FAQ

The City of Pleasant Hill is required to update its General Plan every 5-8 years. As part of this update, the Housing Element must demonstrate how the City will meet its share of regional housing needs, as determined by the State’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA).

For the current housing cycle (Cycle 6), Pleasant Hill is required to plan for 1,803 new housing units by 2031.

No. The City has already met its RHNA housing requirement — plus a 20% buffer — without rezoning any single-family homes.

While some Planning Commission comments may have implied otherwise, we have confirmed with the City that existing single-family parcels were not necessary to meet RHNA goals.

While the 2040 General Plan outlines a future vision for land use and housing, it does not itself rezone properties. That requires an update to the Zoning Ordinance — now proposed via the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance Amendment and Rezoning Map.

When a city rezones your home or neighborhood, it changes the rules for how the property can be used—for example, allowing businesses or apartments where only single-family homes were previously allowed. This does not mean the city is taking your home, but it does mean a developer could buy your home—or your neighbor’s—and turn it into something like a coffee shop or liquor store with apartments above.

Approved by the Planning Commission on September 9, this proposal is now heading to City Council for a final vote on October 20.

Yes and no— they can be different, but they cannot remain that way indefinitely.

In fact, in Pleasant Hill, they have already been different for the past two years.

So why is the City trying to align them now?

While the General Plan and Zoning Ordinance are technically allowed to differ, the law only gives a City a “reasonable time” to align the two. This is because:

• It creates confusion when developers apply for project approvals.

• It may increase legal risk and open the City to lawsuits.

• In most cases, the General Plan can override the Zoning Ordinance.

Yes — ultimately, to protect single-family neighborhoods long-term, the General Plan needs to be amended.

Even though the zoning and General Plan can technically remain misaligned:

• The General Plan shows the City's long-term vision for land use.

• Developers can use it to push for projects even if the current zoning is single-family.

• Courts may side with the General Plan in legal disputes.

Bottom Line: To truly protect single-family parcels in Gregory Gardens, East Vivian, and Poet’s Corner, the General Plan must be amended to reflect and preserve those areas as single-family residential.

Gregory Gardens

• Every single-family parcel abutting Gregory Lane has been rezoned to High-Density Mixed-Use.

• This includes homes facing inward toward established neighborhoods, not just those facing Gregory Lane.

East Vivian Neighborhood

• Every parcel from Safeway to Tap Plastics, and from Contra Costa Blvd to I-680, has been rezoned to Mixed-Use.

• This includes every home in the neighborhood.

Poet’s Corner

• A currently vacant lot has been rezoned to High-Density Residential.

• The plan proposes cutting a new road through the neighborhood, even though the site could be accessed without disrupting the established community.

The City’s official reasoning includes:

• Increasing the housing supply.

• Creating more walkable, urban areas.

• Aligning the zoning ordinance/map with the 2040 General Plan.

However, here is the reality and the counterarguments that the City does not seem to have good answer for:

• “More housing” is not the same as “better housing” — and we're losing the kind we actually need. It’s true that California has a housing shortage, but the problem isn’t just the number of units — it’s the type of housing. We’re not short on small apartments — we’re short on affordable single-family homes, especially for working families. Yet this proposal calls for eliminating existing single-family parcels, especially in highly desirable areas like Gregory Gardens and East Vivian. Meanwhile, new multi-family projects like the Cleaveland Apartments are struggling to lease — they’re offering free rent and move-in bonuses just to attract tenants. That’s not a sign of unmet demand — that’s a sign of overbuilt, underused density. Ironically, removing single-family homes will make the remaining ones more scarce and even more expensive, making Pleasant Hill less affordable, not more.

This is not a housing solution — it's a housing mistake.

• “Walkable urbanism” sounds nice — but this isn’t how you achieve it. Most residents support safe, walkable streets — but they don’t support it at the cost of demolishing or rezoning internal single-family neighborhoods. The City seems to think that simply adding coffee shops or mixed-use buildings is what makes a neighborhood walkable. It’s not. True walkability comes from good infrastructure design: things like tree-lined sidewalks, buffered bike lanes, traffic calming, and pedestrian-friendly crossings. The City just completed a major pedestrian and bike improvement project on Contra Costa Boulevard — and did it without rezoning a single home. So why is rezoning required on Gregory Lane? Why are we cutting through quiet streets like Beatrice and Soule to create access to Cleaveland Ave? That doesn’t make a neighborhood walkable — it makes it a high-traffic cut-through.

Walkable neighborhoods are built with thoughtful design — not zoning experiments.

• Aligning the zoning map with the General Plan is not urgent

In fact, the General Plan and Zoning Ordinance have been misaligned for over two years, and nothing has broken because of it. As noted in Question 4, it’s common for cities to operate with temporary inconsistencies — especially when the General Plan is out of step with community values. If alignment is truly the goal, the General Plan should be amended to reflect the kind of growth residents actually want, not forced zoning changes that no one asked for.

As of January 1, 2024, if a development application aligns with the general plan but not the zoning ordinance, the local agency has 180 days to either amend the zoning ordinance or process the application based on the general plan's standards.

The City’s rush to "align" feels more like a political choice than a planning necessity.

One likely reason is money.

The City of Pleasant Hill spent over $1 million on the 2040 General Plan, and City leadership may be hesitant to spend additional time and resources to revise it — even in the face of widespread resident concern.

But here’s the reality: Lawsuits and recall elections are expensive too — and both are more likely than any developer buying up costly single-family homes to build dense apartment complexes.

This proposal threatens to devalue hundreds of homes in Pleasant Hill. For most families, a home is their single largest investment. This isn't just policy — it’s real money with real consequences.

Residents deserve a plan that enhances their neighborhoods, not one that quietly undermines them.

No, not directly.

The City did host Town Halls and Community Meetings during the General Plan update process. However:

• None of the specific neighborhoods or property owners directly impacted by the rezoning were notified of the drastic changes being planned for their parcels as part of the General Plan outreach.

• Direct notification to affected properties only occurred once the Zoning Map Amendment was agendized at the Planning Commission on September 9.

While this may meet minimum legal requirements, it's far from meaningful community engagement — especially considering the scale and seriousness of the changes.

The City should have directly notified and involved these neighborhoods before adopting the General Plan, not after the fact.

Not yet.

The final decision rests with the Pleasant Hill City Council. The Council will vote on the proposed zoning changes on October 20th.

We encourage all residents who are concerned about this proposal — especially the rezoning of single-family neighborhoods — to submit letters to the Council and attend the October 20th meeting to make public comments.

Remember:

• Planning Commissioners are generally appointed.

• City Councilmembers are elected by YOU!

We need to act now and in large numbers.

Here’s how you can help:

• Email the City Council urging them to vote NO on the rezoning plan.

• Attend the October 20th City Council Meeting and speak during public comment.

• Sign the petition to remove single-family neighborhoods from the rezoning plan.

• Join our goal to bring 100+ residents to the October 20th meeting.

📅 City Council Meeting
Date: October 20, 2025
Location: Pleasant Hill City Hall (100 Gregory Ln, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523)
Agenda Item: Zoning Ordinance Amendment & Rezoning Map