Orinda council introduces ordinances to rezone downtown and five opportunity sites to meet state housing requirements

The Orinda City Council on Sept. 30 introduced two ordinances and directed staff to return with related resolutions to implement required rezonings in the city's sixth-cycle housing element, actions city planners say are necessary to demonstrate capacity for the Regional Housing Needs Allocation.

The council unanimously voted to introduce Ordinance 25-04 (non-downtown opportunity sites) and Ordinance 25-05 (downtown rezonings and objective design standards, as amended) and to have staff return with Resolutions 52-25A and 52-25B for adoption. Vice Mayor Iverson presided over the portion of the hearing covering non-downtown sites while Mayor McAuley recused herself due to a property interest near Miramonte High School; she returned for the downtown discussion.

Associate Planner Darren Hughes told the council the package includes general-plan map and zoning-text amendments for 31 sites to show realistic capacity for 1,359 housing units under the RHNA allocation. "This is not a construction mandate," Hughes said, adding the rezoning establishes where multifamily residential uses would be allowed and sets objective design standards intended to streamline future project review.

Nut graf: The actions are intended to bring Orinda into compliance with state housing-element law and HCD (California Department of Housing and Community Development) review requirements by showing sufficient development capacity. Staff said the rezoning would give the city the regulatory framework to accommodate housing in downtown and at five opportunity sites (three church properties, one Miramonte High School parcel and the Caltrans gateway site), while the EIR's mitigation measures would address traffic, wildfire and other impacts.

What the ordinances would change

Staff said the plan recognizes existing capacity (623 units from sites already zoned for housing), 90 units from approved but not yet built projects, and rezones enough land for roughly 907 additional units to meet the RHNA capacity target. Of that rezoning total, staff said downtown sites account for an estimated 421 units (using HCD's "realistic capacity" factor) and the opportunity sites account for roughly 286 units; the Caltrans gateway site represents an additional ~200-unit potential that is not credited in the sites inventory at this time.

Proposed new zoning categories include Downtown Core (D-Core) at 30 and 55 dwelling units per acre and Downtown General at 25 units per acre to allow multifamily and mixed-use development in downtown. Outside downtown, the city would create Residential High (RH25: 20-25 du/acre, max ~36 feet) and Residential Very High (RH40: 20-40 du/acre, max ~50 feet) designations for portions of five opportunity sites. Staff described stepbacks, facade and massing controls and a set of objective design standards that would apply to projects proposing multifamily housing.

EIR and mitigation

A revised EIR was recertified for the Plan Orinda project on March 18, 2025, after an earlier adoption and a subsequent lawsuit and revision. The EIR includes mitigation and a monitoring program addressing vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reductions, wildfire hazard assessments and project-level wildfire design and landscaping measures, and potential pursuit of grant funding or development-impact fees for emergency- and evacuation-related improvements on Moraga Way.

Public comment and council questions

Speakers at the hearing urged the council both to advance housing and to address public-safety and neighborhood impacts. Amy Heinz Schick, a Bear Ridge resident, told the council she supports the rezoning and said organizers of a local Inclusive Orinda chapter "want to see Orinda be compliant with our housing element so that the Housing Accountability Act doesn't come into play and the builder's remedy triggered." Several speakers raised concerns about wildfire evacuation on Moraga Way, school impacts near Miramonte High School, parking and the placement of higher-density sites.

Council members asked staff for design and scale examples, how density translates to building height and massing, where parking requirements still apply, and whether state laws such as SB 4 (by-right housing on religious and higher education sites) or AB provisions for school-owned housing would allow development independent of the city's rezoning. Hughes said some state laws could be used by applicants as alternative routes and that rezoning does not itself require construction.

Mayor McAuley recused from discussion of the non-downtown sites because she and family members own a condo near Miramonte High School; she said she was "recusing myself out of an abundance of caution and to underscore my respect for this important process." The council followed the city attorney's recommended segmentation and took non-downtown items first without the mayor.

Votes at a glance

- Ordinance 25-04 (non-downtown sites): Motion to waive full reading and introduce Ordinance 25-04 and direct staff to return with Resolution 52-25A for adoption — introduced and motion passed by roll call vote, unanimous (Council Members Hoxie, Jean, Riley, Vice Mayor Iverson and Mayor McAuley recorded as aye where applicable during the segment when the mayor returned). Outcome: introduced; second reading/adoption to be scheduled.

- Ordinance 25-05 as amended (downtown rezonings and objective design standards): Motion to waive full reading and introduce Ordinance 25-05 as amended to reflect the 9/29/2025 objective design standards and to direct staff to return with Resolution 52-25B for adoption — introduced and motion passed by roll call vote, unanimous. Outcome: introduced; second reading/adoption to be scheduled.

Next steps and context

If the council moves forward at the second readings, the ordinances and resolutions will be adopted and the city will update zoning maps and the general plan insets for the affected parcels. Staff said the rezonings are intended to satisfy HCD's requirement to demonstrate capacity for RHNA and avoid enforcement actions that can limit local control. Staff and council members also indicated plans for follow-up work: refining objective design standards (discussion of form-based controls versus specific style guidelines), revisiting civic-space and creek guidance from the downtown-precise-plan effort, and continuing wildfire-evacuation and infrastructure mitigation planning, including pursuing grant funding and feasibility studies for Moraga Way improvements.

The introduction of the ordinances does not authorize development; future projects will require permits and must comply with objective standards, environmental mitigation and any applicable state laws.

Ending note: Council members and staff thanked the public and planning staff for extended outreach and detailed analysis; the council set the second readings and adoption for future meetings and asked staff to return with the resolutions and additional implementation details.