Walnut Creek Council presses MTC for flexible Transit-Oriented Communities implementation

Walnut Creek City Council on Oct. 21 voted to send a comment letter to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission asking that MTC adopt a more flexible approach to implementing its Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC) policy.

Community Development Director Erica Vandenbrand told the council that the TOC policy, adopted by MTC in September 2022, assigns points for jurisdictional compliance based on a half-mile radius around transit stations and sets targets that Walnut Creek cannot meet under the policy's current scoring and geography. Vandenbrand said the policy evaluates an entire circle around the Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill BART stations rather than the city's established Priority Development Areas and the two specific plans (West Downtown and North Downtown) that were developed with regional support.

Vandenbrand said major areas of concern include the policy's residential-density minimum of 50 units per acre across the entire half-mile area and a commercial-density requirement (2 FAR) that the city does not meet across that radius. She also said certain affordable-housing and programmatic requirements in the TOC rubric (the so-called "3 P's" and specified monetary commitments) exceed what the city was required to include in its certified housing element and appear infeasible without costly additional studies. The staff report notes MTC-funded work on Walnut Creek's specific plans and the city's previous pro-housing designation as context for asking MTC to recognize preexisting PDA-specific plans as an alternative path to compliance.

Council members raised questions about the half-mile circle methodology, topography and freeway barriers that make portions of the circle difficult to access by walking, and whether the policy properly accounts for economic and site-specific realities. Vandenbrand said MTC staff circulated a revised scoring matrix the same day but that the changes did not resolve the city's primary concerns on density and housing-policy requirements.

After public comment closed, the council voted to approve transmittal of the comment letter to MTC. Mayor Cindy Darling called the vote; the roll call recorded Ayes from Council members Silva, Divini, Francois, Mayor Pro Tem Welt and Mayor Darling.

The council directed staff to submit the letter in time for MTC's board listening session and asked staff to attend the regional meetings to press for alternatives that would give credit for locally adopted PDAs and the specific plans funded in partnership with MTC.

Vandenbrand's presentation and the council discussion made clear that Walnut Creek's requested relief is procedural and implementation-focused rather than a request to avoid housing obligations. The staff letter asks MTC to recognize alternate compliance pathways that reflect the city's existing planning investments and physical constraints, and to provide clearer guidance on what level of partial compliance will make jurisdictions eligible for regional transportation and housing discretionary funds.

What happens next: MTC held a listening session on the policy; staff will transmit the council-approved letter into the record and follow up as the regional board and staff finalize implementation guidance.