The Orinda Planning Commission approved amendments to the controversial Orinda Housing Element Aug. 12, despite a parade of speakers and a host of letters that opposed the proposals.
The vote was 4-2, with Marian Jelinik and Michael Merola voting no. Chair Robert Hubner and commissioners Brenda Davis, Kumani Armstrong and Kevin Schmidt were in favor. Molly Doctors Rajashkehar missed the meeting.
The amendments rezoned parts of the city to allow Orinda to build more multifamily housing and meet the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) guidelines, which must be approved by the City Council early in 2026.
If Orinda’s Housing Element is not in place by that time, the city is forced to adopt the Builder’s Remedy, which allows developers to bypass Orinda’s zoning regulations and attempts to mitigate fire dangers and transportation issues.
Planning Commissioner Kevin Schmidt said, “These amendments give us an opportunity to have more control than we do today,” but 18 speakers lined up to protest various aspects of the amendments.
The largest protests focused on rezoning four parcels in South Orinda to allow for multifamily residential housing. Speakers pointed out the traffic issues that already exist on Moraga Way that not only snarl daily commuting, but also could have a potentially fatal impact should a wildfire force an evacuation.
Orinda Planning Director Lashun Cross pointed out that with these amendments the city will force potential developers to mitigate both of these problems, conceivably with infrastructure improvements, before any development could be built.
Associate Planner Darin Hughes also made it clear that the rezoning did not require the city to build the units.
Developers must step forward and invest in projects for any housing to be built, and construction of new multifamily housing in California dropped 26% from 2023 to 2024, according to United States Census data.
Another concern of speakers and letter-writers was the inclusion of a CalTrans site off the Wilder exit of Highway 24.
CalTrans, according to a letter sent to the city, identified toxic wastes on the site that will cost at least $11 million to mitigate, and that cost must be borne by the city and/or a developer. That cost, plus the distance of the site from schools, shopping and other amenities, caused many speakers to question why the site was included.
Other areas of development were in the downtown, which met with general approval, but there is not enough “feasible” development space downtown, according to Hughes, to fully meet the HDC requirements. (The HDC won’t allow cities to simply designate areas for development unless there is reason to believe that development in those areas is possible.)
Many speakers wondered why the BART parking lots were not part of the proposal, but bureaucratic issues with CalTrans and BART make it unlikely that any development is likely in the near future.
BART leases the property from CalTrans, and BART’s timeline does not call for considering issues with the Orinda station until 2034, according to Hughes.
And even if BART did free up the property, CalTrans will only consider transferring the property, according to Cross, if it provides a “public good.” CalTrans does not consider housing as a public good.
After the Planning Commission approval, the final step is a vote by the City Council, which is planned for Sept. 15.
