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historical aspect, stating that in the 1990's a developer in San Francisco wanted to build 4,000 <br /> units on that property. The City Council and Planning Commission at that time were successful <br /> in reducing the development down to 500 units with 318 acres of City owned open space. <br /> Regarding Site 16; Vintage Hills, there was a proposal for high density housing 10 years ago <br /> and it was almost unanimously denied by the Council. If mixed use, retail and a small residential <br /> development at 23 units/acre were proposed, he might be interested in looking at it. Regarding <br /> Site 6, he thinks the site is a good one, but supporting preserving historical buildings. Site 18 is <br /> an ideal place because there is already a BART and ACE train station there. It is downtown, <br /> walk able, ideal for some of the General Plan policies, and while sensitive to the neighbors next <br /> door, he thinks it is a good site. <br /> Regarding Site 15; Valley Trails, it was taken off the list and he repeated his favorite quote from <br /> Connie Cox, the HOA president; "How many times do we have to say no?" He said it meets no <br /> criteria; it is far from transportation; it is in the middle of a neighborhood; there are no services; <br /> and it makes no sense. <br /> What the task force has not looked at closely enough is the Stoneridge Shopping Center, which <br /> is identified on the list. He also uses the new BART station everyday, and comes out and looks <br /> across at a huge parking lot directly across the street. He sees no other place for a high density <br /> housing project there and it seems some of the issues on Sites 7, 8, 11 and 14 could be <br /> addressed by reducing units arid moving them to Site 1. <br /> Councilmember Sullivan supported the list proposed, was not in favor of removing anything from <br /> it, and would like to see the task force finish its work. <br /> Councilmember Thorne said he thinks the task force has done a remarkable job, as the <br /> timeframe is very uncharacteristic of the way things are done in Pleasanton. He too thinks that <br /> Site 7 should remain on the list, as it is near the freeway and near schools. He pointed out that <br /> no matter where projects are put in town, they will have an impact on schools. He agrees with <br /> moving Site 15; the Valley Trails off the list. He has some concerns with Site 12; the Goodnight <br /> Inn project, for many of the same reasons they had concerns about the Valley Trails project. It is <br /> next to an established, older neighborhood and may not fit. It also impacts the same <br /> neighborhood that the Kiewitt and Legacy Properties would. If he were on the task force, he <br /> supported looking at removing Site 12 off the list. <br /> He said the discussion about balancing high density housing around the City is also important. <br /> He wants to ensure traffic studies are in order and ensure that when the City says housing <br /> produces less traffic as opposed to office, it is true. He though it would be fairly even if the AM <br /> peak were taken out of the 70% and he would like to see what this looks like before returning to <br /> Council. He has heard discussion about property values and has never found data that <br /> suggests these developments reduce property values, but rather the opposite. <br /> Councilmember McGovern questioned two other properties Ms. Stern had alluded to. Ms. Stern <br /> said these properties are on Sunol at Sonoma and Sunol at Sycamore. Both are pretty small <br /> sites of between 1 and 2 acres. Councilmember McGovern said she would like the property <br /> owners contacted to determine their interest and she would hope to see if the property owner <br /> could be identified for the house across from the Firehouse Arts Theater. <br /> City Council Minutes Page 13 of 19 May 3, 2011 <br />