Strike 2: State again denies Pleasant Hill’s Housing Element

Risks ‘severe’ without state certification

DAVID SCHOLZ Correspondent

For a second time, the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has rejected the city’s Housing Element proposal, adding Pleasant Hill to a growing list of local communities trying to navigate the same seriously choppy seas.

Councilmember Sue Noack and Mayor Tim Flaherty expressed frustration and disappointment, respectively, in response to the July 31 letter addressed to Pleasant Hill City Manager Ethan Bindernagel. The revised plan that the city submitted May 18 was shaped by guidance from consultants based on what the state had seemingly been looking for to meet the city’s objectives for affordable housing. That included the inclusion of two controversial tracts of land – Morello Terrace and Paso Nogal – located smack in the middle of single-family homes that generated huge public outrage.

Baseball, from page 1

and Aunt Michelle Strand, their two children and coach Tarpley, which set off a wild scramble for them to arrange a flight to make it to Encarnacion-Strand’s debut the next evening in Cincinnati.

They flew from the Bay Area to Nashville then drove across the state of Kentucky, arriving in the parking lot of Great American Ball Park just in time to hear Christian’s first MLB at bat described on the radio. The next day Encarnacion-Strand came off the bench and made his first big league hit a memorable one.

He had a chance to make the Reds opening day roster coming out of spring training, but the organization wanted him to work on his defense and cut down on strikeouts. He hit .331 with an other-worldly 1.042 OPS, ranking fourth in Minor League Baseball in total bases with 20 home runs in 67 games for Louisville.

The Reds are right in the middle of the National League Wild Card race and many fans were clamoring for Encarnacion-Strand to get a call up as they viewed his glossy minor league exploits.

He’s been playing both corner infield positions and designated hitter for the Reds. Encarnacion-Strand’s had nearly 100 plate appearances as of this week and has three home runs and 14 runs batted in but has struck out 26 times.

College Park High

EXPLOITS

College Park won the 2014 North Coast Section Division II baseball championship with an overall 27-3 record. They then moved up to Division I for the 2015 season, when Encarna- cion-Strand join a loaded team that had seven players who would go on to Division I college baseball and four to professional ball.

They were so stacked that USA Today declared them the No. 1 team in America before the 2015 season. The team raised money to go to a prestigious national invitational tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina where they won three of four games. Strand, who was barely 15 years old, held his own against those nationally ranked teams.

Late in that 2015 regular season De La Salle, the defending D-1 NCS champs, played College Park in a non-league game at Cal’s Evans Diamond that outdrew the Cal-Stanford game with the Spartans winning 3-0.

There were at least 20 major league scouts in the stands watching some De La Salle players but primarily the Falcons senior trio of Willie MacIver (currently on Rockies AAA team), all-everything pitcher Joe DeMers (who retired from pro ball last year after a star-studded career for USA Baseball teams on the international level) and Travor Larnach (1st round pick of the Twins in 2018 and since 2021 on their MLB roster).

The teams met in the NCS championship game and the Falcons turned the tables on DLS, winning 5-2, the only time since 2014 that De La Salle has failed to win the Section championship.

With his star-studded teammates graduating after that season Encarnacion-Strand became a marked man over the next three years, often seeing one good pitch a game to hit, coach

Flaherty, from page 6

between Odin Place and Skander Lane.

Along with these changes, parking or waiting along the curb is no longer permitted as this would block the bike lane. Drivers waiting to pick up students will be rerouted through the school parking lot for

Looking At Housing Options

The devil is in the details for city leaders as they wade through a six-page letter of legal minutia that describes many statutory requirements that Pleasant Hill still has failed to meet in seeking certification of its Housing Element.

City leaders must identify areas within the city limits where 1,803 units can be developed to meet users categorized as very low-, low- and moderate-income earners.

“What they are asking for is difficult to achieve considering we are pretty built out. I understand the goal, but I am not sure how we can do it.” said Noack, lamenting: “I don’t know where the other sites are.”

The council will hold an extensive discussion of the state’s decision at the first meeting in September. Noack is requesting that the city manager and staff come before the council to explain the letter so everyone – the public included –knows what is being asked of the city.

“The risks of not getting it certified are pretty severe,” said Noack, including the state suing the city and the state taking over the permitting process for housing in Pleasant Hill.

“It’s not a risk we can really take,” she added.

College in Arizona where they play with wood bats. As a freshman in 2019 he was Conference Player of the Year, first team AllAmerica and first team NJCAA All-Region. After that season he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the34th round of the MLB Draft.

After the canceled 2020 pandemic season he went to Oklahoma State, where in 2021 he became the first OSU player in four years named a first team All-America. He was drafted in the fourth-round and signed with the Minnesota Twins.

DEFINING ‘HIGHER RESOURCE’ AREAS

During the process, the state has directed communities to spread out low-income units so they are not developed in just one area. Buzz words like “higher resource” have been used to define these target areas.

