November 24, 2003
City of Antioch
General Plan
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G E N E R A L P L A N
CITY OF ANTIOCH
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Prepared for:
City of Antioch
3rd and “ H” Streets
Antioch, California 94509
( 925) 779- 7035
Prepared by:
LSA Associates, Inc.
1650 Spruce Street, Suite 500
Riverside, California 92507
( 909) 781- 9310
LSA Project No. CAN030
November 24, 2003
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City of Antioch General Plan Table of Contents
November 24, 2003 i
Table of Contents
1.0: INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... ..... 1- 1
1.1: WHAT IS A GENERAL PLAN?....................................................................................... 1- 2
1.2: EXISTING AND EMERGING TRENDS AFFECTING ANTIOCH’S FUTURE ................ 1- 9
2.0: COMMUNITY VISION................................................................................................................. 2- 1
2.1: INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 2- 1
2.2: ANTIOCH’S VISION........................................................................................................ 2- 1
2.3: GENERAL PLAN THEMES ............................................................................................ 2- 2
3.0: GROWTH MANAGEMENT......................................................................................................... 3- 1
3.1: INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE ................................................................................. 3- 1
3.2: GOALS OF THE GROWTH MANAGEMENT ELEMENT............................................... 3- 3
3.3: GENERAL PLAN APPROACH ....................................................................................... 3- 5
3.4: SERVICE STANDARDS FOR TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.................................. 3- 8
3.5: SERVICE STANDARDS FOR OTHER COMMUNITY SERVICES.............................. 3- 10
3.6: MANAGING THE RATE OF GROWTH ........................................................................ 3- 13
3.7: REGIONAL COOPERATION........................................................................................ 3- 15
3.8: BALANCING EMPLOYMENT AND HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES.............................. 3- 16
4.0: LAND USE ............................................................................................................................... .. 4- 1
4.1: INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE ................................................................................. 4- 1
4.2: GOALS OF THE LAND USE ELEMENT ........................................................................ 4- 4
4.3: COMMUNITY STRUCTURE........................................................................................... 4- 5
4.4: INTENSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF LAND USE......................................................... 4- 6
5.0: COMMUNITY IMAGE AND DESIGN.......................................................................................... 5- 1
5.1: FUNCTION AND PURPOSE .......................................................................................... 5- 1
5.2: EXISTING COMMUNITY DESIGN ................................................................................. 5- 1
5.3: GOALS OF THE COMMUNITY IMAGE AND DESIGN ELEMENT................................ 5- 8
5.4: COMMUNITY DESIGN ................................................................................................... 5- 8
6.0: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.................................................................................................... 6- 1
6.1: INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 6- 1
6.2: GOALS OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ELEMENT .......................................... 6- 8
6.3: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES ...................................... 6- 9
6.4: CITY FISCAL HEALTH OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES ............................................... 6- 12
7.0: CIRCULATION.................................................................................................................... ....... 7- 1
7.1: INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 7- 1
7.2: GOALS OF THE CIRCULATION ELEMENT.................................................................. 7- 6
7.3: VEHICULAR CIRCULATION OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES........................................... 7- 8
7.4: NON- MOTORIZED TRANSPORTATION OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES ..................... 7- 13
7.5: TRANSIT OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES ....................................................................... 7- 15
8.0: PUBLIC SERVICES AND FACILITIES....................................................................................... 8- 1
8.1: INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 8- 1
8.2: GOALS OF THE PUBLIC SERVICES AND FACILITIES ELEMENT ............................. 8- 1
8.3: COMMUNITY FACILITIES OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES .............................................. 8- 2
8.4: WATER FACILITIES OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES ....................................................... 8- 3
8.5: WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES.................................... 8- 3
City of Antioch General Plan Table of Contents
November 24, 2003 ii
8.6: SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES ..................................... 8- 5
8.7: STORM DRAINAGE AND FLOOD CONTROL OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES............... 8- 6
8.8: SCHOOL FACILITIES OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES ..................................................... 8- 6
8.9: PARKS AND RECREATION OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES ........................................... 8- 8
8.10: FIRE PROTECTION OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES.................................................... 8- 10
8.11: POLICE SERVICES OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES .................................................... 8- 11
8.12: SOCIAL SERVICES AND INSTITUTIONS OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES ................. 8- 12
8.13: FINANCING EXPANSION OF PUBLIC SERVICES AND FACILITIES
OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES.................................................................................... 8- 113
9.0: HOUSING........................................................................................................................ ........... 9- 1
9.1: INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE ................................................................................. 9- 1
9.2: EVALUATION OF HOUSING PROGRAMS AND THE 1992 HOUSING ELEMENT ..... 9- 3
9.3: NEEDS ASSESSMENT .................................................................................................. 9- 7
9.4: HOUSING RESOURCES AND CONSTRAINTS.......................................................... 9- 22
9.5: GOALS OF THE HOUSING ELEMENT........................................................................ 9- 40
10.0: RESOURCE MANAGEMENT................................................................................................. 10- 1
10.1: INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 10- 1
10.2: GOALS OF THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ELEMENT....................................... 10- 1
10.3: OPEN SPACE OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES ............................................................. 10- 2
10.4: BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES....................................... 10- 5
10.5: AIR QUALITY OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES .............................................................. 10- 8
10.6: WATER RESOURCES AND QUALITY OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES....................... 10- 9
10.7: CULTURAL RESOURCES OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES........................................ 10- 11
10.8: ENERGY RESOURCES OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES............................................ 10- 13
10.9: CULTURAL RESOURCES OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES........................................ 10- 14
11.0: ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS............................................................................................... 11- 1
11.1: INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 11- 1
11.2: GOALS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS ELEMENT..................................... 11- 1
11.3: GEOLOGY AND SEISMICITY OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES..................................... 11- 1
11.4: FLOOD PROTECTION OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES................................................ 11- 5
11.5: FIRE HAZARDS OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES .......................................................... 11- 6
11.6: NOISE OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES.......................................................................... 11- 7
11.7: HAZARDOUS MATERIALS OBJECTIVE AND POLICIES....................................... 11- 11
11.8: DISASTER RESPONSE ........................................................................................... 11- 14
12.0: IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................................................ 12- 1
12.1: INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 12- 1
12.2: FOLLOW- UP STUDIES AND ACTIONS .................................................................... 12- 1
12.3: INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
PROGRAM.................................................................................................................. 12- 7
12.4: GENERAL PLAN MAINTENANCE ............................................................................. 12- 9
12.5: HOUSING PROGRAM.............................................................................................. 12- 12
APPENDIX A: SAND CREEK RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN
City of Antioch General Plan Table of Contents
November 24, 2003 iii
Figures and Tables
Figures
Figure 1.1: Study Area ........................................................................................................................ 1- 7
Figure 4.1: General Plan Land Use Map ............................................................................................ 4- 7
Figure 4.2: Rivertown/ Urban Waterfront Focus Area........................................................................ 4- 33
Figure 4.3: Somersville Road Corridor Focus Area .......................................................................... 4- 39
Figure 4.4: Eastern Waterfront Employment Focus Area ................................................................. 4- 43
Figure 4.5: State Route 4 Industrial Frontage Focus Area ............................................................... 4- 47
Figure 4.6: “ A” Street Interchange Focus Area................................................................................. 4- 51
Figure 4.7: Western Gateway Focus Area........................................................................................ 4- 53
Figure 4.8: Sand Creek Focus Area ................................................................................................. 4- 57
Figure 4.9: East Lone Tree Focus Area............................................................................................ 4- 65
Figure 4.10: Roddy Ranch Focus Area............................................................................................. 4- 69
Figure 4.11: Ginochio Focus Area .................................................................................................... 4- 75
Figure 7.1: Circulation ......................................................................................................................... 7- 9
Figure 9.1: Relationship of Tentative Map Review and Development Allocation Processes ........... 9- 31
Figure 11.1: Measurement of Noise.................................................................................................. 11- 7
Tables
Table 1. A: ABAG Population/ Household Projections ....................................................................... 1- 10
Table 3. A: Measure C Traffic Standards............................................................................................. 3- 9
Table 4. A: Proposed General Plan Land Use Designations ( in acres)............................................... 4- 9
Table 4. B: Anticipated General Plan Build Out in the City of Antioch............................................... 4- 15
Table 4. C: Anticipated General Plan Build Out in the Unincorporated Areas................................... 4- 16
Table 4. D: Anticipated General Plan Build Out in the General Plan Study Area.............................. 4- 17
Table 6. A: ABAG Jobs/ Housing Balance Projections......................................................................... 6- 5
Table 6. B: Place of Employment......................................................................................................... 6- 5
Table 6. C: Building Space Demand, Eastern Contra Costa County, 2000- 2025 ............................... 6- 6
Table 7. A: Primary Arterials in Antioch ............................................................................................... 7- 2
Table 7. B: Existing and Proposed Bicycle Facilities ........................................................................... 7- 3
Table 9. A: City of Antioch Population, 1990 – 2000 ........................................................................... 9- 8
Table 9. B: City of Antioch Projected Population, 2000 – 2025 ........................................................... 9- 9
Table 9. C: City of Antioch Age Distribution 2000.............................................................................. 9- 10
Table 9. D: City of Antioch Ethnicity, 1990, 2000............................................................................... 9- 10
Table 9. E: Occupation of Employed Residents ................................................................................ 9- 11
Table 9. F: Antioch Job Base by Industry, 2000 and 2025 ................................................................ 9- 11
Table 9. G: Comparison of City of Antioch and Contra Costa County Household Income ............... 9- 12
City of Antioch General Plan Table of Contents
November 24, 2003 iv
Table 9. H: Overcrowding, 2000 ........................................................................................................ 9- 13
Table 9. I: Persons With Disabilities, 2000 ........................................................................................ 9- 13
Table 9. J: Antioch Household Size by Housing Tenure, 2000 ......................................................... 9- 14
Table 9. K: HUD Assisted Housing Projects ...................................................................................... 9- 16
Table 9. L: Contra Costa County Assisted Housing Projects ............................................................ 9- 16
Table 9. M: Composition of Antioch Housing Stock, 1980- 2000 ....................................................... 9- 17
Table 9. N: Contra Costa County Median Income and Income Limits by Household Size................ 9- 17
Table 9. O: Household Income Groupings......................................................................................... 9- 18
Table 9. P: Affordable Monthly Housing Payment by Household Size.............................................. 9- 18
Table 9. Q: Housing Affordability in Contra Costa County for a Household of Four.......................... 9- 18
Table 9. R: Low- Income Households Overpaying for Housing in Antioch......................................... 9- 20
Table 9. S: Housing Needs by Income Category, 1999 - 2006 ......................................................... 9- 20
Table 9. T: Remaining New Housing Construction Needs as of June 2002...................................... 9- 20
Table 9. U: Lands Designated for Residential Development ( in acres)............................................. 9- 23
Table 9. V: Capacity for New Residential Development Through 2006 ( dwelling units) ................... 9- 23
Table 9. W: Distribution of Available Development Capacity within the City of Antioch by Housing
Income through 2006 ( based on 2002 Proposed General Plan) ..................................... 9- 24
Table 9. X: Zoning District Development Standards .......................................................................... 9- 26
Table 9. Y: Residential Off- Street Parking Standards ....................................................................... 9- 27
Table 9. Z: Fiscal Year 2001- 2002 Residential Development Impact Fees ...................................... 9- 33
Table 9. AA: Comparison of Planning Fees....................................................................................... 9- 33
Table 9. BB: Quantified Objectives, 1999- 2006................................................................................. 9- 40
Table 12. A: Types of General Plan Amendments .......................................................................... 12- 11
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 1
1.0Introduction
Antioch is a community preparing for change.
