Let Antioch Voters Decide: The Sand Creek Area Protection Initiative

Our Coalition, Antioch Community to Save Sand Creek, Drafted This Initiative

We gathered signatures to place it on the ballot, and it went to the voters as Measure T in November 2020, where it passed in a landslide victory with 79 percent voting “yes.”

Our goal is to give Antioch residents a vote on each big project being proposed in the Sand Creek area, the undeveloped part of the Lone Tree Valley west of Kaiser. The Antioch City Council had been considering thousands of houses there, threatening the south edge of the city.

In January 2021, the Richfield/Oak Hill Park LLC developers, who want to develop potentially thousands of housing units west of Deer Valley Road on and around the southern hills of the Sand Creek Area, filed a legal challenge to Measure T. They say it violates SB 330, the state’s Housing Crisis Act of 2019.

This would be one of the largest sprawl developments in the entire Bay Area, causing

Decreased property values
Horrendous traffic and congestion in our neighborhoods
Stretching of police and fire services even thinner
Destruction of our hills, watersheds, and wildlife
Loss of our limited water supplies forever

What is the Sand Creek Focus Area?

It’s a 2,783-acre area along the south edge of the city, the undeveloped part of the Lone Tree Valley stretching from Black Diamond Mines east to Brentwood. It’s divided into three parts by Empire Mine Road and Deer Valley Road.

Why does our coalition want to protect land in the Sand Creek area west of Deer Valley Road?

Antioch residents are fed up. They want change from business as usual. Current development approvals have created many problems that need to be addressed. Additional development to the south will stretch services and damage sensitive, beautiful areas. Our Measure T requires that developers persuade Antioch voters that their project benefits Antioch.

There are some additional developments east of Deer Valley Road, near Kaiser Hospital, that have already been approved.

What does the “Let Antioch Voters Decide Initiative,” passed as Measure T, do?

Designates 1,800 acres west of Deer Valley Road as the Initiative Area and zones it as rural residential, agriculture, and open space.
Limits development in the Sand Creek area between Kaiser Hospital and Black Diamond Mines, where developers are proposing thousands of houses.
Requires Antioch voter approval to allow more intensive development. It Lets Antioch Voters Decide if they want to allow bigger developments.
Permanently requires voter approval of amendments to the Urban Limit Line. Our measure requires voter approval for any changes.