05/31/2026
Dear Council,
I am reaching out to you to ask you to reconsider your removal of the Beede parcel from the CIP at the corner of 2nd and E Street, also known as The Yard. I ask this of you on behalf of Antioch residents, and because the City of Antioch made a commitment to all of its residents just two years ago
You made a promise to protect this property from development, to designate this space a community space for use as a town square or event space. Council made this commitment at a public regular scheduled council meeting. You made this commitment because you had asked the community to bring to you a proposal, a vision of this space and why it was so important. So Lee Ballestros, and Antonio Hernandez and myself and many other passionate residents put before you that night a powerful and data driven powerpoint presentation that ultimately moved you to make this commitment to residents that included still sitting councilmembers Wilson and Walker. You were so moved by our proposal that you designated funds and hired a firm to do community meetings to gather input into the development of this space and then held two well attended community meetings, exciting the residents that a 40 year battle to protect this space for its best use was finally going to come to fruition. And then in a matter of minutes, you threw it all away. A betrayal and a serious decision that is destroying the public's trust of Antioch's City Council.
I think it is important to remind you that the residents that have fought for this space to become a place for community gatherings for over 40 years, and they are not going away. They are furious at your betrayal and this decision and they are prepared to fight you again and against the archaic idea that a few townhomes or retail space on The Yard is going to revitalize downtown.
They will remind you that they fought for this space with their own monies, and hired lawyers and held fundraisers.
They will remind you that the property is most likely unbuildable as Leo Fontana discovered years ago due to the water table and environmental issues.
They will remind you that there is a critical need for foot traffic downtown to support retail and restaurants and is why every other surrounding city and frankly across the country, communities have built an event space in their downtowns. That brings hundreds if not thousands of people into their downtowns, for festivals, and car shows, or farmers markets, or spring and summer concerts, or outdoor theater or weddings where attendees in Antioch might consider a reception at NRCC or another venue downtown and so much more.
They will remind you that surrounding property owners will see at least a 15% decline in property values.
They will remind you that the Senior Center sits adjacent to The Yard and seniors who often suffer from depression would benefit immensely from a green space next door.
They will remind you that the view from this space of the river and Delta is like no other city has available.
They will remind you that the City has other properties downtown that are much better suited for housing development than The Yard. And that existing retail downtown in Antioch is already struggling due to a lack of foot traffic and a lack of a destination place.
You have an opportunity this Fall to follow through on your commitment and take advantage of up to 8 million dollars that is available through the Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program, a competitive grant program that creates new parks in underserved communities across California. The Yard and Beede parcels are perfect for this grant and much of the required work has already been done because of your prior commitment and outreach to the residents of Antioch. It is time to follow through on your commitment to a revitalized downtown, and follow through on your commitment to the residents to create a community space on The Yard. It is not rocket science, we can look at best practices and what other successful downtowns have done to create a thriving downtown.... and a vibrant community space and event space is in every one of them.
We are requesting you to please put the Beede parcel back into the CIP and to please not miss out on this grant opportunity that could be the gamechanger for downtown.
California State Parks