Currently known as a bedroom community
connected to distant employment centers in
the Bay Area, Antioch is in the process of:
• expanding its employment base to provide
a balance between local jobs and housing;
• managing residential growth to provide an
appropriate range of housing opportunities,
including executive housing, traditional
single family neighborhoods, middle to
upper end attached housing products, and
affordable housing;
• resolving ongoing traffic congestion
problems; and
• re- establishing the Rivertown area and
waterfront as a distinctive part of the City’s
identity.
The Antioch General Plan represents a
comprehensive effort to achieve these and
other community goals, and to enhance the
quality of life of existing and future residents.
The General Plan defines what makes Antioch
a special place, delineates a vision for its
future, and sets forth action- oriented programs
to achieve that future. In accomplishing these
tasks, the General Plan defines “ quality of life”
issues, including:
• enhancing family- oriented activities by
reducing commute times to work and
providing a broad range of recreational
lands and activities within the community;
• facilitating mobility via public transit,
automobile, bicycle, and pedestrian
modes of transportation; and
• working with local school districts to
provide high quality educational facilities
and services.
The General Plan serves as the City’s lead
policy document as to how Antioch will
manage its future, and is the City’s official
policy statement identifying the manner in
which Antioch expects to coordinate its
activities with those of other agencies, as they
will affect the community in the future.
Antioch’s growth pattern over the past 20
years has been the result of planning efforts
derived from previously adopted policy
documents ( including the preceding 1988
General Plan), specific plans, past
development approvals, and infrastructure
financing mechanisms. Since 1988,
considerable changes have occurred in Bay
Area housing and employment patterns, as
well as transportation systems. Furthermore,
the passage of two voter- approved growth
initiatives, Antioch’s advisory Measure U 1 and
the County’s Measure C, has increased the
need for careful management of growth.
Over the past 30 years, sustained employment
growth without corresponding housing
development in certain portions of the Bay
Area has forced workers in those locations --
traditionally in San Francisco, San Mateo, and
Santa Clara Counties, but more recently,
Walnut Creek, Concord, Livermore, and
Pleasanton -- to seek housing in eastern
Contra Costa County. This combination of
conditions produced rapid residential growth in
Antioch. Between 1990 and 1999, the City
added over 6,300 housing units and the
population grew by nearly 20,000, an increase
of more than 30 percent. The existing
disparity in the location of employment growth
and population growth in the Bay Area has led
to the traffic congestion Antioch residents
experience along State Route 4. To create a
more equitable jobs/ housing balance ( and
reduce commute times), Antioch has sought to
expand and diversify its employment base and
provide a greater variety of housing types than
are currently offered.
1 A discussion of these two voter- approved
measures is contained in Section 5.1 of the
General Plan.
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 2
1.1 WHAT IS A GENERAL
PLAN?
1.1.1 Nature and Purpose of the
General Plan
The Antioch General Plan encompasses a
comprehensive strategy for managing the
community’s future. The Antioch General Plan
is the community’s statement of what is in its
interest, and is the City’s most important
statement regarding its ultimate physical,
economic, and cultural development over the
next 25 years. The General Plan is a legally
binding policy document to be used by City
officials, the development community, citizens,
and others to guide decisions regarding the
future development and management of
community resources, including land, the
natural environment, and public services and
facilities.
The General Plan functions as a guide to the
type of community Antioch desires for its
future, and provides the means by which that
desired future will be obtained. The General
Plan expresses, in the form of text, maps, and
illustrations, the organization of physical,
environmental protection, economic, and
social activities sought by the community in
order to create and maintain a healthful,
functional, and desirable place in which to live.
1.1.2 State General Plan
Requirements
State law ( Government Code 65302 et. seq.)
requires that every California city and county
prepare and adopt a “ comprehensive, long-term
general plan for the physical
development of the county or city, and of any
land outside its boundaries which in the
planning agency’s judgment bears relation to
its planning.” According to State guidelines for
the preparation of general plans, the role of
the General Plan is to establish a document
that will “... act as a ‘ constitution’ for
development, the foundation upon which all
land use decisions are to be based. It
expresses community development goals and
embodies public policy relative to the
distribution of future land use, both public and
private.”
As further mandated by the State, the General
Plan must serve to:
• identify land use, circulation,
environmental, economic, and social goals
and policies for the City and its
surrounding planning area as they relate
to land use and development;
State- Mandated General Plan Elements
The LAND USE ELEMENT designates the general
distribution uses of the land for housing, business,
industry, open space, education, public buildings
and grounds, waste disposal facilities, and other
categories of public and private uses. The Land
Use Element also sets forth standards for
population density and building intensity.
The CIRCULATION ELEMENT is correlated with the
land use element, and identifies the general
location and extent of existing and proposed major
thoroughfares, transportation routes, terminals, and
other local public utilities and facilities. Overall,
the objective of the Circulation Element is to
promote the movement of people and goods.
The HOUSING ELEMENT includes a comprehensive
assessment of current and projected housing needs
for all economic segments of the community. It
embodies policy for providing adequate housing
for all economic segments of the community, and
includes a five- year action program.
The CONSERVATION ELEMENT addresses the
conservation, management, and use of natural
resources, including water, soils, biological
habitats, and mineral deposits. Specific
requirements are set forth to ensure the
coordination of water resource planning and future
development.
The OPEN- SPACE ELEMENT details programs for
preserving open space for natural resource
protection, the managed production of resources,
outdoor recreation, and protection of public health
and safety.
The NOISE ELEMENT evaluates present and
projected noise levels within the community as a
guide for establishing a pattern of land uses in the
land use element that minimizes the exposure of
community residents to excessive noise.
The SAFETY ELEMENT establishes policies and
programs to protect the community from risk
associated with seismic, geologic, flood, and fire
hazards, including identification of hazards,
establishment of safety standards, and delineation
of evacuation routes.
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 3
• provide a framework within which the
City's Planning Commission and City
Council can make land use decisions;
• provide citizens the opportunity to
participate in the planning and
decision- making process affecting the City
and its surrounding planning area; and
• inform citizens, developers,
decision- makers, and other agencies, as
appropriate, of the City's basic rules that
will guide both environmental protection
and land development decisions within the
City and surrounding planning area.
State law requires that the General Plan
include seven mandatory elements, but allows
flexibility in how each local jurisdiction
structures these elements.
In addition, the Antioch General Plan includes
discussion and resolution of issues related to
three issues beyond those required by State
law. State law does not mandate discussion
of these issues; however, once adopted,
“ optional” issues have the same force and
effect as policies related to the General Plan
elements required by the State. These
“ optional” issues include:
• Public Services and Facilities:
Incorporated into the Antioch General
Plan are policies and programs that
establish minimum level of service
standards for circulation, drainage, water
and sewer facilities, parks and recreation
facilities, police and fire services and other
services and facilities. The General Plan
also identifies responsibilities to be placed
on new development, and indicates what
the consequences will be if such minimum
standards are not achieved.
• Growth Management: The Growth
Management Element delineates
performance standards for public services
and facilities, defining the responsibility of
new development to “ pay its own way” and
provide a net benefit to the community.
This Element also sets forth a program to
manage the rate of residential growth
within the City.
• Economic Development: Included
throughout the General Plan are
strategies devoted to the promotion of a
healthy economic base within the City of
Antioch, including strategies to expand
retail sales tax generation within the City,
as well as expanding Antioch’s local
employment base.
1.1.3 Characteristics of a General
Plan
A General Plan has a number of
characteristics that distinguish it from other
planning efforts. These characteristics are:
• Visionary. A major function of the
General Plan is to anticipate the future,
and to provide the means for the City to
create the future it desires.
• Long Range. However imperfect the
vision of the future may be, a General
Plan recognizes that effective planning is
based on a long- term view so that trends
can be anticipated and managed, and
negative effects can be reduced.
• Comprehensive. General Plans reflect
an effort to coordinate all of a community’s
major components and quality of life
issues. The relationship between the
intensity of land use development and
transportation needs is one obvious set of
community components that must be
coordinated. The General Plan is also
comprehensive in that it addresses and
resolves both short- term and long- term
issues.
• General. Because it is long range and
comprehensive, a General Plan cannot
address every detail. A general
framework must be established as part of
the plan, based on recognized trends,
best available projections, and community
values regarding the future that is desired
by the community. Although the General
Plan is a “ general,” guide for
decisionmaking, it is the lead legal
document within a community for planning
and development decisions. State law
requires that zoning and development
approvals be consistent with the General
Plan.
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 4
The Antioch General Plan also aims at
achieving the following characteristics.
• Oriented to the Community. The
Antioch General Plan is intended to be
reflective of the needs and desires of
existing and future residents and aimed
toward enhancing their quality of life.
• Fiscally Responsible. The General Plan
is intended to achieve and maintain
economic strength and vitality, and to
provide plans and implementation
programs that are within the City’s means.
• Pragmatic. The General Plan is based on
a realistic assessment of community
issues, along with practical, workable
programs to resolve those issues.
• Action- oriented. In addition to framing a
vision for Antioch’s future, the General
Plan works to translate that vision into
action, and thereby provide the means to
achieve desired outcomes.
• Usable. The General Plan is intended to
provide practical guidance for
development review, environmental
management programs, economic
expansion, and capital improvements
planning. Although the future cannot be
known, the General Plan strives to be
comprehensive and flexible enough to
accommodate unique situations and
provide practical guidance in
unanticipated situations.
• Coordinated. In preparing the General
Plan, the City of Antioch has attempted to
coordinate its plans and programs with
those of the County, adjacent cities, and
the special districts serving Antioch.
• Reliable. Although the General Plan is,
by definition, “ general,” the plan strives to
provide sufficient detail and explanation of
its policies and programs so as to provide
clear, consistent policy direction, and to
promote certainty for all participants in the
development review process.
1.1.4 The Comprehensive Nature of
the General Plan
To be effective as a decision- making tool, the
various elements of the Antioch General Plan
integrate the management of the community’s
future physical, social, environmental, and
economic environments.
Identification of Issues. The General Plan
not only addresses the issues that the State
requires be included in a General Plan, but
also responds to the current and future issues
that Antioch faces. Key community issues that
the General Plan addresses include:
• achieving and maintaining a vibrant
community in which all residents enjoy a
wide range of employment, shopping, and
recreational opportunities;
• achieving a balance between local jobs
and housing by increasing Antioch’s
attractiveness for the establishment of
office- based and clean industrial
businesses;
• revitalizing the community’s downtown
and re- establishing the Rivertown area and
waterfront as a distinctive part of the City’s
identity;
• providing regional and local mobility and
reducing ongoing traffic congestion
problems through a combination of
regional highway, local roadway, and
transit improvements ( e. g., bus, rail,
BART, e- BART), transit- oriented
development, and enhancement of bicycle
and pedestrian modes of transportation;
• establishing clear performance objectives
for area infrastructure and services,
thereby ensuring that the provision of
public services and facilities supports the
community’s determination of desirable
land uses, intensity, character, and rate of
growth;
• improving the design quality of lands and
development at key interchanges along
State Route 4, and along the roadway
corridors leading to the Rivertown area;
and
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 5
• managing the rate of residential growth and
achieving an appropriate range of housing
opportunities, including executive and
upper end housing, as well as housing for
workers, seniors, and young adults who
are first starting their careers and forming
families.
