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Baird +Driskell Community Planning 111 San Gabriel Drive, Fairfax, CA 94930 tel 1.415 / 453.9539 fax 1.415 / 453.9758 email baird@bdplanning.com August 24, 2010 Ms. Janice Stern Principal Planner, Community Development Department City of Pleasanton 200 Old Bernal Avenue Pleasanton, CA 94566 Re: Proposal for Consultant Services — City of Pleasanton Housing Element Update Dear Ms. Stern: We are pleased to submit our qualifications and a proposal for providing consultant services to prepare an update Housing Element for the City of Pleasanton. This assignment is exciting to us because it builds upon our firm's almost 30 years of general plan and housing element work for communities in California. As a planner who has worked for many years in partnership with local jurisdiction staffs to tailor products to local needs, I am particularly excited about the prospect of working with the City to evaluate housing needs within a comprehensive framework of city goals to create great places and implement "smart growth." Baird + Driskell's particular strengths for this assignment include: • Commitment of senior professional staff to this assignment. Jeffery C. Baird, AICP, will serve as the Project Manager and will undertake most of the services identified in this proposal. Mr. Baird has worked extensively as a special advisor or participant on numerous general plans in partnership with local planning staffs throughout northern California. Mr. Joshua Abrams, AICP, will also assist on many aspects of this project, and would be available based on project needs. • Housing sites inventories, zoning and plan implementation experience. As an example, we undertook an "adequate sites" inventory and selection process for the Town of Corte Madera Housing Element and then created an Affordable Housing Overlay Zone as an implementation tool. The overlay zone received HUD's Robert L. Woodson Jr. Award (2005) and the plan and zoning has resulted is the development of San Clemente Place (completion in 2007) which provides 79 affordable one -, two- and three- bedroom apartments in a mixed use development close to jobs, shopping, parks and schools. Just within the past five years we have worked on General Plans for the City of San Rafael, County of Marin, City of San Mateo, and the Town of Ross. Recent specific plans include the City of San Mateo Downtown Specific Plan and a land use study and plan for the City of Davis. These plans combine smart growth with transportation linkages, design and identity strategies to create long -term, vibrant communities, and extensive community participation and outreach. • Award - winning Work. We have worked on over 30 housing elements — all of which have been certified by HCD. We have worked on a number of recent award - winning projects, with examples