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some flexibility when looking at detail in CEQA and he suggested that staff confirm there is CEQA clearance for a higher density. Councilmember Sullivan referred to the Nearon site (9) and while a project came forward in 2003, there was not a lot of comment about it at the task force meetings. Historically the site has been controversial. There is the possibly that 129 units at 23 units to the acre might work, but now 168 units at 30 units to the acre is proposed and the neighborhood is not aware of this. He was concerned about this and said he would rather see those units on CarrAmerica than on the Nearon site. And, if a spot is needed for units, the mall is a hugely underutilized site. It is next to BART, next to retail and away from the rest of the community, and to him this is the place they should focus on. Councilmember Thorne thanked staff for doing a good job on narrowing down the sites. In understanding what happens with the CarrAmerica site he questioned whether they could propose 50 units per acre and whether it was in the EIR. Mr. Dolan said it was in the EIR as one of the alternatives and it could be developed at 50 units to the acre. Councilmember Thorne referred to the San Francisco property and said many properties they looked at had multiple potential uses. He has always reserved this site for a civic center, as it is next to the ACE train station and it would be a good housing site. At some point, they will want to expand the library and have civic center functions on that site. He voiced concern about what happens on the east side and he would support staff's recommendation. But, as a part of the decision-making process, he would not be too discouraged by not including it in this round because there will be more RHNA allocations and there will be extended conversations on what other sites we need to rezone. In the meantime, he would like to ensure the City understands the infrastructure, particularly as El Charro Road connects to Stanley and a few other things before putting a lot more housing in the east side. He appreciated staff's efforts and thinks the City is moving in the right direction. Councilmember McGovern recognized the amount of work and being under the gun to deliver this by the deadline. She has concerns about some of the properties. She is concerned with the amount of density proposed for 11.5 acres on the Auf der Maur/Rickenbach site (8) and cited the need for open space around some of the buildings to provide a better quality of life. She hoped this could be factored in. Regarding the CM Capital properties, there were concerns from business owners next door about being overpowered by high density, and she hoped this could be feathered and reduced with buffers to not change the amenities existing businesses have. Regarding the east side, Councilmember McGovern believes this is a unique portion of the community and large pieces of land must be planned. It has a quality component for recreation and she believes the specific plan needs to be done so it is not piecemealed, and the overall view is in total and makes the property the best it can be for the City. Regarding the downtown civic area, she also agrees it needs to be removed. Until the City makes its decision on what the use is, she thinks it is zoned Public Institutional, and there are very few properties zoned like this. She has concerns about rezoning more pieces of property than the City needs and it goes back to the schools. They need to do some demographic studies and consider where housing is going to build school sites or make others larger based upon impact fees they receive for low income housing and apartments. Therefore, this needs to be done slowly and she suggested working with the school district and help them to plan so that the quality of schools and infrastructure remains at a high level. Councilmember Cook-Kallio said she too served on the housing element task force and echoed comments about the work of staff. She thought the task force was very efficient and focused, and those with interest in developing their properties presented very cogent arguments about why things should be included and the amount of density. She also appreciates the fact that the properties are scaled to the specific percentage of property available being rezoned. She hopes that we could also provide maps that show where other high density exists. She agrees with the east side specific plan comments. The one thing she would insist is adhering to the 18 to 24 month timeline about planning this, as a large City Council Minutes Page 12 of 18 December 6, 2011