Establishing A Planning Area Boundary. In
order to address the issues that may affect or
be affected by areas outside of Antioch’s
existing city limits, a comprehensive general
plan study area has been established ( See
Figure 1.1).
This planning area, which is the result of
significant deliberation on the part of the City,
encompasses areas outside the current city
limits, as well as areas outside of its current
sphere of influence. This planning area
boundary is intended to recognize the
interrelationships between land use and other
issues affecting the City of Antioch and
surrounding lands, and is consistent with the
boundary agreement Antioch maintains with
the City of Brentwood 1 .
Maintaining A Regional Context. It is
important that the General Plan establish local
policy while keeping in mind that Antioch is
part of a larger region. Certain issues
addressed in the General Plan, such as
freeway traffic, mass transit, and air quality,
have a local component, but are more readily
addressed on a countywide or regional basis.
In such cases, the task of the General Plan is
to address the manner in which Antioch’s
interests, values, and concerns are congruent
or conflict with existing regional and
countywide policies. If conflicts between local
interests and countywide or regional plans or
policies are identified, the General Plan’s role
is to define the extent to which the City can
influence such regional or countywide plans or
policies, and to provide an appropriate City
response. It is also the purpose of the
General Plan to provide a forum for
addressing issues that cannot be solved by
1 A more detailed discussion of the boundary
agreement between the cities of Antioch and
Brentwood is provided in the Antioch General
Plan Land Use Element.
the City alone, but that require cooperative
actions among several jurisdictions. Finally,
the General Plan recognizes that actions
taken by the City of Antioch may affect
surrounding communities or other agencies,
and that actions taken by other agencies can
affect the City. As a result, the General Plan
provides a forum for ongoing communications
between the City and these other agencies, as
well as an opportunity for cooperative efforts
to capitalize on economic development
activities.
1.1.5 General Plan Consistency
State law requires that the General Plan be
internally consistent. In order to function as a
useful statement of local policy, the various
components of the General Plan need to
“ comprise an integrated, internally consistent
and compatible statement of policies... 2 ” If a
General Plan does not achieve such internal
consistency, the City, development
community, and citizens who attempt to use
the plan will face conflicting directives, and will
be unable to rely on the stated policies of the
General Plan, thereby defeating its purpose.
The concept of internal General Plan
consistency revolves around the following
issues.
• Equal Status among General Plan
Elements. All elements of a General Plan
have equal legal status, and no General
Plan Element is permitted to take
precedence over any other. As a result,
the General Plan must resolve potential
conflicts between or among the elements
through clear language and consistent
policy.
2 Government Code Section 65300.5.
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 6
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City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 8
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City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 9
• Consistency Between Elements and
Within Individual Elements. All General
Plan elements and portions of the plan
must be consistent with each other. An
individual provision of the General Plan
must not require or encourage an action to
be taken that is prohibited or discouraged
by another General Plan provision. In
addition, the assumptions used in the
General Plan must be uniform and
consistently applied throughout the
document.
• General Plan Text, Diagram, and Map
Consistency. Because General Plan
text, diagrams, and maps are each
integral parts of the General Plan, they
must be consistent with one another.
Thus, the diagrams and maps of the
General Plan, including the land use and
circulation maps, are a graphic reflection
of the General Plan text, and must be
consistent with written policies.
It is also important that all parties using the
General Plan recognize that resources are not
unlimited, and that not all community
objectives can be achieved concurrently. In
addition, there are often trade- offs between
community objectives. As a result, the blind
pursuit of one objective may, in some cases,
inhibit the achievement of other community
objectives. For example, the Antioch General
Plan recognizes the need to increase local
employment opportunities. However, to permit
an “ anything goes,” unmanaged expansion of
employment- generating uses could result in
significant traffic and air quality impacts, and
inhibit achievement of objectives related to
waterfront and Rivertown revitalization. Thus,
the General Plan strikes a balance between
competing objectives, and provides
statements of community priorities.
It is inevitable that there will arise changing
conditions or other circumstances where
policy direction is not 100 percent certain, and
interpretation of the provisions of the General
Plan is required. In such cases, the City entity
charged with approval of a discretionary action
must make such an interpretation. In
interpreting the provisions of the General Plan,
care must be taken to ensure a “ best fit” for
the action to be taken, aimed toward the
achievement of General Plan goals and
objectives, recognizing the city’s short- term
and long- term priorities.
1.2. EXISTING AND EMERGING
TRENDS AFFECTING
ANTIOCH’S FUTURE
The primary purpose of planning and
preparing the General Plan is to provide the
means for Antioch to manage future growth
and change. However, merely projecting what
exists today into the future, thereby assuming
that the future will resemble the present will
not provide an accurate picture of what the
future will be. An array of existing and
emerging social, technological, and economic
trends will change the way residents perceive
their communities, define “ quality of life,” and
live their lives. The following is intended to
provide a descriptive evaluation of the ways in
which existing and emerging social, techno-logical,
environmental, and economic trends
may interact with existing and future
conditions to provide a context for planning
Antioch’s future within a society that may be
very different from today. These trends
include the following:
• A growing statewide population.
Population increases will continue within
California as a result of natural increases.
Areas, such as Antioch and eastern
Contra Costa County will continue to grow.
• An evolving housing market. As lower and
middle income households are continued
to be priced out of the market, and the
senior population grows, upper end
housing, condominiums, age- restricted
housing, and multi- family development will
become more popular in Antioch.
• Technological advances and a changing
economy significantly altering patterns of
employment. Traditional industrial
development will decrease in importance,
as service jobs and off- based employment
grows. As a result, there will be a need for
office- based and retail service
development.
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 10
• A growing regional imbalance of jobs and
housing. ABAG’s projections of a worsen-ing
imbalance between jobs and housing
will result in an increased difficulty to
attract workers to increasingly congested
employment centers within the inner Bay
Area, along with an increased willingness
for businesses to locate in presently
outlying areas near their workers.
• Increases in personal travel. Non- peak
hour travel will increase in relation to peak
hour traffic. The “ peak hour” of traffic will
lengthen over several hours.
• Increasing acceptance of public transit
and other alternatives to automobile travel.
As traffic congestion increases, public
transit will gain parity in terms of commute
times during peak hours, and become
more popular, even if it involves changing
modes of transit ( e. g., rail or e- BART to
BART or other rail connection). As a
result, there will be a need for transit
centers within Antioch. In addition, as
higher density transit- oriented
development gains popularity, pedestrian
and bicycle travel will increase both as a
form of recreation and as a form of
transportation. The result will be an
increasing need for safe pedestrian and
bicycle routes between residential areas
and schools, shopping, recreation, and
places of employment.
• Changes in freight transportation and
goods movement. Rail traffic will increase
over time, increasing congestion where
arterials cross rail lines at- grade. There
will be an increasing need for multi- modal
facilities to transfer containers from rail to
truck.
• Changes in shopping and the new
consumer. Existing shopping facilities will
become obsolete, and need to be
remodeled to meet changing shopping
patterns in the future. There will be a
growing demand and support for up- scale
shopping in Antioch.
1.2.1 A Growing Statewide Population
A growing statewide population will result in an
ongoing demand for new housing and
employment opportunities in the San
Francisco Bay Area, eastern Contra Costa
County, ant he City of Antioch. This growth
will be greatest in households without children,
either seniors, older adults, or young adults
without children. This translates into a need
for smaller housing units.
According to state projections, the population
composition of California is expected to
change dramatically over the next two
decades. The total population is projected to
increase roughly 30 percent ( 11,457,352
people) to a total of 45 million. Population
growth will not be distributed evenly across the
state. Just eight counties, including Contra
Costa, will account for more than 60 percent of
the state’s population growth over the next 20
years. Projections are that by 2020, Contra
Costa County will increase by 227,100 people,
representing 2 percent of the state’s
population growth. This growth will primarily
occur in the eastern portion of the County.
Key demographic groups of the population are
also expected to change. By 2025, the
number of people under 18 is projected to
grow 37 percent. The share of persons
between 55 and 64 years of age will increase
58 percent, and the number of residents over
65 will increase 51 percent.
Table 1. A
ABAG Population/ Household Projections
2000 2025
Antioch
Population 90,532 117,500
Households 29,338 40,410
Brentwood
Population 23,302 52,700
Households 7,497 17,430
Oakley
Population 25,619 40,300
Households 7,832 12,680
Pittsburg
Population 56,769 85,100
Households 17,741 27,510
Contra Costa County
Population 948,816 1,209,900
Households 344,129 443,510
Source: ABAG Projections 2002
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 11
In addition, the Hispanic population is
expected to grow by 66 percent, reaching
between 41 and 47 percent of the total state
population, resulting from both domestic births
and immigration. Forecasters agree on
several points:
• Out- migration to other states will continue
to roughly equal migration from other
states to California.
• International migration will continue to
contribute to the state’s growth.
• The largest source of growth will be from
natural increases ( births exceeding
deaths.)
The impacts of immigration are especially
notable because two- thirds of immigration into
the U. S. will be concentrated in four states:
California, New York, Texas, and Florida.
During the 1990s, the annual legal U. S.
average of immigrants was 700,000, with
another 200,000 or so undocumented people.
This number of immigrants is greater than the
peak of the great immigration wave at the turn
of the 20 th century. Immigrants bring a diverse
set of skills and attitudes, the most prominent
being their enthusiasm and desire to partake
in the U. S. experience. In the workplace, they
expand the labor pool at both the upper and
lower ends. Proportionately, the greater share
of immigrants will labor in either unskilled
positions and have less than a high school
degree, or will have graduate school training
and specialized technical skills.
The composition of the typical household is
changing as well. The share of households
made up of married couples with children
declined from 40 percent in 1970 to 25 percent
in 1995. By comparison, 34.5 percent of
Antioch households in 2000 were married
couples with children. Although direct
comparisons to 1990 Census figures are not
possible, the 2000 Census indicates that in
Antioch, family households, as a proportion of
all households, decreased slightly from 61.0
percent in 1990 to 60.3 percent in 2000.
According to most forecasters, that share will
continue to decrease over the next 20 years.
Over the same time, single parent families are
projected to grow only slightly as a percentage
of total households. The households with the
most dynamic growth rates are projected to be
married couples without children, either baby
boomers whose kids have grown up or
younger people without kids, and non- family
households, both the very old and the very
young living on their own or with friends.
1.2.2 An Evolving Housing Market
The demand for new housing to serve an
expanding population will encompass an
increasing need for multi- family and upper end
single family dwellings as the cost of housing
continues to increase faster than household
incomes. The projected increase of 11.5
million new residents means about 5 million
additional households by 2020 across
California. However, significant constraints
exist, including land availability and
affordability, to provide housing for this
expanded population. These constraints will
have major impacts on location choices,
housing type choices, and travel patterns over
the next two decades. To accommodate
projected population growth, California needs
to have 194,000 dwelling units constructed per
year over the next 20 years. In a study
prepared for the California Department of
Housing and Community Development ( HCD)
called “ Raising the Roof,” HCD quantified a
long- suspected trend – that, even adjusting for
economic upturns and downturns, housing
demand is drastically outstripping supply, and
a shortage of new housing production will
continue well into the future.
