Laserfiche WebLink
Citizens for a Caring Community <br /> P.O. Box 1781 , Pleasanton CA 94566 (925)462-2152 <br /> June 17, 2013 <br /> Mayor Jerry Thorne <br /> Pleasanton City Council Members <br /> City of Pleasanton <br /> P.O. Box 520 <br /> Pleasanton, CA 94566 <br /> Dear Mayor Thorne and City Council members: <br /> On behalf of Citizens for a Caring Community(CCC),I have reviewed the staff report including the additional <br /> suggestions,Alternative 5 and Alternative 6. <br /> My recollection of the issues raised at the last Task Force meeting varies somewhat from the staff report.As I <br /> recall,the Task Force expressed an interest in designating the minimum possible acreage for commercial <br /> development.In particular,retaining only the neighborhood serving retail and,at most,allowing office development <br /> only of the parcel along Stoneridge Drive at the northern end of the SPSP area.Were it not within the Airport <br /> Protection Area, it seemed that a majority of the Task Force would have preferred the use of this parcel for <br /> affordable workforce housing because of its close proximity to retail and healthcare service jobs. <br /> Once again, CCC would like to raise the concern that the designation of acreage for commercial development drives <br /> Pleasanton s responsibility to provide workforce housing. In addition,construction of market rate housing also <br /> generates affordable workforce housing need for which Pleasanton will ultimately be required to accommodate. <br /> Indeed,there is a growing awareness throughout California at al levels of government that housing density does not <br /> equal housing affordability. Therefore in planning, if Pleasanton wishes to minimize the amount and impact of <br /> new,denser housing development on the existing community,the Council should take into account the amount of <br /> affordable workforce housing need generated by both commercial and residential development. <br /> What follows is and analysis of Alternatives 5 and 6 using the same ratios from 2011 research by the Economic <br /> Roundtable entitled Affordable Housing Benefit Fee Study: The Nexus between New Market-Rate <br /> Development and the Subsequent Increase in Demand for Affordable Housing in the City of Los Angeles. <br /> (Detailed worksheets for Alternatives 5 and 6 are attached to this letter. For tables showing per unit ratios <br /> and AMI bands, see CCC's letter attached to your staff report.)Although the information isn't adjusted <br /> specifically for Pleasanton or the Tri-Valley, it is recent, and gathered from a wide range of southern <br /> California communities that are part of California's economy. Applying the same ratios to all the <br /> alternatives shows that development of the EPSP Area per the new Alternatives 5 and 6 result in even <br /> greater unmet affordable workforce housing need than under Alternatives 1-4 that would impact other <br /> parts of Pleasanton. <br /> The greater generation of affordable workforce housing need in Alternatives 5 and 6 results from <br /> increasing the amount of market rate for sale single family and multifamily condominium units as well as <br /> the addition of campus office and industrial flex beyond the minimum the Task Force preferred. <br />