YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 18, No. 36
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Parking woes at pooch playground by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
Press file photo
Tails are wagging at the new dog park at Nunn-Wilson Family Park in Oakley. The only complaint now is a lack of parking.
Oakley’s first designated offleash dog park is such a hit that some residents and city leaders are barking for more parking. A 28-space parking lot sits near the 2.5-acre park that opened in late June as part of Nunn-Wilson Family Park, but City Councilmember Sue Higgins believes more parking is needed. “The dog park is such a hit,” she said. “I think we need more parking there.” Nancy Marquez-Suarez, assistant to the city manager, confirmed this week that the city plans to explore possibilities for additional parking at NunnWilson Family Park. Neither the exact location of the possible additional parking nor the number of spots it could provide is known. “Part of the analysis is to give the dog park some time where we will be able to see use patterns over a several month
period,” she said. Public Works Director Kevin Rohani said during a recent city council meeting that one possible location is near the Oxford Drive and Winchester Drive intersection. “We expected (usage) to peak (in the summer),” he said. “Once winter comes, we expect a little less usage.” Some park visitors agree that more parking is needed at the facility on Oxford Drive. Visitor Kimmie Snow said she’s noticed that the park gets especially full on Saturday mornings between 8 and 10 a.m., and she tries to avoid parking in residential neighborhoods. “I have been here a couple of times, and the first time I was here, it was packed,” she said as she held her Jack Russell Terrier at the park this week. “There were dogs everywhere.” Fellow visitor Julie Dikes said she hasn’t had any problem finding parking but noted that see Park page 30
Sand Creek land-use plan approved by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
About a month after the Antioch City Council adopted an initiative governing a portion of 2,712 undeveloped acres in the town’s southeast, city leaders have approved a similar, slightly more restrictive one instead of sending it to voters. The now-adopted Let Antioch Voters Decide initiative will zone the 1,800-acre stretch between Deer Valley Road and Black Diamond Mines for rural, residential, agricultural and open-space uses with a minimum parcel size of
“ I think the future residents will be drawn to Brentwood and its businesses.
80 acres. It also requires a vote for more intensive development and voter approval for all urban limit line changes. It largely overrules the competing, but similar, West Sand Creek initiative, adopted by the council about a month ago, but it won’t affect a 550acre, 1,180-unit housing project west of Deer Valley Road and east of Empire Mine Road
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that was approved as part of that initiative’s adoption. The overruled initiative called for the housing project to be approved, along with 1,244 acres preserved – about 30 percent less than the one recently approved – at the western and southern boundaries of the Sand Creek Focus Area, west of Deer Valley Road, by designating it for open-space,
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agricultural and rural uses. Both measures had garnered enough signatures to appear on a future ballot, forcing the council either to adopt them outright or to send them to ballot. In the end, both competing initiative groups emerged victorious: the housing project is approved, and a large portion of open land in the city’s southeast corner will be preserved. City officials had considered building as many as 4,000 homes in the entire 2,712-acre Sand Creek Focus Area – bounded by Black Diamond
September 7, 2018
Community Steps Up
Despite its cancellation recipients of the Art, Wine & Jazz Festival will still benefit. Page 5
Kings Of The Equine World
Exotic, mysterious and royalty in equine circles, meet the Arabian horses of East County. Page 4
Making An Impact
Brentwood’s Impact Soccer Club takes all in Huntington Beach Tournament. Page 23
see Land-Use page 30
Calendar................................31 Classifieds.............................25 Cop Logs................................29 Education................................6 Entertainment.....................11 Food........................................10 Kid Scoop ...............................9 Opinion..................................20 Pets...........................................8 Sports.....................................21
Polling Honors
Safety Upgrades
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County Elections Division wins award for polltraining class on voter accessibility.
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(FEMA) has awarded BART $6.8 million for continued police patrols on trains.