There is also a connection between growth in
specific demographic groups and its relation to
housing. Different lifestyle choices of different
groups will change housing demand. By
2020, the number of people under 18 years of
age is expected to grow 37 percent. This, in
addition to the historical trend that shows the
median age of first time homebuyer is in the
early 30s, has significant implications for
housing growth. When this age group reaches
their early 30s, there is bound to be an
increase in the demand for housing. Also, the
increase in the above- 55 age group will mean
that their children will be growing up and
leaving home. Thus, an increase in senior
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 12
citizens in California communities will result in
a demand for more retirement- oriented
developments. Seniors will be healthier and
more active in the future and, therefore, better
able to maintain housing. They will, as a
result, be less inclined to live in isolated group
homes. These are all housing demands for
individuals, and not large families. Hence,
housing demand will grow faster than the
actual population.
Housing affordability has become a serious
problem in California, and will continue into the
future. By some estimates, today only 35
percent of households can afford to own the
“ median” priced house in the communities in
which they work. This current gap between
what people want and what they can afford
can be expected to increase over time. It can
be expected that home builders will continue
to aim at the higher end market, since it
provides greater profit margins than does
lower end housing. It also appears that the
American dream of owning a home will require
greater intervention of housing programs to
make single family homeownership affordable
to young, newly formed households in the
future.
Households have responded to this price
squeeze by trading a long commute to work,
by shifting to a less costly housing type, or by
choosing a smaller house or apartment than
they would otherwise prefer. Low- income
households will sometimes double up in units
to make them affordable. Currently, compared
to the national averages, California has a
much larger share of overcrowded
households.
Given a strong preference for single family
detached housing, growth in single family
housing units was 58 percent of the total
statewide housing growth in 1999, compared
to a 26 percent growth in apartments or
condominiums with more than five dwelling
units. The longer commute option seems to
be the preferred response for many middle
class households. Their final choice currently
is a balance between cost of housing and
monetary, time, and psychological cost of
using the existing transportation. In the
immediate and near- term future, expansion of
transportation facilities is critical to easing
congestion; however, in the long term, even
with massive infusion of money for
transportation improvements, congestion
along regional commuting corridors will
increase over time. It is therefore critical that
in addition to supporting expansion of
transportation infrastructure, an emphasis be
placed on achieving a better regional balance
between the location of employment
opportunities and housing. Thus, forecasters
have noted that the result will be intensification
of the trend of telecommuting or working
flexible hours in order to live in a single- family
home. In addition, suburban employment will
grow, allowing people to work close to home
or travel on less congested routes.
The construction of multi- family housing
continued to fall from the 1990s to the present.
Building permits for multi- family dwellings has
averaged only 19 percent of all new
construction permits in the state. Within
Antioch, multi- family building permits have
been virtually non- existent through the 1990s.
Starting 2001, the City began receiving new
requests for multi- family housing development.
The declining share of multi- family housing
construction has particular significance for
future development patterns. Because multi-family
housing is typically built to 3- 4 times
greater density per acre than single- family
housing, the diminished share of high density
housing fuels increased loss of open space,
reduced land availability, and a tight supply of
rental units, resulting in steeply rising rents.
Current and future housing shortfalls will hit
renters the hardest. As a result of dwindling
land inventories, increased housing costs, a
decreasing willingness to commute long
distances to work, and changing
demographics ( increasing number of senior
and young adults), multi- family housing ( both
for- sale and rental) will increase in popularity.
Multi- family housing will be increasingly seen
by many households as a long- term housing
choice, and not just a temporary situation until
the household can afford a single family
dwelling. This long- term choice will likely be
manifested in an increasing popularity in
townhouse and condominium development. It
can also be expected that there will be an
increase in the quality of apartment
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 13
development and ongoing maintenance and
management as the median income of
apartment dwellers increases, and there is
growing competition among apartment
projects.
Much of the new multi- family development
within the Bay Area and Antioch will occur in
the form of “ transit- oriented development,”
high- density clusters of mixed- use residential,
commercial, and office development centered
on regional transit stops and local transit hubs.
Within Antioch, such transit- oriented
development can be expected to occur
adjacent to rail transit stops in Rivertown
( Amtrak), Hillcrest Avenue at SR 4( e- BART),
Contra Costa County Fairgrounds ( e- BART),
and Lone Tree Way at the SR 4 By- pass ( e-
BART).
In practice, although communities define
permitted locations and maximum densities for
residential development, housing construction
reacts to local market demands, and not to
proactive needs assessments. Developers
have reacted to signals of growing demand
and housing shortages in middle- and upper
middle- income ranges, and local communities
then react to developers’ requests for project
approvals. The end result is a “ boom and
bust” cycle as the development industry first
lags behind the demand for specific housing
products, and then overshoots demand for
certain product types as many builders
attempt to meet the same market demand.
This trend is most pronounced with multi-family
housing, but also occurs in the single
family housing market. The City’s growth
management program should moderate the
peaks and valleys of residential development.
In reaction to the spread of single- family
suburbs, long commutes, and loss of open
space, there is also a growing demand for
extension of transit services. As a result,
mixed- use, transit- oriented development will
gain popularity in the marketplace. Higher
density development is likely to gain
acceptance at strategic locations where such
development can support community
objectives such as downtown revitalization,
provision of senior housing, and congestion
relief through alternative modes of
transportation. Also, mixed- use developments
will become more prevalent as a strategy to
address concerns about municipal costs and
revenues. A well- chosen mix of commercial
and residential uses creates convenience by
providing accessible services, retail, and jobs.
1.2.3 Technological Advances and a
Changing Economy will
Significantly Alter Patterns of
Employment
Changes in technology and in the economy
have significantly altered patterns of
employment over the last 20 years, and will
continue to do so over the next 20 years.
Demand for land for traditional industrial
development will decrease, while demand for
land for service commercial, office, and
transportation- related development will grow.
Global trading, “ high- tech” industrial growth,
changes in military spending, and e- commerce
are just a few examples of changes that have
altered the scope of work in California.
Changes over the next two decades will be
equally significant. Among all industries,
services are, and will continue to be, the
fastest growing sector. By 2008, services are
expected to account for one in three jobs in
the State. Employment within the diverse
services sector will not be uniform.
Forecasters project that jobs at both the low
end and at the high end of the pay scale will
increase at the fastest rates. For example,
lower paying jobs with projected high growth
rates include retail cashiers and salespersons,
janitorial or office maintenance, and landscape
services. Higher paying jobs with the similar
projected high growth rates are top business-to-
business sales executives, computer
programmers, and systems analysts or
consultants.
Among various service industries, health
services and business services are the two
biggest employers in California. While health
services increased by 50.5 percent during
1983- 1999, business services employment
increased 135.05 percent. It is projected that
business services will continue its growth
leadership through 2020, and will account for
40 percent of all job growth in the services
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 14
sector 1 . This growth is followed by health
services and engineering and management
( 10.4 percent) sectors. These three
employment sectors are expected to account
for over 70 percent of all job growth in
California over the next two decades.
Among the top nine occupations projected to
have the greatest growth over the next 20
years, five are low paying occupations with
mean annual wages in 1998 below $ 30,000,
some even below $ 20,000. These include,
receptionists, watch guards, cashiers, retail
salespersons, and general office clerks. The
other four are higher paying occupations,
including registered nurses, computer
specialists, systems analysts, and top
executives. The implications for future
housing needs are that the fastest growth will
occur in households seeking executive and
“ move- up” housing, and in the rental market.
Unless the cost of “ entry level” housing is held
down in relation to increasing land and
construction costs, rental housing, as a
percentage of the total housing market will
grow substantially.
Much of future employment growth will not
only occur in central cities, but also in the
outlying regional sub- centers. For example,
ABAG projects Contra Costa County will
experience a job growth rate well in excess of
its population growth rate. Countywide, the
number of jobs within the County is projected
to increase by 39 percent over the next 20
years. At the same time, ABAG projects the
County’s total population to increase by 24
percent. Growth in Alameda County is
anticipated to be similar: a 34 percent increase
in jobs will occur over the next 20 years along
with a 15.5 percent increase in population 2 .
1 “ Business services” entails any service needed to
help maintain or run a business. This includes
but is not limited to, computer services, copier/ fax
machine services, furniture or office supply
services, personnel services, and accounting
services.
2 The differential in countywide employment and
population growth rates projected by ABAG are
not, however, projected to result in a balance of
jobs and housing within any particular portion of
the Bay Area.
Within this portion of California, the services
sector will account for over 50 percent of total
new jobs. At the same time, the manufactur-ing
and wholesale sector will comprise 19
percent of employment growth, retail will
account for 11 percent, and the remaining 19
percent of employment growth will include a
variety of professional and other jobs.
It is not anticipated that full- time
telecommuting will become a significant part of
a company’s future permanent work force;
however, telecommuting will grow as an
answer to long commutes forced by the
regional imbalance between jobs and housing.
As part of the trade- off for these long
commutes, workers will increasingly seek to
be able work at home one or two days a week.
Technological advances will also likely result
in a growing “ free- lance” work force
( independent contractors who will work from
their homes). Together, this type of
telecommuting will work to reduce peak traffic
congestion, and to spread traffic more evenly
over the day. The increasing globalization of
business, and the freedom afforded by future
technologies will likely also mean that office-based
employment will not be limited to 8 am
to 5 p. m. It can be anticipated that a growing
number of businesses and workers will
maintain non- traditional hours, further
reducing peak congestion and spreading out
traffic over an entire day.
1.2.4 A Growing Regional Imbalance of
Jobs and Housing
Contra Costa County is projected to see its
employment sector grow at a faster rate than
its residential sector through 2020. However,
despite regional projections that Antioch and
adjacent cities to the east will enjoy the
highest rates of employment growth in the
County over the next 20 years 3 , ABAG
projects that an imbalance of jobs and housing
will continue to plague the Antioch- Brentwood-
3 Local employment in Antioch, Brentwood, and
Oakley is projected by ABAG to grow by 12,730
( 70 percent), 9,900 ( 179 percent), and 10,380
( 260 percent), respectively, through 2020.
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 15
Oakley area. ABAG projections are based on
the assumption that workers will be willing to
undertake increasingly long commutes to
work, and that businesses will continue to
locate within the inner Bay Area, and still be
able to attract labor. The City of Antioch
believes that a worsening imbalance between
the location of jobs and housing in the Bay
Area will require the importation of more
workers from the Central Valley, including
workers from even more distant locations than
at present. As a result, businesses will be
forced to begin locating in what are now
outlying areas, such as Antioch and eastern
Contra Costa County. Ultimately, Antioch and
eastern Contra Costa County will achieve a
local balance between jobs and housing.
ABAG projections indicate that employment
growth in the Bay Area will outstrip growth in
the region’s employed resident population by
about 99,000 over the next 20 years. Thus, by
2020, 99,000 additional workers will be
commuting into the San Francisco Bay area
from outlying regions, such as the Central
Valley. Within the Bay Area, ABAG projects
that growth in all but two areas will exacerbate
existing labor shortages in the region. While
Bay Area employment and population growth
in the next 20 years is expected to result in a
net shortage of 99,000 workers, growth within
the SR- 4 corridor is projected to result in a
surplus of 18,540 workers. Growth in the I- 80
North corridor is projected to result in a
surplus of 6,820 workers 1 . In comparison, the
I- 680 corridor is projected to grow by 9,610
more jobs than employed workers over the
next 20 years 2 . Thus, if ABAG projections
hold true, the existing jobs/ workers imbalance
between the SR- 4 and I- 680 corridors will
1 The “ SR- 4” corridor consists of the cities of
Antioch, Brentwood, Martinez, Oakley, Pittsburg,
surrounding unincorporated areas, and
unincorporated eastern Contra Costa County.