But, Noack says the problem is how one defines “higher resource.”

The state wants these homes built in areas where there are higher incomes, schools and parks. In contrast, Noack suggested cities and the public see “higher resource” areas as where mass transit, stores and services are located for the benefit of occupants of affordable housing.

“They are not helping us to communicate with the people,” she said, noting that the state “is leaving us in a very difficult position.”

Working Toward

Januarydeadline

According to Noack, the situation is further complicated because HCD’s goals for housing conflict with other state needs such as mass transit for the public and wanting that developed near housing.

Rezoning of land is another part of the process that Pleasant Hill has been wrestling with as officials work to meet the state’s expectations for its Housing Element, in accordance with the Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA). Because the city has not achieved certification on time, it lost out on a three-year window to tackle the rezoning of properties that seemingly would help it meet the Housing Element objectives. As a result, city officials are now facing a January 2024 deadline to rezone 967 units to meet the RHNA.

As the city moves forward, Flaherty noted the state’s expectation that municipalities will play an active role in financing development of land identified for the housing described in the Housing Element. “We have no budget or ability to do it,” he said. “It is putting the city in a difficult situation.” in 2018 is one of his fondest memories coaching the new major leaguer.

After officials thought the city was on target, the letter opened a host of new areas of concern for Pleasant Hill, Flaherty said in expressing his disappointment with the state’s response to the city’s good faith efforts to meet expectations.

Tarpley recalls, yet he was a firstteam all-league section three times in a row and league MVP as a senior, among numerous honors.

He also played club ball for Tarpley’s Lamorinda teams including reaching the semifinals of the Connie Mack World Series, where he was a finalist in the home run derby. Tarpley’s wife Sherri would feed the pitching machine for Encarnacion-Strand to take batting practice.

In Encarnacion-Strand’s sophomore and junior seasons De La Salle eliminated College Park in the NCS semi-finals. Over four years he played 103 games in College Park colors with an overall .385 batting average, 125 hits, 79 RBIs and 15 home runs. Even with all those gaudy numbers he wasn’t drafted after his 2018 senior season.

He attended Yavapai Junior

Encarnacion-Strand was the Midwest League’s 2022 Most Valuable Player before being traded to the Reds that August and continued his upward trajectory in AAA this season until his call up.

SPORT’S LONGEST NAME

The 23-year-old has Encarnacion across the back of his Reds uniform because Encarnacion-Strand won’t fit. In fact, Christian Encarnacion-Strand is the longest name ever for a MLB player.

Encarnacion is his father’s last name and Strand his mother’s. He was raised by his grandmother until she passed his sophomore year in high school when his Uncle Casey, a legendary two-time state high school wrestling champion at College Park, took him in.

After being separated from his all-star high school teammates for many years Encarnacion-Strand homered off DeMers in a minor league game. Larnach and EncarnacionStrand both had offensive success when they played against one another in a AAA game and the pair may match up on a major league diamond now too.

SMD, from page 3

District bought 768-acre Finley Road Ranch in April with Save Mount Diablo’s help, to provide better access.

In March Save Mount Diablo also opened to the public a missing piece of the Knobcone Point Trail across its Curry Canyon Ranch property, connecting Curry Point and the Knobcone Point area in the State Park along a ridge east to Riggs Canyon. The bottom of Curry Canyon is still private, but the new Balcerzak acquisition will allow several new trail loops to be opened from the improved circulation. If you’re dropping off/picking up, please be sure to follow the signs, cones and instructions to keep everyone safe.

State Park across Curry Canyon Ranch. But first SMD must raise at least $500,000 and hopefully more for the Balcerzak land acquisition project. To move fast at Balcerzak, the organization took out a 2-year, interest only loan. As soon as possible within these two years Save Mount Diablo will look to receive funding support from its partner agencies.

To learn more about Save Mount Diablo, please visithttps://www.savemountdiablo.org.

PLEASANT HILL PERKSAREBACK

The very popular Pleasant

Hill Perks program has returned. Designed to help residents shop locally, the program allows participants to purchase a gift card good for purchases at 61 participating businesses in Pleasant Hill.

To make the deal even sweeter, people who buy a gift card get a second one worth 50% of their purchase for free. So, if you buy a $100 card, you will get a $50 card at no charge. It’s a good deal and a great gift to give.

To learn more about the Pleasant Hill Perks program, go to www.pleasanthillca.org/perks. Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Email questions and comments for Mayor Flaherty to tflaherty@pleasanthillca.org

The number of people living on the streets is a warning sign, and the problem is increasing.

I see more and more people living on the streets and drifting into psychosis and addiction. Our communities are becoming more dangerous, and this is bigger than just a housing issue.

At one time or another, many of us fear we might lose control of our health or descend into psychosis –which is a disconnection from yourself. Could our system of fast food, relying on sugar and processed food, be aggravating such conditions?

There’s a lot of fear in our society. You can see it in the