Civil Municipal Magazine - Dec 2023

158 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 12 which is a joint powers authority that provides us wastewater treatment services, to expand our recycled water service throughout the area. That’s constantly being upgraded by Delta Diablo with assistance from the city.” The City of Pittsburg also operates its own municipal electric and natural gas utility, the Pittsburg Power Company. “And we’re actively working on expanding that,” says Davis, “especially as demand for energy from high-energy users who continue to locate in our industrial areas grows. We’re looking for opportunities to provide them less expensive and reliable power, especially for those in the area of green energy production.” Finally, California law allows municipalities to establish enhanced infrastructure financing districts (EIFDs). “What it does is provide cities an opportunity to earmark a certain portion of tax increment financing to fund infrastructure projects,” Davis explains. “So, we’re currently in the process of forming that district, which is going to go a long way in enhancing water, sewer, and other utility infrastructure in the city.” Past administrations laid the groundwork Davis, who has been with the city for nine years and in his current post for two and one- half years, gives a lot of credit to previous city administrations for planning Pittsburg’s future growth and development. “One of the things that’s been really exciting over the past one or two years is to see all the groundwork that was laid over the past decade and before that, really start to come to life,” he says. “For example, we were one of the first cities in the area to adopt a regional TOD (transit-oriented development) program, the Railroad Avenue Specific Plan, which was done over a decade ago to attract a new BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station.” The Specific Plan area encompasses a half-mile radius around the station, which is located at the intersection of Railroad Avenue and State Route 4 in the center of town. It articulated the community’s vision for the area while embracing concepts of transit accessibility, pedestrian-friendly design, and high-quality development. “As part of that plan, we laid the groundwork for thousands of housing units around the station, additional job opportunities, and adjacent industrial parks,” Davis shares. “And now, we’re starting to see that come to fruition; we’re seeing five- and six-story transit-oriented development, and mixed-use development that is walkable to public transit.” One of the new projects in the plan area is The Atchison, a $40 million development with over 200 affordable housing units and approximately 13,000 square feet of ground floor commercial and retail space that opened this past summer. Located less than a half mile from the BART station, it was partially funded under the federal government’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. Old Downtown and beyond Pittsburg’s historic downtown is also booming. “Nine years ago, vacancies outnumbered occupied spaces in the downtown area,” Davis recounts. “Now it’s the complete opposite. Except for one