The “ I- 80 North” corridor consists of Napa and
Solano counties.
2 The “ I- 680” corridor consists of the Alamo-
Blackhawk, Clayton, Concord, Danville, Dublin,
Livermore, Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton, San
Ramon, Walnut Creek, and surrounding
unincorporated areas.
increase by 25,320 workers over the next 20
years 3 .
These projections run counter to the visions
held by Antioch and adjacent cities, which
each envision achieving a balance between
their residential and employment sectors. As
a result, eastern Contra Costa County cities
are pursuing aggressive economic
development programs aimed at expanding
local employment opportunities. Despite
ABAG projections, Antioch and adjacent
communities have adopted policies and
programs to achieve a balance between jobs
and population by 2025. Several factors will
assist in this effort, including an abundance of
relatively inexpensive land, highly trained local
labor force, and quality housing in the Antioch-
Brentwood- Oakley area. Increasing
congestion, rising land costs and lease rates,
and an increasing desire on the part of
workers to live within an easy commute of
their employment will also assist Antioch and
surrounding communities to achieve a balance
between the area’s local employment base
and its housing stock 4 .
The Antioch General Plan specifically rejects
the notion implicit in ABAG projections that
imbalance between the location of housing
and employment in the Bay area will continue
to grow, and that Antioch and eastern Contra
Costa County will become even more of a
bedroom community than it is today.
Ultimately, the difficulties involved in attracting
workers to congested, closer- in employment
centers will have a negative effect on the
ability of these centers to continue expanding
their employment base without commensurate
3 As noted by ABAG, a “ primary reason for this
trend in regional growth has been local
development and land use policies that seek to
maximize job production without commensurate
emphasis on housing production. This has been
particularly true in the past for the Peninsula,
Silicon Valley North, and I- 80 South/ SR- 4
corridors. However, the I- 680 corridor has
increasingly experienced this imbalance,
particularly in the Tri- city area.”
4 A rapidly growing employment sector in the
Antioch area will, itself drive up local housing
demand.
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 16
housing. As stated by ABAG, the
“ consequences of imbalanced job and labor
supply growth are longer commute times and
distances. Longer commutes in turn increase
demand for new highway construction,
increase worker fatigue, and negatively impact
the environment.” The long commutes now
suffered by Bay Area residents can not
continue worsening.
Although Antioch and surrounding
communities can be expected to achieve a
balance between jobs and housing in the
future, this will not, in itself necessarily solve
the problem of regional jobs- housing
imbalance, long commutes, and resulting
congestion. ABAG’s projections of a growing
imbalance of jobs and working population
within the Bay Area’s existing and emerging
major employment centers ( e. g., San
Francisco, Silicon Valley, Concord- Walnut
Creek area, Livermore- Pleasanton area) are
based on an assumption that these areas can
continue to attract labor from outlying areas,
such as the Central Valley. If ( 1) areas such
as Antioch and surrounding communities
achieve a balance between jobs and housing
over the next 20 years, and ( 2) employment
centers such as the Concord- Walnut Creek
and Livermore- Pleasanton areas continue to
expand their employment sector faster than
their residential sectors, exacerbating existing
local labor shortages in those areas, the
logical result is an expansion of residential
communities in eastern Contra Costa County
and the Central Valley ( San Joaquin and
Stanislaus Counties).
Thus, land use policies to expand the
employment base in existing jobs- rich
communities, effectively increasing existing
labor shortages, may compound existing traffic
congestion problems along major commute
routes by increasing the number of commuters
along these routes. While major
improvements in highway capacities and
transit opportunities benefit residents of
existing bedroom suburbs, such as Antioch,
they also benefit major employment centers,
such as the Concord- Walnut Creek area by
facilitating planned economic development
within those employment centers. It is
Antioch’s vision that, as existing major
employment centers find it increasingly difficult
to attract labor, a more equitable formula for
funding major regional transportation
improvements will be implemented. Such a
formula would recognize that regional
transportation improvements benefit both end
of the home- to- work trip, not just the
geographical area where the improvements
are actually constructed.
1.2.5 Increasing Personal and
Household Travel
There have been profound changes in
personal travel over the past two decades,
and, notwithstanding the effects of the attack
on the World Trade Center on September 11,
2001, personal and household travel will
continue to grow and change over the next 20
years. The result will be increased traffic
throughout the day, even though the
percentage of total traffic occurring during
peak travel hours may decrease as a
proportion of overall daily traffic.
From 1969 to 1995, work- related travel fell
from 36 to 18 percent of all trips nationally.
Thus, non- work travel increased from 64 to 82
percent of all trips nationally. Increasingly,
consumer shopping and entertainment-oriented
lifestyles are important factors in this
change. Consumer trips grew from 29 to 44
percent of all vehicle trips nationally between
1969 and 1995. These trends are not solely
the result of growth in disposable income.
Entertainment activities grew for nearly all
income groups, with the largest growth found
in the second lowest income quintile
( equivalent of the lower middle class). This
trend indicates a fundamental shift in choice
priorities for lower income households,
implying a change in lifestyle choice as well.
This trend is unlikely to change in the future,
especially because of the tremendous amount
and variety of entertainment activities in
California. Overall, it is anticipated that the
ratio of home- to- work trips to total trips will
continue to decrease over the next two
decades.
During the 1969 to 1995 period, auto use also
grew dramatically. This growth reflects
increasing levels of driver licenses for both
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 17
genders, a willingness on the part of seniors to
continue to drive well into old age, the ease of
auto availability, and the location of activities
in suburbs in places that depend on a car for
access. With the demographic growth of
people over the age of 55, who have spent
most of their lives in auto- oriented
communities, it is likely that seniors will
continue to travel by car more than earlier
generations. Among people 85 and over, the
percentage of men with drivers’ licenses has
increased from 47.5 to 71.7 percent, and the
percentage of women of that age with drivers’
licenses increased from 11.7 to 28.5. These
percentages are anticipated to continue to
increase. In addition, the average annual
vehicle miles driven by males over the age of
65 is projected to increase by 53 percent,
while the annual vehicle miles driven by
females over the age of 65 is projected to
increase by 130 percent during that same
period. These trends indicate an increasing
amount of non- work travel during off- peak
hours.
Changes in employment characteristics in the
future will also affect transportation patterns.
With jobs increasingly being located in the
service sector, work hours will become more
flexible. Thus, the percentage of total traffic
that occurs during the peak morning and
afternoon “ rush hour” will decrease as a
percentage of total daily traffic. Increasing
automobile travel by seniors and non- work
related travel will also increase non- peak hour
traffic volumes.
Employment within traditional metropolitan
areas is expanding into suburban areas. As
this trend continues, and existing bedroom
communities work toward achieving a balance
between jobs and housing, more people will
be commuting from suburb to suburb.
“ Reverse commutes” – home- to- work travel in
the direction opposite the typical direction of
peak hour flow will thus increase, expanding
the capacity of existing highway systems.
Also, telecommuting has the potential to
reduce highway usage and resulting traffic
congestion. Although much talked about, less
than 5 percent of the state’s workforce
regularly telecommutes, and only 15 percent
telecommute several times a month, according
to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a
generation of workers emerges who were
raised in a computer- oriented environment,
and wireless technologies become more
prevalent and reliable, it is likely that
telecommuting will increase in popularity.
While the percentage of the workforce who
telecommute on a regular basis is not likely to
grow to a significant portion of the workforce, a
substantial increase in the number of office-based
employees who telecommute several
times each month is reasonable to anticipate.
All of these trends equate to a less
concentrated pattern of home- to- work trips,
both in terms of directional flow and times of
day. The fundamental patterns of traffic
congestion and free flow on highways systems
that residents and workers are now
accustomed to will likely moderate in favor of a
more irregular intra- regional travel pattern.
Peak travel hours will spread out over longer
periods of time, as will the geographical extent
of heavily traveled corridors. While a less
concentrated pattern of home- to- work trips will
increase the efficiency of existing roadways
and highways, a dispersed pattern of home- to-work
trips may make expanding large, fixed
route transit systems into emerging
employment centers and residential
communities more difficult to support.
New technologies also need to be taken into
account. Advanced traffic management
systems will increase road capacity while
improving safety and pedestrian and bicycle
traffic through the implementation of automatic
sensors, heads- up displays, night vision
devices, and other devices to reduce the
possibility of drivers losing control of their
vehicles. Over the long run, automation will
make order of magnitude improvements in
highway and roadway safety, capacity, and
convenience. It is anticipated that “ Intelligent
Transportation Systems” will begin to be
implemented over the next 20 years, including
automated highway systems, high- speed rail,
anti- congestion systems ( real time traffic
control), expanded traffic signal timing
coordination, and on- board diagnostics and
logistics systems in automobiles. In addition,
“ smart card” technologies, such as those used
by “ Fastrack” and BART will continue to
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 18
improve the convenience of paying fares for
road use, parking, and transit. Also,
monitoring and information systems will
increasingly enable travelers to time trips and
select routes to avoid congestion, reducing the
extent of congestion in the process. These
technologies will allow more people to travel
through urban areas, where adding new roads
or rail lines is not possible, without increasing
delays.
1.2.6 Increasing Acceptance of Public
Transit
The continued growth of automobile
congestion has induced suburban commuters
to look for alternatives. This creates the
potential for the growth of a transit- oriented
suburban lifestyle in California. Expanded use
of transit by those who are not forced to use
transit is dependent upon the convenience
and comfort of the transit service. Over the
next 20 years, there will be an increasing
willingness to use public transit as the
convenience of transit reaches parity with
automobile travel during peak commute hours.
Expanded use of transit will also rely on and
facilitate the development of “ transit- oriented”
development nodes, including housing, retail,
and employment opportunities in a high-density,
mixed use arrangement. By providing
a compact, mixed- use form of development,
facilitating pedestrian and bicycle travel
internally within the node, and providing ready
access to commuter transit centers, vehicular
travel within the transit- oriented development
area can be minimized, while the number and
distance of long vehicular commutes can be
reduced.
Closer investigation of the following statistics
reveals an increased willingness on the part of
suburban commuters to use transit.
• The total number of trips taken by transit
in California has been growing at an
annual rate ranging from 2.7 to 3.9
percent, faster than the growth of vehicle
miles traveled by automobiles.
• In the San Francisco Bay area, heavy rail
and commuter rail services grew the most
in 1999 and 2000. The fastest growth
rates were 15.6 percent for the Bay Area
Rapid Transit system and 50 percent for
the Altamont Commuter Rail service.
• Growth in ridership on suburban bus
systems was rapid as well in 1999 and
2000. Bus ridership in the Golden Gate
Highway and Transit District grew 4.7
percent and Ridership in the Eastern
Contra Costa County Transit District grew
6.3 percent.
California transit agencies experiencing the
highest rates of growth include suburban
transit ( mostly buses) agencies that serve
outlying portions of metropolitan areas, and
heavy rail and commuter rail agencies serving
primarily suburban residents that commute to
central city locations. In recent years, local
transit ridership has seen a decrease. This
partly results from local roadway and freeway
improvements, which has made automobile
travel more attractive in relation to transit. The
growth in transit ridership, combined with the
high cost of expanding roadways, will
ultimately lead to extension of full BART
service to Antioch, and may make transit
service by ferry a realistic possibility for
Antioch and other waterfront communities in
the future. However, extension of full BART
service to Antioch might not occur until the
2020- 2030 time frame. Thus, interim transit
solutions will likely be needed.
