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The Danville Town Council unanimously endorsed the development plan for a new multi-family neighborhood along West El Pintado Road near the freeway this week.
Developer Talmont Homes is seeking to build a complex with 37 units — described as townhouses, though council members thought they looked more like condominiums — featuring a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom options on 1.88 acres at 359 and 375 W. El Pintado Road.
The council debated the project for nearly three hours Tuesday night, weighing criticisms from some neighbors concerned with traffic, parking and other potential impacts from the new homes before ultimately solidifying its support for the development and associated mitigation measures recommended by town staff.
“We have to be careful; they have vested rights to build this project,” Councilman Newell Arnerich said. “And the traffic that goes along with it, all we can do is condition things that mitigate that traffic, which is the sight-lines and things like that. We can’t take away that right.”
Councilwoman Lisa Blackwell added that she was pleased the project would provide new housing options for young families in usually expensive Danville, including multiple units in the moderate income affordability category. She referenced a quick search she did before the meeting to find the cheapest single-family home in Danville was listed for $1.025 million.
“The developer could have made this the property 42 to 47 units and ask for a density bonus, but they did not,” Blackwell said. “I appreciate that you (developer) did not ask for those, and that you can have them for a low market rate.”
The multi-family development would be located parallel to Interstate 680, near the southbound freeway off the ramp at El Cerro Boulevard, on two separate parcels — one that currently contains a single-family home and the latter parcel is vacant.
The project would involve amending the General Plan land-use designation for 359 W. El Pintado Road from residential-single-family-low density to mixed-use. The General Plan land-use designation for 375 W. El Pintado Road was amended to mixed-use in 1999 for approval of another development plan that lapsed without being built.
An environmental impact report found that the project could potentially have significant impacts on factors including water quality, air quality and soils, but the implementation of mitigation measures would reduce all impacts below a significant level, according to town principal planner David Crompton.
The developer also created strategies supported by town staff to mitigate traffic safety impacts for cars, bicyclists and pedestrians to a less-than-significant level, according to Crompton.
The Danville Planning Commission recommended the project for approval with a 4-3 vote last month, with the dissenting commissioners raising concerns about the General Plan amendment and neighborhood compatibility.
Some residents who live around the project location spoke to the council Tuesday night, mainly to express concerns about street parking and traffic.
“You have cars parked along those sidewalks,” Stephanie Scheiding said. “You’re going to have kids and pedestrians walking along there, which is really hazardous.”
After public comment closed, Mayor Robert Storer later acknowledged the neighborhood’s traffic concerns. “There will be traffic… it could have been worse. The applicant could have asked for the six more units and for the density bonus,” Storer said. “They are all Danville residents. They went with the lowest number of units because they knew it would already have concerns with it.”
The council ultimately voted 5-0 in support of the development package. As part of their motion, council members added or strengthened conditions of approval around noise control, hydrology, vector control and lighting.
The project is due to return for a second reading and final adoption — a required, two-step process — on Aug. 13, likely on the council’s consent calendar for that night’s meeting.
