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Commissioner Blank stated that he realizes this plan is not a development, per se, <br />although he sees a fairly substantive work effort on Mr. part, certainly <br />different than what he would imagine for the property. He asked Mr. Steinberg if they <br />have outreached to the community or the local area in terms of this vision. <br /> <br />Mr. Steinberg replied that the concept plan was developed over three months ago, and <br />they have spoken with community members who have attended the Task Force <br />meetings. He added that they have reached out to a few of the surrounding <br />neighborhoods, although they have not talked to the synagogue representatives next <br />door. He stated that they certainly have more to do, but the feedback they have <br />received so far has been tremendously positive. He added that traffic concerns have <br />been expressed in the context of the overall future East Pleasanton development. <br /> <br />Commissioner Blank stated that in the recent past, this property has been associated <br />with one of the third rails of Pleasanton politics and encouraged Mr. Steinberg to do as <br />much outreach to the community with respect to this project concept. <br /> <br />Mr. Steinberg noted that Frank Auf der Maur, who is in the audience, and his partner, <br />Conrad Rickenbach, selected them to develop the property because their vision was to <br />make this site an integral part of the community. He indicated that he was aware that <br />the site created a lot of concerns with the potential Home Depot proposal. <br /> <br />Chair Narum asked Mr. Tassano if the traffic analysis he presented at the Housing <br />Element Task Force meeting for this property included the 5.3 acres or the full amount <br />of the housing site. <br /> <br />Mr. Tassano replied that only the housing portion was included in the initial analysis; the <br />retail portion was not. He added that the entire site will be included in the EIR analysis, <br />which is currently underway. <br /> <br />Chair Narum commented that that would give a better sense of the traffic. <br /> <br />Commissioner Pearce asked Mr. Tassano how many housing units were included in the <br />analysis. <br /> <br />Mr. Tassano replied that there were 159 multi-family homes. <br /> <br />Commissioner Pearce noted that would be for the 5.3 acres, as opposed to doubling it. <br /> <br />noted that the Commission had looked at this site before when <br />it was proposed for an all-retail, big-box store. He asked Mr. Tassano, in his expert <br />opinion, if the City traded off housing for retail, what the balance of the retail would be <br />with five acres of residential, and which would have less impact. <br /> <br />Mr. Tassano replied that housing would have less impact. <br /> <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, June 22, 2011 Page 16 of 33 <br /> <br />