Contra Costa supervisors overturn denial of new housing near Martinez
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY – The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously overturned the county planning commission's denial of a 24-unit apartment complex in unincorporated Martinez, agreeing with county's staff's recommendation that the project won't have enough of an impact on the surrounding area to merit the denial.
West Coast Land and Development wants to build the three-story complex at a vacant site north of Windhover Way and Pacheco Boulevard.
The 24-unit Windhover Terrace apartments would include a building footprint of 22,247 square feet and a covered carport for 16 parking spaces. Four trees would be removed.
The developer requested a variance request for building heights of up to 38.5 feet where the maximum allowable height is 30 feet and a driveway width of 24.5 feet where 25 is the minimum allowed. The developer has also requested the 25% open space required be reduced to 20.5%.
The lot is approximately .77 acres—approximately 32,820 square feet and located on the east side of Windhover Way in a residential neighborhood.
A half-dozen neighbors came to the meeting to speak against the project, citing density, building height, lack of adequate parking, traffic impact, and building design not fitting in with the surroundings neighborhood. Ultimately the need for new housing in Contra Costa County overrode their concerns.
"I've had the opportunity to visit the property on several occasions, and let me just say infill projects are difficult, and certainly it's difficult when people have lived in the area, to find anything that that they're going to find totally satisfying in terms of it," said board chair Federal Glover. "But there have been a lot of concessions made."
Glover said the project would improve the area.
"I understand what the neighbors are saying. I understand the density issue that you're talking about," Glover said. "This is a project that I think in terms of what we see there today, is a very blighted area. It's something that will give some improvement."
