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Commissioner Blank stated that he thinks the market will determine this, and that based <br /> on his being in Pleasanton and doing business here for quite a while, and seeing people <br /> come in and out of the City, he is not 100 percent convinced that the future is going <br /> towards long-term stays or whether or not it will remain the more traditional hotel. He <br /> indicated that he is aware of the difficulty people have of getting a room in Pleasanton <br /> for just a couple of nights. He reiterated that he believes this is a future marketing <br /> decision for whoever the investors will be in this particular property. <br /> Mr. Fleissig stated that once the investment in the infrastructure and parking have been <br /> made, it might change the calculus. <br /> 3. Is the proposed layout and access plan acceptable? <br /> All the Commissioners agreed that the layout and access plan is acceptable with <br /> Option 3. <br /> Chair Narum added that she thinks it blends in well with what is across the street and <br /> the Hacienda PUD guidelines. She suggested having the Bicycle, Pedestrian, and <br /> Trails Committee review this at some point. <br /> Commissioner Pearce suggested additional language on page 9 to indicate that besides <br /> conforming to the East Bay Regional Parks District Iron Horse Trail Feasibility Study <br /> and Master Plan, the Plan conform to the Pleasanton Pedestrian and Bicycle Master <br /> Plan as well. She added that she thinks this is great and is excited about it; she is <br /> amazed that this is in front of the Commission and is glad that BART is coming to the <br /> table and completes the work everyone is trying to do with the Hacienda plan. <br /> Commissioner Blank stated that to get this far from when TOD was first discussed is <br /> very satisfying. <br /> THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS RE-OPENED. <br /> Mr. Reynolds stated that in the 19 years he has done TOD for BART, he honestly said <br /> that this is the most expeditious and most thorough process he has been through on a <br /> station site. He commended staff, the consultants, and the Task Force for being able to <br /> going right into discussion of the BART site in a way that is logical and makes sense. <br /> He indicated that from his standpoint, BART is much honored to be part of this process. <br /> Mr. Burgett noted that a pretty common term for developers is 'return on investment' <br /> and its notion as a financial term; however, in this case, there is a return on planning <br /> investment and political investment. He stated that one thing not mentioned was that <br /> there was a meeting held where Mr. Williams, Mr. Fleissig, Mr. Dolan, and Mr. Paxson <br /> attended to address ABAG and MTC regarding the status of Hacienda as a Priority <br /> Development Area (PDA). He indicated that they tried to make the case that this project <br /> is an identified PDA and should become a PDA with its 20,000 employees, its strategic <br /> location on the 1-580/1-680 intersection, and the idea of the infrastructure costs, as there <br /> EXCERPT: PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, MAY 25, 2011 Page 17 of 18 <br />