1.2.7 Changes in Freight
Transportation and Goods
Movement
Another very important aspect of the
California’s transportation system and the
state’s economy is the movement of freight.
Because of the growth of industry,
employment, and population, California freight
volumes are projected to double by the year
2020. The result will be increased use of rail
and use of trucks for local deliveries. Thus,
within Antioch, congestion at local at- grade rail
crossings can be expected to increase due to
increased rail and automobile traffic. In
addition, although the demand for traditional
industrial land will diminish compared to
present needs, demand for rail- served
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 19
industrial land for warehousing and distribution
should remain strong.
Trucking currently dominates shipments in
California to a greater extent than it does
nationwide. Trucking captures 63 percent of
the ton- miles of California’s shipments,
compared to only 38.5 percent for the nation
as a whole. In terms of value of the
shipments, the importance of trucking
increases even more, as it accounts for 67
percent of the value of all shipments in the
state. Rail shipments accounted for only 16
percent of California’s total ton- miles of goods
shipments in 1997.
Seaports are major freight centers in
California. Container traffic has been
increasing in double- digit rates at these ports
for the past several years, and had been
projected to triple in the next 20 years. To
help facilitate the movement of this freight
without overwhelming already congested
highway systems near the ports, rail and
trucking companies will work with individual
businesses to construct Inter- modal Freight
Transfer Facilities. These facilities will
increase the importance of rail use for freight
movement, and will increase the desirability
for industrial uses to have rail access.
Currently, in the San Francisco Bay area,
planning is underway for the Port of Oakland
Joint Inter- modal Container Transfer Facility
( JIT). The project will create a centralized
inter- modal rail yard that will be available to all
three railroads serving the Port of Oakland.
The facility will enable the important
consolidation of port functions, and will result
in a major reduction in the handling time for
containers moving through the region and
encourage a modal shift from trucks to more
energy- efficient rail freight. In addition, the
inter- modal facility will reduce capitol costs,
truck traffic on Interstate 80, and reduce land
use impacts compared to individual rail yards.
The concept is to have the trains move all the
freight from the ports to another rail- to- truck
transfer facility near a highway or on the
perimeter of an urban center. This will
facilitate a seamless transportation system for
the movement of goods and services. These
facilities will expand the regional economic
base through the improvement of freight
connections, and improve access to industrial
areas adjacent to the ports. This model also
improves and lessens traffic congestion
around ports.
There are many economic benefits that will
result from the development of these inter-modal
freight transfer facilities. With the
conversion of freight from long haul trucking to
rail, a multitude of short haul trucking
companies will move to the area surrounding
these facilities to provide local delivery of
goods arriving by rail from port facilities and
other locations in the nation. Increased inter-modal
activity will lead to increased
competition for local warehouse space.
Proximity to inter- modal facilities and the rail
lines serving them may also attract goods
producers that can take advantage of rail
freight capacity.
A new manufacturing and freight movement
trend, “ Just In Time” delivery is based on
suppliers delivering the right materials in the
right amounts to the right place at the right
time, eliminating the need for manufacturers to
stockpile large amount amounts of raw
materials or manufactured components. This
system has been and will continue to be
adopted by many companies in order to
maximize the efficiency of both producer’s and
end- user’s operations. Deliveries of products
and materials to manufacturing and retail
operations when they are needed allow firms
to reduce on- site stock. This strategy requires
precise integration of suppliers, producers,
and distribution networks to ensure that the
end products are in demand, that the materials
to produce the products are available, and that
the freight system is in place and ready to
make the connections. Traditional
infrastructure will be augmented with
information technologies to improve inter-modal
coordination. As the capabilities of
freight handlers are improved to track
individual packages in real- time through
electronic tagging systems, the capabilities to
manage terminal operations will be enhanced,
further increasing the flexibility and cost-competitiveness
of multi- modal freight
systems.
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 20
The “ Just In Time” system will increase the
importance and use of rail freight shipments
as shippers expand their business models to
become logistics companies that are
essentially mobile warehouses. These firms,
called logistics providers and their business
grew in the U. S. from $ 10 billion in 1992 to
$ 40 billion in 1998. This tremendous growth
will continue far into the future, and hence,
increase reliance on the transportation system
as a form of a rolling warehouse to allow
companies to reallocate resources away from
warehouse cost and maintenance in favor of
equipment or product development, worker
training, and retraining. The facilities
operating by these logistics providers will be
similar to traditional warehouses, with the
exception that they will typically be large in
scale ( 500,000 to 1 million square feet or
more), rail served, and at the outskirts of major
metropolitan areas. These logistics providers
will also differ from traditional warehousing
operations in that they will have higher
employment densities and a larger proportion
of office- based employees. The use of the
“ Just In Time” system is anticipated to grow
tremendously in the next several decades, and
will become increasingly important as
technology continues to drive efficiency and
speeds up the pace of business. The
existence of rail connected to the Port of
Stockton and Port of Oakland provides an
opportunity for Antioch to establish a freight
hub in the eastern portion of the General Plan
study area.
Another important change in local
transportation will occur with development of
the Byron Airport. Establishment of an airport
facility within eastern Contra Costa County will
create a local demand for warehousing and
industrial development, if the airport facility
includes air cargo services.
1.2.8 Changes in Shopping and the
New Consumer
Socio- economic and technological changes
have created a new consumer, who will
continue to evolve and grow in the future.
This new consumer has a relatively advanced
level of education, substantial discretion in
spending decisions, and experience with
information technologies. The result will be an
increasing demand for upscale retail and
commercial services within Antioch and
eastern Contra Costa County. This demand
will be met through the development of new
commercial centers, as well as the redesign
and redevelopment of existing facilities.
By 2005, 55 percent of U. S. adults will have at
least one year of a college education and 50
percent of all households will earn over
$ 50,000. Within the Bay Area, these
percentages will be substantially higher.
These households tend to make spending
decisions across budgetary categories,
weighing one type of expenditure against
another. This will involve information
gathering of several alternatives, as well as
the consequences. New consumers will use
information technology to a far greater degree
in the future help with this process of making
spending decisions. Currently, 46 percent of
all households have a personal computer at
home. This number rises to 70 percent for
college graduates and 74 percent for
households with incomes over $ 50,000.
These percentages are anticipated to increase
dramatically in the future as more people earn
college and advanced degrees, and earn
higher incomes. Hence, consumers will gain
more control in purchasing wanted products
and services. More control in the future
includes customization of products and
services, more ability to choose the low- cost
provider, more shopping efficiency, and being
more informed about options in general.
Overall, it means that shopping for non-convenience
goods will not necessarily be
done in proximity to place of residence or
place of employment.
Given the trends of dual income or single-parent
families, some shoppers will have less
time to shop, but will have more money to
spend ( Richer- Faster shoppers). Others –
including the growing number of retired and
lower- to middle- income families -- will have
more time, but probably less money to spend
on shopping ( Frugal- Entertainment shoppers).
The former group will tend to seek speed and
convenience in the form of “ drive- through
everything,” and total service with a reduced
focus on product price. This group will tend
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 21
research their options from home, or will go to
specific stores or centers they know will meet
their needs. The latter group will tend to seek
the traditional best buy and an entertaining
and comfortable shopping experience to pass
the time. They will tend to spend more time
comparison- shopping between stores and
centers.
The design of shopping centers can be
expected to evolve to meet the needs of these
groups. The Richer- Faster shopper will tend
to look for smaller, unique, and specialized
stores designed to service the shopper on the
go. This will constitute the evolution of the
mom- and- pop store, meeting the
customization, customer service, and priorities
of the Richer- Faster shopper. Also,
department stores offering excellent service
and quality will be in greater demand. The
goal of the Richer- Faster shopper will be to
save time while purchasing quality products.
Services may include time saving benefits
such as product selection, gift- wrapping, and
delivery. Customer service will become the
most expensive value option of the future.
Retailers will also aim to a greater degree to
create an entertainment or leisure experience
for shoppers. Thus, stores, such as Barnes
and Noble and Borders, which combine a
small café within the retail store, are likely to
become more common.
The Richer- Faster shoppers may also create a
greater demand for display- only stores, which
are now starting to appear ( e. g., Gateway
computers). These types of stores provide an
alternative to Internet shopping by allowing the
customer to rapidly evaluate and test
products, and to select customized features,
but will rely on electronic ordering and product
delivery systems similar to ordering online.
Considering that, at this time, online sales are
tax- free, the growth of online and electronic
ordering has the potential to diminish local
sales tax revenues. However, the inability of
consumers to test and evaluate products first
hand will likely limit the extent to which online
sales will expand in the future. Display- only
stores provide an alternative, but will be
taxable as point- of- sale.
The Frugal- Entertainment shopper, whose
primary goal is to save money, will likely
continue to seek bargains in large warehouse
structures and value- oriented shopping malls.
“ Big box” retail stores in excess of 125,000
square feet will likely become even more
common over the next 20 years, and will
continue to eat into sales of general
merchandise by smaller, independent stores.
A growing trend will be “ Category Big Boxes”
that provide everything related to that category
including all product use information. In
addition to the low prices permitted by their
massive buying power, these stores will also
offer do- it- yourself courses, knowledgeable
salespeople, and computer provided product
information. This type of facility shopping
facility has been made popular by such home
improvement centers as Lowe’s and Home
Depot, as well as by electronic stores such as
Best Buy. In response, smaller stores will
tend to focus on specialty market niches, and
cater to Richer- Faster shoppers by providing
specialized merchandise and better service
than can be provided by the large chains.
The goal of the typical mall in the future is
anticipated to be geared towards attracting all
types of customers, and provide a combination
of retail stores, entertainment uses ( e. g.,
theaters, skate parks, arcades, etc), and
commercial services. Many market
forecasters indicate that traditional suburban
indoor malls, such as the Somersville Towne
Center, may become outdated and ineffective
in marketplace. The trend for malls in the
future will be to have large and small
freestanding commercial buildings and in- line
stores and restaurant pads located outside of
the main building for convenient access.
Some of these exterior commercial areas
within mall parking lots could be of substantial
size, approaching 200,000 to 300,000 square
feet, or more in size. Interior design of malls
will utilize the tools of the computer age to
constantly provide a changing interior
environment. The mall’s common space will
have the unlimited flexibility to regularly alter
its appearance, amenities, and merchandising
to satisfy the ever- changing shopping needs.
City of Antioch General Plan 1.0 Introduction
November 24, 2003 1- 22
1.2.9 Parks and Recreation
Parks and recreational venues are very
important aspects of community life. They not
only provide opportunities for leisure activities,
but also assist in creating a sense of
community identity and well- being for the
following reasons.
• Recreation programs have been
determined to reduce stress and increase
self- esteem in individuals.
• Parks and open space increase property
values for adjacent lands and communities
in general.
• Recreation programs reduce juvenile
crime by providing positive activity
alternatives.
• Parks and recreation amenities increase
tourism and assist in business retention,
contributing to the overall economic health
of a community.
Along with the traditional concept of parks for
picnicking, passive relaxation, and informal
play is a growing demand for a more active,
regimented, and costly vision of outdoor
leisure. In addition to parks with large
expanses of lawn area with informal plantings
of trees, the future of park development will
also include developed facilities, such as ball
fields and courts for active team sports, and
delineated trails for people to inline skate,
bicycle, hike, and jog. Formal children’s and
adult organized sports activities will remain
strong, and place a great demand on daytime
and nighttime use of indoor and outdoor park
facilities. In addition, in the future, there will
likely be an increase demand for recreation
facilities that offer various activities such as
mountain biking, kayaking, and guided nature
walks. The net effect of this changing nature
of recreation will be a greater demand for
parkland as municipalities attempt to provide
for both passive and active recreation needs.
