California
Environmentalists call this project ‘the worst ridgeline development in Northern California’ — and just got it delayed
CONTRA COSTA — Fearing the development of a major ridgeline just outside Pittsburg, environmentalists are hoping to convince local officials and the developer to create an open-space buffer between them.
Twice approved by the Pittsburg City Council, the Discovery Builders’ Faria project proposes to build some 1,500 homes in the hills southwest of Pittsburg overlooking Thurgood Marshall Regional Park in Concord, where the former Naval Weapons Station was once located.
But before any work can begin, the 606 acres of land must first be annexed into Pittsburg. The Contra Costa Local Agency Formation Commission, which oversees such boundary changes, was set to do that this week, but the item was continued after the small agency was flooded with hundreds of emails and letters, mainly from members and supporters of the nonprofit Save Mount Diablo who have environmental concerns about the proposed project, according to Lou Ann Texeira, executive officer of LAFCO. On its website, Save Mount Diablo calls the planned development “the disastrous Faria project that would bulldoze the top of Pittsburg’s hills.”
Texeira said she reached out to the involved parties to arrange a meeting before the project comes before the agency again on June 12.
“I’m just encouraging them to talk to one another and maybe work something out, to preserve permanent open space in that area,” she said.
In an April 3 letter to LAFCO, Juan Pablo Galván Martínez, senior land use manager at Save Mount Diablo, laid out the group’s concerns, including the project’s potential grading and development of the major ridgeline between Pittsburg and Concord. The project, they say, “would damage resources and agricultural land,” and mitigations are “not sufficient.”
In the 10-page letter, the nonprofit said the Albert Seeno III development group “never provided project-level environmental review as LAFCO has repeatedly said it requires,” nor has it submitted a detailed grading plan or an engineered subdivision map with house lots and streets — something that routinely happens everywhere else at the beginning of environmental review.”
The environmental group also wants the developer to provide more detailed “information that would allow analyses of what would be visible and what would prevent drastic visual and biological impacts.”
In addition, the group is asking for a 400- to 500-foot buffer from Faria’s western fence line to reduce aesthetic and biological impacts, reduce fire hazards and “offset negative impacts of carbon pollution due to project construction, and serve as mitigation for impacts to agricultural land.”
Seth Adams, land conservation director for Save Mount Diablo, said the buffer zone would help.
“I think a whole bunch of issues can be resolved by making a bigger buffer on this county unincorporated land between the development footprint and the edge of Concord,” he said.
Louis Parsons, president of Discovery Builders, said on Monday that Save Mount Diablo “is confused about the Contra Costa LAFCO’s role or is attempting to confuse the public and decisionmakers.”
“The fact is the shape and scope of the project is already approved by the city of Pittsburg,” he wrote in an email.
As for LAFCO’s role, it is to approve the city’s boundaries and “is limited to determining whether the project site can be served by public facilities and services, and related matters,” Parsons wrote. All service providers have already confirmed that they can provide necessary services, he said.
“The agency has enough information to make this decision,” he added. “State law is very clear that LAFCO only needs, and only can demand, adopted zoning plans and general policies to make a decision in these circumstances.”
Parsons further called the project’s environmental review “robust, encompassing thousands of pages” and said the proposed development “satisfies all environmental regulations, including important habitat conservation policies adopted by various local cities and the Contra Costa County Habitat Conservancy.”
He called Save Mount Diablo’s challenge “meritless.”
Plans to develop the hills date back to 2005 when voter-approved Measure P moved the Faria site within Pittsburg’s urban boundary. The city then approved an agreement with Seeno that established guidelines for a permanent greenbelt buffer along the inner edges of the boundary.
The developer filed an application in 2010, modified it in 2014 and again in 2017. The council first approved a version of the project in 2021. But months later, Save Mount Diablo sued, challenging the city’s approval of a planned 1,500-home project.
A judge in 2022 ruled that the city’s environmental review failed to properly analyze the project’s effects on air quality, traffic, water supply and possible impacts of the proposed 150 accessory dwelling units. The developer’s request for a new trial was rejected, and the city later revised some of the environmental documents.
The project was dealt another blow in early 2023 when the city’s planning commission failed to recommend it. But in April of that same year, the City Council gave it a green light.
Pittsburg city officials could not be reached for comment.
Adams said the nonprofit is not against all development but noted there are ways to protect the ridgeline, and the Faria development could be improved to do that.
As it is, Adams called the project “the worst ridgeline development in Northern California.” It not only would be overlooking park open space, “it would be next to it in various places,” he said.
Discovery Builders, meanwhile, said they previously agreed with the East Bay Regional Park District “to better harmonize the proposed development” with the district’s recreational plans. The developer had sued EBRPD in 2020, saying the new regional park would cause undisclosed impacts on the environment and their planned 606-acre Faria housing development. But after lengthy discussions, the parties settled, and the park district agreed not to object to annexation.
Adams blames any delays on the developer.
“All of the delays were caused by Seeno, primarily, because they’ve never, ever actually revealed the true nature of the project,” he said.
Texiera, meanwhile, said that if LAFCO approves the project in June, there will be a 30-day reconsideration period before approvals would be finalized, unless there are more challenges.
California
Christmas storm still on track to hit Southern California. Here is when the heaviest rain arrives
Southern California is preparing for a powerful winter storm over the Christmas holiday, with forecasters warning of heavy rainfall, gusty winds, and potential flooding across the region.
