Annexation approved for controversial subdivision in Pittsburg Hills

Discovery Builders, a company owned by Albert Seeno III, plans to build up to 1,500 homes in the hills south of Pittsburg as part of the Faria development. (Cooper Ogden/Save Mount Diablo)

PITTSBURG — A controversial 606-acre property in the rolling Los Medanos Hills southwest of Pittsburg was annexed to the city limits Wednesday, clearing the way for a prolific East Bay developer to pursue plans for several decades aimed at building homes near the scenic ridgeline.

The Faria/Southwest Hills project aims to build up to 1,500 new single-family homes concentrated around the Los Medanos ridgeline. Proposed by Discovery Builders – owned by Concord-based developer Albert Seeno III – the project was approved twice by the Pittsburg City Council.

The Contra Costa Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) – a powerful group of city, county and special district officials charged with overseeing the growth of the city limits – has given the green light to land reorganization owned by Seeno in a 5-2 vote Wednesday. Faria's momentum hinged on LAFCO's approval to ensure future development could access services from the Contra Costa Water and Delta Diablo Sanitation Districts.

Before the vote, Pittsburg City Manager Garrett Evans requested approval, citing the project's plans to protect the ridgeline, concentrate real estate development in the valley, provide access to neighboring Thurgood Marshall Regional Park and to preserve 44 percent of the property as open space, double the amount originally proposed.

“It’s a better project than it was 20 years ago,” Evans said Wednesday. “It gives us hope, development and opportunity.”

The two dissenting commissioners – Scott Perkins, vice mayor of San Ramon, and Charles R. Lewis IV, an unelected official representing the public – expressed concern that the developers' long list of environmental documents did not meet all questions from LAFCO officials about impacts on the surrounding open space.

Lewis was adamant that crucial details about the site and grading plan for the Faria development were still missing — information that LAFCO General Manager Lou Ann Texeira requested in at least a dozen “polite but polite letters.” farms.” These documents, he said, are essential not only to help the public understand the proposed project, but also to allow LAFCO to consider approving the annexation.

“There is no limit to the information provided by the applicant – several boxes of documents – but it does not include the level of the project,” Lewis said, indicating a lack of detail on the impacts of the development.

He said the city should have required more documentation from developers before approving the project. “This does not seem to me to be simple negligence that (the city of Pittsburg) overlooked or forgot. This is a deliberate failure to comply with the orders of this commission. I consider this to be both a substantive and procedural breach of due process. »

Winter King, the Save Mount Diablo attorney of Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, shared Lewis' concerns – advocating for LAFCO to reject Pittsburg's annexation request.

However, Tom Geiger, legal counsel for the commission, said Pittsburg's final environmental certification last year was adequate, especially since no lawsuits were filed after the City Council's April 2023 vote. Additionally, he pointed to a 2022 court ruling that a programmatic EIR was “appropriate and lawful.” »

“There was a small window of time to challenge this decision,” Geiger said, “but that time has passed: The city certified it over a year ago.”

Federal Commissioner Glover said he was not initially a supporter of the Faria development, but changed his mind after years of discussion and modification of the plan.

“I know I've been trying over the last couple of months to put the parts together, but it hasn't happened,” Glover said. “I don’t know if any further dialogue that takes place between the applicant and Save Mount Dablo will result in anything more.”

In addition to a youth recreation center and trails that will connect Thurgood Marshall Regional Park, plans for the other half of the Faria/Southwest Hills project along the ridge include 265 acres of open space and a belt green buffer against the East Bay Regional Park District. land, which is sandwiched between a $1 billion, 12,200-unit development planned for the former Concord Naval Weapons Station on the other side of the hill.

But that buffer isn't enough to protect nearby open space, according to members and supporters of the nonprofit Save Mount Diablo, a land trust and conservation organization, which has advocated for years to “save the ridge”.

Environmentalists have sent hundreds of letters urging LAFCO to reject annexation, saying the Albert Seeno III project is “disastrous” and threatens to “bulldoze the tops of the Pittsburg hills.” Opponents claim that Discovery Builders “never provided a project-level environmental review as LAFCO has repeatedly insisted,” nor did it submit a detailed grading plan or engineered subdivision plan with house lots and streets.

Seth Adams, land conservation director for Save Mount Diablo, failed to convince the commission to require more green space – up to 500 feet – against the regional park, compromising wildlife habitats, the access to nature, neighborhood traffic, fire hazards, and community landscapes. views could be negatively affected by significant grading during construction. He said the Seeno development team was not willing to come and openly discuss alternatives.

“Save Mount Diablo supports sensitive development and protection of open space,” Adams said. “We don't care if Seeno goes ahead with their project, we just want them to save the ridge and make the development less impactful. It's not that difficult to do.