Public demand for park facilities in the future
will likely include larger facilities with areas for
active, organized sports, and specialized
recreational facilities, as well as traditional
parks. In 2000, only 6 of Antioch’s 28 parks
were larger than 10 acres, and only 10
provided parks active ball fields and sports
courts; 5 other parks without ball fields
provided basketball courts. By comparison,
24 of Antioch’s 28 parks provided picnic
facilities.
Social changes are behind this shift in
recreational activities, including the rise of the
time- pressed two- income family and one-parent
households, the fitness boom and
social contacts offered by gyms and organized
sports, the growth of women’s sports, more
ethnic diversity and population increases. But
the biggest influence of all may be the growing
prominence of a generation accustomed to the
fast action and instant gratification of
television, video, and Internet games. Another
clear trend that will continue into the future is
the increasingly private, commercial nature of
recreation. Instead of being subsidized and
managed solely by local governmental
agencies, those highly organized forms of
recreation -- everything from golf courses and
marinas to inline skating parks, rock climbing,
and tennis -- will increasingly be run by private
enterprise, as the population becomes more
willing to pay for their leisure activities. Other
types of private recreational facilities will
include tennis, softball, and horseback riding.
Demand for recreational trails will also
increase over time, as activities such as
mountain biking, rollerblading, and jogging
continue to expand in popularity. This will
require trail connections to destinations within
the community such as schools, parks, and
shopping and entertainment areas.
To address increasing costs for the provision
of recreational facilities, joint development of
facilities will become even more desirable.
Opportunities for joint development of
recreation facilities including joint school/ park
sites and use of utility rights- of- way ( such as
those maintained by PG& E, EBMUD, the
Contra Costa County Flood Control District,
CCWD, and others) for recreational trails.
Development of passive parks as a temporary
use on public and private lands may also be a
possibility.
City of Antioch General Plan 2.0 Community Vision
November 24, 2003 2- 1
2.0Community Vision
2.1 INTRODUCTION
As noted in Chapter 1.0, the General Plan
represents Antioch’s comprehensive strategy
for managing its future. To successfully
formulate such a strategy involves the City
defining a vision of its future, and then
devising the means to achieve that vision.
This vision is set forth in Section 2.2,
“ Antioch’s Future” and in Section 2.3 “ General
Plan Themes.”
2.2 ANTIOCH’S VISION
Antioch’s vision has moved from bedroom
suburb to full- service city, providing a broad
range of community services and amenities.
Antioch is a great city – a diverse and beautiful
community. It is a City known for its scenic
riverfront, economic vitality, vibrant historic
Rivertown area, high quality schools, well- kept
neighborhoods, cultural and recreational
amenities, and for its high quality public
services and facilities. Antioch is a city in
which families want to raise their children;
children choose to stay and, as they become
adults, raise their own families. It is also a city
that the elderly find desirable for their
retirement years. Antioch is an inclusive
community, providing housing and
employment opportunities for executives,
managers, and professionals; highly skilled,
semi- skilled, and unskilled workers; and retail
and service workers. Antioch’s vision is a
community in which residents can live, work,
shop, and spend their leisure time.
Antioch’s vision aims at providing commercial
and industrial lands for a wide variety of office-based
and industrial employment, including
heavier industrial and rail- served industries in
the northern portion of the City, along with light
industry, commercial service, and retail
businesses, along with mixed- use business and
office parks, such as is being envisioned in the
regional “ Shaping our Future” project. To
complement these employment- generating
lands, a broad range of housing is envisioned,
including the following:
• Executive housing.
• Traditional single family subdivisions.
• Planned communities with common open
spaces and high levels of community
amenities.
• Middle to upper end attached housing
products.
• Affordable housing to provide housing
opportunities for the various income
ranges represented in the City’s
employment base.
The focus for the Rivertown area will be to
serve as a community gathering place,
providing specialty retail, restaurant, and
entertainment uses, as well as passive
recreational activities along the riverfront.
Rivertown will be a vibrant, active downtown
area, with both daytime and nighttime activities.
Ground floor uses would be devoted to retail,
restaurant, commercial services, and
entertainment, with residential and office uses
on upper floors. The river will become the
visual centerpiece of the Rivertown area,
featuring a river walk, public art, and activity
areas, such as bocce ball courts and gazebos
for community concerts. This river walk will be
part of a pedestrian/ bicycle trail running along
the river from the westerly limits of Rivertown
to the existing marina west of Rivertown to
Rodgers Point. In addition, an anchor use will
be developed along the trail at the east end
adjacent to Rodgers Point. Such an anchor
could include an active recreation area,
amphitheater, or other use that would
encourage community activities. North- south
streets within the Rivertown area will have
views of the river, and buildings along the
waterfront will “ face” the river.
The existing rail line adjacent to Rivertown will
become a community asset, rather than a
dividing line, providing transit opportunities for
Antioch residents and workers. Land uses
surrounding the existing train stop will be
City of Antioch General Plan 2.0 Community Vision
November 24, 2003 2- 2
designed to take advantage of the market
created by the rail line’s transportation and
visitor- serving functions. In addition, a transit-oriented
land use pattern will be established
adjacent to the Hillcrest Avenue freeway
interchange. Land uses adjacent to the
transportation node would include a high-density
cluster of office and commercial uses.
These high- density uses would be integrated
into the surrounding community through
pedestrian and bicycle amenities, as well as
through consistent urban design themes. Ferry
service, linking the Bay Area’s waterfront
communities, is available at Rodgers Point
anchoring the east end of a waterfront trail.
Retail uses would be clustered at the SR-
4/ Hillcrest Avenue and SR- 160/ 18 th Street
interchanges, along Lone Tree Way,
Sommersville Road, A Street, East 18th Street,
and the SR- 4 bypass, as well as at the
proposed transportation node. Individual
commercial uses at the transportation node
would typically be small scale in nature,
primarily consisting of restaurants, commercial
services, and convenience retail uses oriented
toward commuters and workers in adjacent
office and industrial areas.
Economic development activities will focus on a
combination of expanding local employment
opportunities and retail sales tax income. The
General Plan envisions expanding local
employment opportunities through delineation
of commercial and industrial lands for a wide
variety of office- based and industrial
employment, and implementation of an
aggressive economic development program.
Because commercial/ industrial development
will most likely occur both as freestanding uses
and larger scale commercial centers and
business/ industrial parks, the City envisions
aiming economic development activities at
attracting both commercial/ industrial developers
and end users. Expansion of the City’s sales
tax revenues is envisioned to occur through:
• Revitalization and expansion of
Somersville Towne Center into a mixed-use
center;
• Retention of auto dealerships along
Somersville Road;
• Development of new specialty retail
opportunities within Rivertown;
• Addition of retail uses at the Hillcrest
Avenue transportation hub;
• A new mall featuring department stores
and up- scale retailing; and
• New retail uses within developing areas of
the City.
Because existing traffic congestion largely
results from regional traffic patterns connecting
housing to distant major job centers, existing
regional traffic problems will be addressed
through a combination of public transit,
roadway expansion, and provision of new
employment opportunities throughout the City.
Transit improvements are envisioned to include
extension of BART to Antioch in the long- term
with interim use of existing rail lines ( eBART) to
provide a transit connection to BART, along
with commuter rail connections to the Tracy
and Stockton areas. Roadway expansion will
include completion of a local arterial roadway
system within the East County area and major
improvements to the regional highway system.
These improvements would be aimed at
enhancing linkages among communities within
the East County area, as well as between the
East County area and employment centers to
the south and west. A more equitable
allocation for financing major highway
improvements will be sought, spreading costs
onto both ends of the commute pattern: East
County residential areas and the employment
centers to which residents now commute. In
addition, by expanding the area’s employment
base and achieving a better match between
housing and local jobs, commute lengths can
be reduced, and peak hour congestion can be
relieved.
2.3 GENERAL PLAN THEMES
The General Plan represents a detailed
statement for achieving community vision and
managing growth and change in the years
ahead. This vision, and the means that will be
employed to achieve it are embodied in the
following themes that are reflected throughout
the General Plan.
City of Antioch General Plan 2.0 Community Vision
November 24, 2003 2- 3
1. New growth and development can and will
be directed toward meeting community
objectives and needs.
Antioch can grow and still remain a
healthy and vibrant community, if this
growth is managed, and occurs in the
areas that can best accommodate it.
Targeting of the type, intensity, and
location of new growth, along with
managing the rate of new residential
development, will facilitate achievement of
community objectives, such as:
a. Balancing the provision of diverse
housing options with local
employment opportunities;
b. Creating an exciting urban core within
the Rivertown area with diverse
economic, housing, cultural, and
entertainment opportunities;
c. Promoting a diverse economic base
that serves Antioch residents through
an expanded local employment base
and entrepreneurial opportunities;
maintaining sufficient municipal
revenues to cover the cost of high
quality municipal services and
facilities; enhancing opportunities for
cultural, scientific, corporate,
entertainment, and educational
institutions; and meeting the
challenges of economic competition;
d. Enhancing mobility for the movement
of people and goods within the
community and region through well-designed,
balanced transportation
systems that provides feasible
alternatives to personal automobile
travel ( pedestrian, bicycle, and
transit), and by maintaining a pattern
of land uses that supports use of
these alternatives modes of
transportation;
e. Maintaining a match between the
expansion of the City and its service
and infrastructure systems, including
transportation systems; parks, fire,
police, sanitary sewer, water, and
flood control facilities; and other
essential municipal services;
f. Facilitating the provision of high
quality education within the
community by providing for the
construction of new school facilities;
g. Providing adequate support for
businesses and institutions that serve
the needs of the community, including
schools; quality medical care facilities,
including a full service hospital with
acute/ emergency care and local
medical clinics and services; child and
adult day care centers; libraries,
shelters; public auditoriums; social
clubs and recreation centers; and
places of worship; and
h. Protecting the character of established
residential neighborhoods.
2. Economic vitality will be promoted to
provide local employment and
entrepreneurial opportunities, diverse
shopping and commercial services, and
adequate municipal revenues.
Many residents commute to distant
employment destinations because their
job skills do not match existing local
employment opportunities. These long
commutes have resulted in congested
highways, and are a significant constraint
on residents’ quality of life. To reduce
congestion and enhance residents’ quality
of life, Antioch will expand its employment
base, and work toward a balance between
local jobs and housing. Although it is
recognized that not all residents will choose
to work within Antioch, and not all workers
will live locally, Antioch’s vision is that the
majority of its working population will be
employed locally. Such a choice will be
made possible by providing as close a
match between the range of local
employment- generating uses and housing
types as can be achieved.
Antioch’s quality of life also depends, in
part, on the services provided by the City.
Antioch’s vision encompasses high quality
public safety services, along with a wide
City of Antioch General Plan 2.0 Community Vision
November 24, 2003 2- 4
array of other community amenities and
public recreational activities. To afford the
provision of such services, the City will
support a vigorous business community
and an economic climate wherein existing
businesses desire to remain and expand,
and new businesses want to locate. Such
a business community will meet the needs
of residents and other businesses by
providing desired commercial and
professional services and a broad array of
convenience, specialty, and “ big ticket,”
retail goods, as well as leisure- oriented
and entertainment uses. Providing such
an array of retail and commercial service
uses represents much more than just
municipal income for the City; providing
the full range of retail and commercial
services desired by Antioch residents will
also be an important factor in enhancing
community identity and pride.
