Frequently Asked Questions

“If Brentwood doesn’t develop the land, won’t it be taken by Antioch?”

Antioch continue to make its views on expansion clear–Antioch is not interested in expanding outward. This is the same fear-mongering we heard the last time a developer tried to expand the ULL. We can’t let developers trade our quality of life for a manufactured fear. In addition, allowing a poorly planned development that Brentwood doesn’t need isn’t the only way to ensure Antioch doesn’t encroach on Brentwood. We can pursue policies such as a community separator (which has been successful in Sonoma County) or an MOU between the cities (which has been successful in Solano County) to ensure that the land remains farmland, and the two cities actually stay separate.

“The developer says they will extend American Avenue and complete the loop.  Won’t that help our traffic problem.”

The land where the extension would be constructed is county-controlled and so the county would have to be in favor of constructing such extension.  The county would be looking at a number of variables with respect to the construction, including habitats that could be impacted.

If the American loop is completed, vehicle traffic will be routed further west down Balfour. Currently, traffic leaving the schools generally flows east on Balfour and to West Country Club. This means that the newly routed traffic would still be crossing the existing Balfour/American intersection. It also means that traffic would be flowing toward the steady stream of students that cross Balfour on the western side of American.  Do you think this will actually help traffic flow?

“Does Brentwood need more housing?”

NO! Brentwood is already over ⅔ built out according to the General Plan’s targets, and less than ⅓ built out for jobs. Cities that rely on property taxes as a primary source of income run out of money down the line, which diminishes their ability to provide the quality of life residents are used to. More houses mean more residents, which means more commuters and more traffic, and more pressure on city services like police, fire, and maintenance–without a long term increase in tax revenue.

“The developer says the houses are for ‘active adult’ residents, so there won’t be impacts on schools or traffic.”

The development is currently planned for 80% of units for “active adult” and 20% of units as market rate. Developers can label their projects whatever they want, and simply change it down the line which is exactly what happened recently in Antioch. An “active adult community” is not legally binding. Just ask…Once houses are market rate, anyone can move in–including families with children who will need to go to school and working parents who will need to commute to job centers across the Bay Area. If each home has an average of four people, that’s almost 10,000 more commuters on roads and school children in school.

Further, “active adult” refers to adults 55 and over. How many 55 year olds do you know that don’t leave the house?

“Can our schools support so many new homes?”

“What’s going to happen to Balfour Rd.?”

The developer is proposing to widen Balfour to four lanes. With two new lanes, this quiet community street will start to resemble a highway, completely changing the neighborhood feel.