San Francisco Business Times
From the article:
The Walnut Creek City Council voted Tuesday to reject a housing moratorium that would have frozen approvals for new residential projects in commercially zoned districts in the city for 45 days.
It was the third Bay Area residential moratorium proposal in the past month, with Emeryville narrowly rejecting a measure in February and San Francisco's Mission neighborhood also studying one.
Three of the five City Council members voted against the moratorium. At least four yes votes were needed to pass the moratorium, which could have been extended once by up to 22 months and a second time for 15 days.
The moratorium was proposed to prevent housing projects that seek conditional use permits to build on commercially zoned land. The City Council voted instead to seek to amend the City's General Plan to restrict such development. Around 700 residential units in commercial districts are under construction, approved or under review, according to the city.
No currently proposed projects would have been affected by the moratorium under proposed exemptions, said Sandra Meyer, Walnut Creek's community development director, prior to the vote. "This is really a moratorium on the conversion of commercial land," said Meyer. "We need to preserve our commercial areas in order to have the quality of life that the current and future residents want to maintain."