3. Antioch will be a healthy, family- oriented
community.
The well being of Antioch’s children,
families, and seniors is critical to the
community’s own well- being. Antioch is,
and will continue to be largely comprised
of single- family dwellings and
neighborhoods designed for families.
Although not directly provided by the City,
high quality educational services are
critical to community success. Thus,
Antioch will maintain a close partnership
with the Antioch Unified School District to
facilitate the provision of superior school
facilities, including shared school/ park
facilities, and to maintain a focus on what
is best for the community’s youth. As
Antioch’s population grows, the City will
work with Los Medanos College to expand
its programs, and will work CSU Hayward
to establish a satellite campus within the
City.
An array of high quality neighborhood-oriented
and community- wide parks and
recreational facilities will be maintained,
along with community gathering places
along the riverfront, as a means of
enhancing Antioch’s desirability for
families. Antioch also recognizes existing
demographic trends, and the desirability of
retaining local residents in the community
for their retirement years. Thus, housing,
facilities, and services for seniors will be
provided within the community. Antioch
will thus assist in meeting the needs of
public, private, and voluntary
organizations and institutions that provide
important community support services by
maintaining an adequate inventory of
lands for such uses.
The City recognizes that land use patterns
directly affect the quality of lives of
families. Long commutes between
Antioch and distant employment centers
create stress for residents, and detracts
from family life. The availability of
services in nearby locations, including
health care, education, recreation, day
care, and shopping is not just a
convenience, but is a key component of
people’s quality of life.
The City also recognizes the changing
nature of the family, including single
parent households and a growing number
of singles who may band together to form
households within the community. As a
result, programs for children, undertaken
in conjunction with local school districts,
will become more important over time as a
means of providing a full range of
services, and maintaining a high quality of
life for local residents.
4. Antioch will be a mobile community,
providing options in addition to the single-occupant
automobile.
The freedom provided by the private
automobile has dominated the form of
modern urban America over the past
several decades. Although the
automobile and modern highway systems
have given workers the freedom to move
into distant suburban locations in search
of newer and higher quality housing than
they could otherwise afford closer to their
places of employment, the resulting long
commutes have also been a source of
growing frustration. As a result, there is
an increasing demand for extending mass
transit systems further into suburban
locations, and for enhancing alternative
City of Antioch General Plan 2.0 Community Vision
November 24, 2003 2- 5
modes of transportation ( e. g., bicycle and
pedestrian) for local travel.
Antioch and other communities are also
rethinking how energy conservation, air
quality management, and transportation
planning goals should be met, along with
how future land use patterns need to be
modified to support achievement of these
goals. Thus, principles of transit- oriented
development and pedestrian- oriented
development 1 will be implemented to
provide residents and workers alternatives
to travel by automobile, by facilitating
transit, pedestrian, and bicycle travel. The
General Plan seeks to maximize residents’
and visitors’ freedom of movement within
Antioch, providing them with viable
choices as to the mode of transportation
they use ( e. g. automobile, transit,
pedestrian, bicycle). The design,
configuration, and mix of uses in strategic
locations such as Rivertown, the Hillcrest
interchange, Sand Creek and East Lone
Tree Focused Planning Areas, and the “ A”
Street interchange will provide an
alternative to traditional suburban
development by emphasizing a
pedestrian- oriented environment, and
reinforcing residents’ ability to use bicycles
and public transportation.
5. The resolution of community and regional
issues needs to be equitable.
In pursuing solutions to expansion and
financing of infrastructure, including
transportation facilities, and in managing
future growth, the City of Antioch will
emphasize the concept of equity. It is
Antioch’s vision that the financing of
regional transportation improvements will
recognize that the existing regional
imbalance of jobs and housing is the
1 “ Transit- oriented” developments are typically
mixed use neighborhoods or projects, within a
quarter mile of a transit stop, predominantly light
rail or bus transfer stations. Pedestrian- oriented
developments give priority to and respond to the
needs of the pedestrian as a higher priority than
automobile travel. By providing a compact form
of development, both transit- oriented and
pedestrian- oriented development also facilitate
bicycle travel.
principal cause of the congestion faced by
eastern Contra Costa County residents in
their work commutes. Thus, the
employment growth in existing
employment centers is as much the cause
of regional traffic congestion problems as
it is the result of housing growth in existing
suburban locations. An equitable solution
to regional traffic congestion would place
equal responsibility for financing new
transportation facilities on jobs- rich
communities that expand their
employment bases and on housing- rich
communities that expand their residential
sectors. Equity will also be maintained in
the financing of new public services and
facilities and their long- term maintenance
between existing and developing portions
of the City. Thus, the costs associated
with providing expanded infrastructure to
newly developing areas will be internalized
within those areas. Affordable housing will
be provided within Antioch in a manner
that integrates such housing into the fabric
of the community, and does not isolate
lower- income households from community
amenities and activities. Finally, the
notion of equity will be extended to the
City’s growth management system, which
will provide opportunities for both large-scale
and smaller housing developers to
build and market their products within the
community.
City of Antioch General Plan 2.0 Community Vision
November 24, 2003 2- 6
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City of Antioch General Plan 3.0 Growth Management
November 24, 2003 3- 1
3.0Growth Management
3.1 INTRODUCTION AND
PURPOSE
The premise of growth management in the
City of Antioch has long been to ensure that
development paid its own way, and that
sufficient public services and facilities were
available to support new development. The
City defined the desired pattern of land uses,
and proactively assisted in setting up funding
mechanisms for expansion of infrastructure
designed to ensure that the costs of capital
facilities needed to support growth were paid
for by new development. As individual
development came forward, the emphasis was
on mitigating the impacts of proposed growth.
Today, one of the key themes of the Antioch
General Plan is that new growth and
development be directed toward the
achievement of the community vision set forth
in the General Plan. New development needs
to make a positive contribution to the
community, and not just avoid or mitigate its
impacts.
Antioch will face a number of difficult growth
management challenges over the next 20
years as it moves from a bedroom suburb to a
full service city. Key among these challenges
is the need to effectively address nagging
traffic congestion problems in the East County
region in the face of rapid residential growth
forecasts. In response, Antioch has
committed to expand local employment
opportunities and reduce the need for Antioch
residents to commute long distances to work.
The desire to revitalize Antioch’s Rivertown
area, its riverfront, and its older areas; to
enhance municipal income streams through
expanded retail opportunities, and the need to
expand both upper end and affordable
housing opportunities also need to be factored
into the community’s growth management
strategy.
New growth and development within Antioch
will increase the demand for infrastructure and
services provided by the City and other
agencies. In addition, future land use and
development decisions will have an effect on
municipal costs and revenues. As long as
Antioch continues to grow in population and
expand its economic base, the City’s operating
and capital budgets will have to respond to
increased demands for services and facilities.
Since the fiscal burden of providing expanded
infrastructure is beyond the normal capacity of
municipal revenues, it is imperative that the
expansion of the City’s residential and non-residential
sectors occur such that a burden is
not placed on the community’s resources.
As discussed in Section 3.1.2, Antioch voters
passed an advisory growth control measure.
Measure U calls for the City to not only
enforce public services and facilities
performance standards during the review of
individual development proposals, but also to
phase the rate of new development to ensure
the continuing adequacy of those services and
facilities. Managing the rate of growth adds a
new challenge. To implement annual growth
limits in addition to the public services and
facilities performance standards that the City
has been implementing, along with large- scale
assessment districts to provide up- front
financing of infrastructure, requires that care
be taken to ensure the viability of such
infrastructure financing mechanisms.
It is the purpose of this Element of the General
Plan to bring together those portions of the
General Plan that address various aspects of
growth management, and thereby set forth a
comprehensive strategy to manage the
location and rate of future growth and
development. It is also the purpose of the
Growth Management Element to implement
the provisions of countywide Measure C 1 and
the City’s Measure U ( see Sections 3.1.1 and
3.1.2, below). The Growth Management
Element thus sets forth performance
standards for key community services and
facilities, thereby establishing a clear linkage
1 Measure C is presently set to expire in 2009. It is
anticipated that a new measure will be put to the
voters to extend the provisions of Measure C.
City of Antioch General Plan 3.0 Growth Management
November 24, 2003 3- 2
between future growth and the adequacy of
community services and facilities.
3.1.1 Contra Costa County Measure C
Requirements
In 1988, the voters of Contra Costa County
approved Measure C, the “ Contra Costa
Transportation Implementation and Growth
Management Program.” Measure C increased
the sales tax within Contra Costa County by ½
cent, with the additional revenue being
allocated to a list of specific transportation
improvements. Measure C stipulated that 18
percent of the revenue be returned to cities
and towns to implement local growth
management programs. These programs
included adoption of Growth Management
elements as part of municipal General Plans,
containing traffic level of service standards, as
well as performance standards for parks, fire,
police, sanitary sewer, water, and flood control
facilities.
Under Measure C, the County and cities within
the County were also required to adopt a
Transportation Systems Management
Program, and were required to maintain a five-year
Capital Improvements Program. In
addition, Measure C also requires the County
and cities within the County to address the
balancing of local jobs and housing
opportunities, and to participate in regional
transportation planning efforts.
3.1.2 Antioch’s Advisory Measure U
In November 1998, Measure U was approved
by a large majority of Antioch voters ( 69
percent). Measure U was an advisory
measure calling for the City to phase the rate
of new development to:
“ Provide adequate schools, street
improvements, and Highway 4
improvements for a sustained high
quality of life, by making new growth
pay its own way through maximizing
fees, assessment districts, matching
fund programs, and any other means
effective to expedite the construction
of needed infrastructure.”
A series of community workshops were
conducted during early 1999, leading to an
interim ordinance.
The interim ordinance was subsequently
replaced by a permanent ordinance that is
consistent with the provisions of the General
Plan Element.
3.2 GOALS OF THE GROWTH
MANAGEMENT ELEMENT
To provide for a sustained high quality of life
and ensure that new development occurs in a
logical, orderly, and efficient manner, it is the
goal of the Growth Management Element to
accomplish the following:
• Maintain a clear linkage between growth
and development within the City and
expansion of its service and infrastructure
systems, including transportation systems;
parks, fire, police, sanitary sewer, water,
and flood control facilities; schools; and
other essential municipal services, so as
to ensure the continuing adequacy of
these service facilities.
This goal is cornerstone of the Growth
Management Element. The key growth
management program called for in
Measure C is the creation of performance
standards for public services and facilities.
The quantified public services and
facilities performance standards
delineated in this Element set a
benchmark for quantifying the impacts of
new development, and also represent the
measuring tool by which mitigation of
those impacts will be required by the City.
Implementation of these performance
standards is thus designed to mitigate the
impacts of growth, and ensure that new
development pays its own way in terms of
the capital costs associated with needed
expansion of public services and facilities.
The provisions of the Growth Management
Element are also intended to address
efficiency in the provision of public
services and facilities. By moderating the
City of Antioch General Plan 3.0 Growth Management
November 24, 2003 3- 3
rate of new residential growth, consistent
with the ability of the City and service
agencies to keep pace, the cost of
providing public services can be
maintained at reasonable rates.
“ Efficiency” in the provision of public
services and facilities often also means
constructing large- scale capital facilities at
the initial phase of new development to
avoid interim periods of inadequate
service. The City of Antioch recognizes
that that it is sometimes necessary to
construct large- scale infrastructure ahead
of development, possibly making financing
difficult for individual developments.
Where financing required large- scale
capital facilitie