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City Attorney, the City's contract legal counsel and various staff members, for the <br /> purpose of attempting to reach a settlement agreement. Numerous negotiations have <br /> occurred over the past few months which have resulted in the Tentative Agreement <br /> (Attachment 1). The negotiating team has determined that the Tentative Agreement <br /> meets the City Council's settlement goals, and as a result, the Tentative Agreement is <br /> being recommended for approval. This public hearing provides the public with an <br /> opportunity to comment on the proposed settlement terms prior to execution of the <br /> settlement agreement. <br /> DISCUSSION <br /> The Tentative Agreement has been approved by the Petitioners (Urban Habitat and <br /> Public Advocates) and the State Attorney General's Office. It will act as the basis for <br /> preparation of a settlement agreement that will more specifically memorialize the <br /> settlement. Based on the implementation schedule (see Attachment 2), the Settlement <br /> Agreement will be presented to the City Council for adoption on August 17. For <br /> organizational purposes of this agenda report, a summary of the Tentative Agreement <br /> has been separated into terms and impacts regarding those matters Related to the Court <br /> Order and those matters and impacts related to resolving the remaining, unadjudicated <br /> causes of action in the Urban Habitat lawsuit and the second lawsuit brought by the <br /> Attorney General's Office but not prosecuted against the City of Pleasanton (Matters Not <br /> Specific to the Court Order). <br /> SUMMARY OF MATTERS RELATED TO THE COURT ORDER <br /> Housing Cap <br /> While the City Council has been well aware of the voters' interest over the years in <br /> retaining limits to the number of allowable housing units in Pleasanton, the Court Order <br /> states definitively that the City must "cease and desist" from enforcement of its current <br /> Housing Cap, and remove all references to the Cap from the City's General Plan. <br /> Therefore, in recognition of this, the Tentative Agreement reflects the City's intent to <br /> amend the General Plan to eliminate references to the Housing Cap (General Plan Policy <br /> 24 and Programs 24.1, 24.2 and 24.3; in addition, several other provisions of the City's <br /> General Plan that refer to the Cap also will be deleted). The attached implementation <br /> schedule outlines the timeline for steps necessary to amend the General Plan and other <br /> actions related to the Tentative Agreement. <br /> Alternatives to the Existing Housing Cap <br /> Throughout the litigation proceedings and settlement negotiations, the City Council has <br /> been cognizant of public concern over amending the General Plan to remove the voter <br /> approved housing cap. Unfortunately, it has been determined that the housing cap is no <br /> longer consistent with State law because it provides a barrier to appropriately plan (e.g. <br /> zone) for regional housing obligations as mandated by the State of California. These <br /> requirements are consistently applied to every municipality and county jurisdiction in <br /> California. As a result, in this instance, State housing laws now preempt the City's <br /> housing cap. <br /> Page 4 of 9 <br />