Time Has Caught Up With Walnut Creek: Projects Put Rules To The Test

WALNUT CREEK, CA — A new apartment-retail complex, the comeback of a K–8 Islamic school, and a disputed short-term rental all cleared a key hurdle Thursday when Walnut Creek’s planning commissionsigned off on the projects — adding conditions and caveats as the projects faced differing degrees of opposition.

A seven-story, mixed-use building with housing, shops, and daycare next to the Ace Hardware on Mt. Diablo Boulevard was least contested of the three items on Thurday's Planning Commission docket.

The 85-foot tall building at 2094 Mt. Diablo Blvd. had already come before the commission and was clearing some of the last hurdles focused on access to fire trucks.

Designs for the 74-unit building includes ground floor commercial space, a daycare, and 75 condos, one of them commercial and eight that meet California's low-income criteria. The eight "very low-income units" (16.3 percent), qualify it for a 50 percent density bonus. The daycare will be for residents and paired with a secure outdoor play area.The commercial space totals 3,013 square feet and parking accomotes 88 on-site parking stalls, most inside using a mechanical system.

The half-acre project site is a narrow, rectangular parcel located on the north side of Mt.
Diablo Boulevard, east of the intersection with Oakland Boulevard and next to Interstate 680.
The site is within a half mile of the Walnut Creek BART station. The existing one-story commercial building will be demolished to make way for the new development.

During public comment, a nearby resident said he looked forward to the new building. "It will probably be a nightmare for a while with the construction, but that's just part of the process," he said.

Parking, traffic and noise

Al Judiy Academy, a non-profit K-8 private Islamic school — the first for the area — housed in the Darulislam Masjid Walnut Creek Islamic Center faced three major hurdles and more opposition than the first.

Al Judiy Academy opened in the fall of 2023 but had to shut down mid-2025 because the founders lacked required permits and registrations, https://walnutcreek.granicus.c.... The last major step to reopening includes a conditional use permit, which is why school administrators, more than a dozen families of Al Judiy students, and a group of vocal neighbors filled the room Thursday evening for the meeting.

The school site, 2449 Buena Vista Ave., is south of the Alvarado and Buena Vista avenues intersection amid a mix of single-family homes, schools, a child day care center, a church, and the Bay Area Temple. Operations are Monday-Thursday, with a staggered drop-off period from 8-8:40 a.m., and a staggered pick-up 3:30-3:45 p.m. On Fridays, students are dismissed at 11:30 a.m.

The school's reopening faced objections over parking and traffic.

Al Judiy Academy plans to more than double enrollment to 90 students in 2026. But the site will have fewer on-site parking places, 33. Neighbors told commissioners that cars parked outside of the center already take up what few parking places there are, creating new ones out of crosswalks, no-parking zones, and residents' driveways. Having fewer spaces and more students make a bad situation worse, especially on Fridays when the center's members come for the Friday Jumu'ah service.

One woman called the Friday afternoon traffic, "unbearable."

Opponents told commissioners that traffic would back up outside the school and into neighboring streets during drop-off and pick-up times.

Neighbors also complained that on top of the noise the center and the children make, having more enrolled in 2016 would not only be too many, but also be too noisy.

School administrator Yosra Nasiri said school monitors will be outside during peak pick-up/drop-off hours. A shuttle, which about 45 percent of students use, will be available in addition to a bike rack, and access to parking at the Bay Area Temple.

Speakers pointed out that the majority of complaints were directed at adults visiting the center, that opponents were conflating the two, and invited traffic enforcement by the center and Walnut Creek police.

Nasiri said administrators understand that concern about noise, parking, and traffic. "We sincerely do," she said, adding that the school will respond to problems. She said Thursday was the first time she heard these complaints including when she and school administrators walked door-to-door months ago to talk to neighbors.

Responding to complaints could be easier or harder than she expects according to center's willingness to remedy the parking and traffic complaints, and whether neighbors can distinguish between the center and the school.

Planning Commissioner Brendan Moran called for an expedited sound and traffic study during peak hours to document the conditions so they can be mitigated. Ultimately planning commissioners approved the conditional use permit with a 4-2 vote, allowing the school to open again in January. The school will continue outreach to neighbors and look at a sound barrier to reduce noise, and a traffic study at peak hours to develop remedies.

Bed and breakfast meets short-term rental

A couple who operated a short-term rental listed on Airbn that they called a bed and breakfast asked planning commissioners for forgiveness and a conditional use permit after running the operation for six months without one.

Jennifer Soong and her husband live in Oakland, where they also have an Airbnb rental. They bought the Walnut Creek house on 1102 Hacienda Drive as a second home she said they planned to occupy but turned it into an Airbnb.

The rental was flagged by Walnut Creek's Code Enforcement department for being "non-compliant" with the city's zoning ordinance. Soong and her husband live in Oakland, not in the Walnut Creek house.

Soong told commissioners that, while the property will be booked exclusively on an online platform, she will manage the property and remain available at all times to address any issues or concerns.

The house was listed on Airbnb for months even as Soong described it as a bed and breakfast. Soong said she started the short-term rentals in July 2025. She stopped when she received a cease and desist order from Walnut Creek because she did not have the required permissions.

Neighbors said the Soong's tenants have walked through their back yard, talking to their children, throwing parties, and generally disturbing a "tight-knit" community whose "culture" is not right for a short-term rental.

However, Walnut Creek does not have an ordinance written for short-term rentals, like Airbnb.

In the meantime, planning commissioners granted the permit with a 6-0 vote for one year with extra conditions attached.

"Time has caught up with our zoning code," Walnut Creek principal planner, Chip Griffin, said.