According to the National Weather Service, the storm will bring an extended period of significant rainfall from Tuesday through Saturday, with totals expected to reach 4 to 8 inches across coastal and valley areas and 8 to 12 inches or more in the foothills and mountains by Saturday evening. Officials are urging residents to take necessary precautions, as flooding and debris flows could pose serious risks throughout the week.
The first, and most impactful, surge of rain is expected Tuesday night into Wednesday, when a moderate to strong atmospheric river will target the area. During this period, rainfall totals could reach 2 to 5 inches in coastal and valley regions and 5 to 10 inches in foothills and mountain areas, with hourly rates of 0.75 to 1.25 inches possible. The extended rainfall and intensity raise concerns about widespread urban flooding, mud and debris flows, and hazardous driving conditions, particularly during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
A flood watch has been issued for all four counties from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday evening, and the National Weather Service recommends that residents begin taking protective actions now.
In addition to heavy rain, strong southerly winds are expected Tuesday and Wednesday, particularly in the mountains and foothills, with the potential to knock down trees and cause power outages. Officials are advising residents to avoid swollen creeks and rivers, refrain from unnecessary ocean activity, and take precautions such as parking vehicles away from tall trees during periods of strong wind.
Forecasters emphasized that the timing and intensity of the storm could still change and encouraged residents to monitor updates from the National Weather Service and KTLA’s meteorologists.
A massive fog bank that has been blanketing much of California’s Central Valley with low-lying clouds since Thanksgiving time has prompted fears online of a mysterious and harmful “radiation fog,” but scientists say this is a misunderstanding of basic scientific terms and common weather patterns in the region.
“There’s something in the fog that I can’t explain,” a California man said in a recent video as he wiped soot from his truck bumper, in a post by Wall Street Apes, a popular X account.
There is indeed a “radiation fog” over the region, but that term refers to the general radiation of energy, not nuclear radiation. During radiation fog events, or “tule fog” as it’s known in California, named for a native marsh plant, fog forms when the moist ground cools rapidly at night, causing water vapor in the air to condense into thick fog.
A rainy autumn and winter in California, as well as a late November high-pressure system over the state, has further exacerbated this effect, helping create a fog bank that often stretched 400 miles up the center of the state.
Residents described the fog, which may actually be getting less common in the region compared to historical trends, as cold and eerie.
“It’s like going into a dream stage where you can’t see anything around you,” David Mas Masumoto, a peach farmer in the San Joaquin Valley, told The New York Times. “You feel like you’re in this twilight zone.”
Masumoto added that he can’t remember another time with such thick fog in the last 50 years.
As for the particles that some residents were seeing in the fog, there’s a standard explanation for those too.
“Fog is highly susceptible to pollutants,” Peter Weiss-Penzias, a fog researcher at UC Santa Cruz, told The Los Angeles Times.
The Central Valley, home to the state’s key north-south highway and miles of agricultural land, is known for its poor air quality.
“It could be a whole alphabet soup of different things,” Weiss-Penzias added.
The fog, which continued through late this week, is expected to thin out as heavy rains disrupt weather patterns in the state.
One lucky Southern Californian has won over $2.3 million after numbers were drawn for the Powerball jackpot on Saturday night.
Although no winner hit all six numbers for the $1.5 billion jackpot, one ticket matched five numbers and will take home $2,323,527.
The winning numbers were 4, 5, 28, 52, 69 and a Powerball of 20. The Power Play multiplier was 3x.
The SoCal ticket that hit five numbers was sold at Wright’s Market at 2691 Ventura Blvd. in Oxnard.
The Powerball jackpot will rise to an estimated $1.6 billion for the next drawing on Monday, Dec. 22 – the game’s fourth-largest prize ever and the fifth-largest among all U.S. lottery jackpots.
If a player wins Monday’s jackpot, they will have the choice between an annuitized prize estimated at $1.60 billion or a lump sum payment estimated at $735.3 million. Both prize options are before taxes.
If the winner selects the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5 percent each year.
The new prize marks only the second time in Powerball history that the game has produced back-to-back jackpots exceeding $1 billion. The only other time was in 2023, when a $1.08 billion jackpot was won on July 19, followed by a $1.765 billion jackpot on Oct. 11. Both jackpots were won in California.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million and the overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24.9.
Top 10 largest U.S. lottery jackpots across Powerball and Mega Millions:
- $2.04 Billion – Powerball – Nov. 7, 2022 – CA
- $1.787 Billion – Powerball – Sept. 6, 2025 – MO, TX
- $1.765 Billion – Powerball – Oct. 11, 2023 – CA
- $1.602 Billion – Mega Millions – Aug. 8, 2023 – FL
- $1.60 Billion est. – Powerball – Dec. 22, 2025
- $1.586 Billion – Powerball – Jan. 13, 2016 – CA, FL, TN
- $1.537 Billion – Mega Millions – Oct. 23, 2018 – SC
- $1.348 Billion – Mega Millions – Jan. 13, 2023 – ME
- $1.337 Billion – Mega Millions – July 29, 2022 – IL
- $1.326 Billion – Powerball – April 6, 2024 – OR
Lottery officials noted that so far, the 45 consecutive Powerball drawings without a jackpot winner have raised over $100 million for public schools in California.
“Every California Lottery game sold contributes to the Lottery’s mission of raising extra money for California’s public schools,” lottery officials said. “These funds support a variety of programs across the state.”
Powerball tickets are $2 per play and drawings take place every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday night at 7:59 p.m.
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