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footage is critical to its ability to remain competetive; 4) all other existing development standards and constraints on Hacienda remain in effect; and 5) Hacienda's approval of the California Center project, which was recently approved by the Council, is contingent upon its exemption from the cap. Councilmember Brown asked how large the California Center parcel is, or by how much it would exceed the remaining park capacity. Mr. Dolan clarified that there is adequate square footage to accommodate the project, but that Hacienda did not wish to grant approval to that particular property unless it was exempt from the cap. He noted that staff received some questions about Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) methodology and whether this action would somehow result in an increased RHNA allotment in the next cycle. He said he spent considerable time contemplating the question and did not believe it to be the case. He explained that RHNA methodology is ever evolving, most dramatically with this last round as it relates to AB 375. AB 375 required each regional area to produce a Sustainable Community Strategy which would connect back to regional growth plans. As an environmentally based plan, this caused a shift away from some of the previous RHNA formulas and towards placing growth in the most environmentally preferred areas. This newer methodology looks to assign growth to those communities with strong transit infrastructure that can accommodate growth without increasing vehicle miles travelled, which led to a primary focus on assigning future growht to more urban communities. More suburban communities like Pleasanton, while they have transit, have considerably higher vehicle miles travelled than communities such as San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley or San Jose. Using these environmental inputs, Pleasanton received a growth allocation of 2,116 units. Fair share factors, which look at employment, transit and a communities past performance in meeting its RHNA numbers, were then added to the mix and ultimately reduced Pleasanton's allocation even further. While some might look at the proposed action as allowing for additional employment, which in the past has been one factor in increased RHNA allocations, the shift in regional policy choices has demonstrated that this will have almost no aftect on the ultimate RHNA assignment. He noted that Pleasanton's allocation has decreased quite dramatically the last two cycles, despite job generating development. Mr. Fialho shared a discussion held with the Council via email today. He explained the 9.8 million square foot cap has been in place since 1993, having lived through the various RHNA cycles over the last several decades. To his point, RHNA has actually decreased while jobs within the community have decreased. He stressed that there is no linear calculation to RHNA. Is is influenced largely by land use policy that resides outside of Pleasanton and generally, the decisions made locally in terms of economic development do not correlate to a mandate or requirement to rezone land to accommodate housing. Mayor Thorne said he believed that job centers would become just as important as housing centers in the future in terms of RHNA credits. He disagreed with staff's position that jobs do not influence RHNA and said that while RHNA has decreased for a variety of factors, job creation is likely to impact these numbers at some point. Vice-Mayor Cook-Kallio reiterated her confusion over staff's contention that the default position of the current PUD would be that residential development does reduce the cap. She referred to a conversation she had with Mr. Fialho on Monday, from which she came away with the understanding that if the Council took no action tonight the cap would remain at 9.9 million square feet. She stressed that she was frustrated by the fact that the default position was not the status quo and questioned whether there has been any Counicl direction on the matter. Mr. Fialho confirmed, noting that it is identified on the Council's work plan as an issue to resolve. He added that over the last seven years, as the Council has debated the housing cap, General Plan, City Council Minutes Page 5 of 12 September 17, 2013