The proposal by developer City Ventures seeks to construct the townhome complex on a vacant 2.78-acre property on San Pablo Avenue at O’Hatch Drive, including new private roadways and a .76 acre open space area across Garrity Creek and along Tara Hills Drive.
The project proposes 30 three-story townhomes and three two-story townhomes constructed in six total buildings. The three-story units would range from 1,234 to 1,774 square feet of living area, while the two-story townhomes would be about 1,850 square feet each, according to county documents. Each unit would have private yard space and a two-car garage, with entrance to the site accessed via driveways on O’Hatch Drive.
After two hearings, the county’s zoning administrator in June approved the project with a number of conditions that aim to address community concerns.
The approval, however, faces an appeal by neighbors.
In a letter to county officials, two homeowners on O’Hatch Drive, writing on behalf of over a dozen nearby neighbors, said the conditions placed on the project by the county are not enough to mitigate its negative impacts on their community.
The project’s size and impact on parking and traffic are among the community’s concerns.
“We have organized in order to get this development blocked or, at the very least, reduced to a size and scope that better fits the Tara Hills community which is made up mostly of single-family, one-story, three-bedroom homes, on very narrow streets, with barely enough street parking for existing residents near this proposed development,” according to the letter signed by the homeowners.
An appeals hearing is set to be held Wednesday, Sept. 11, at the County’s Planning Commission at 30 Muir Road in Martinez. The commission meeting starts at 7 p.m.
