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BACKGROUND The three subject sites are vacant properties in Hacienda Business Park, all within one -half mile of the Dublin /Pleasanton BART station (see Exhibit A). The three parcels are currently the focus of a Hacienda Transit Oriented Development planning effort that is being guided by the Hacienda Task Force. Consistent with a provision in the 2003 Housing Element to rezone land sufficient to accommodate the City's share of the regional housing need, on November 3, 2009 the City Council approved Ordinance No. 1998 (Exhibit B). That ordinance rezoned the three subject sites to allow Mixed Use development and required a minimum density of 30 units per acre for any residential development. The rezonings were also intended to address a cause of action raised in the litigation filed by Urban Habitat, related to the deficit of housing sites in the 2003 Housing Element. Section 5 of Ordinance No. 1998 stated that any subsequent development plan for mixed use or residential development could not be approved until the completion of the PUD Major Modification (i.e. at the conclusion of the Hacienda Task Force process that was just starting at the time the ordinance was adopted) unless the property owner can show good cause to proceed earlier. Earlier this year, the Court issued a decision in the Urban Habitat matter, and part of that decision referred to Ordinance No. 1998. The March 12, 2010 Court Order stated in part: The City's enactment of Ordinance No. 1998 a month and a half before the hearing on this petition may start a process to cure the City's failure in this matter, but is wholly inadequate to be considered a cure. Its requirement of further necessary acts before any development plan can be approved vitiates any actual remedial effect of the Ordinance. Moreover, the "good cause" exception in the ordinance is illusory because it is not defined and because it is an obvious disincentive to developers." In August 2010, the City Council reached a settlement with the plaintiffs and with the State Attorney General's office which had intervened in the lawsuit. (See Exhibit E, City Council Agenda Report of August 17, 2010 and Final Settlement Agreement). As part of the Settlement Agreement, the City agreed to eliminate Section 5 of Ordinance No. 1998 by November 2, 2010. The City also agreed to adopt several core development standards that will apply to residential development of these sites and are related to density, affordability, the use of Section 8 Rental Assistance vouchers, the bedroom mix of affordable units, and the location of the affordable units. The Planning Commission will review this proposed rezoning in October, 2010. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Planning Commission is being asked to make a positive recommendation to the City Council regarding the repeal of Section 5 of Ordinance No. 1998. DISCUSSION As the Planning Commission is aware, the Hacienda Task Force has been meeting since March, 2010, and will provide recommendations to the City Council regarding guidelines and Case No. PRZ -57, City of Pleasanton Planning Commission Page 2 of 3