provide feedback to regarding any potential additional General Plan Amendments and/or zoning changes beyond what was approved in May 2023, as part of the adoption of General Plan 2040, and November 2025, as part of the rezoning process, respectively.
NEXT STEPS
Staff and the Consultant will analyze all feedback received from public comments and direction provided by the City Council to determine potential implications and next steps. Depending on the direction received, Staff will bring the analysis back to the City Council for review at another Study Session if necessary.
ATTACHMENT(S)
A – Focus Area 5: Contra Costa Boulevard (excerpt from the 2040 General Plan) B – Focus Area 6: Gregory Lane (excerpt from the 2040 General Plan) C – Cleaveland Road and Beatrice Road Area - General Plan Designation D – 2022 GPAC Preferred Alternative Memo
E – General Plan Map
F – Public Hearing Notice
G – Public Comments
Prepared by: Haley Croffoot, Senior Planner
Reviewed by: Troy Fujimoto, City Planner
Approved by: Ethan Bindernagel, City Manager