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to evaluate a range of alternatives with the varied features discussed by the task force, any of which can ultimately be selected or amended to something lesser than what was studied. Following completion of the EIR, there will be additional opportunities for public hearings and plan evolution before the regular public review process through the Planning Commission and City Council. While staff and consultants are working to prepare the EIR, the task force will begin to tackle the issues of design guidelines and financing. One of the guiding principles defined by the Council is that any new development on the east side must be able to pay for itself in terms of infrastructure, all of which is influenced by the level, type and pacing of development. The real challenge will be to balance the demands of RHNA against growth constraints while still allowing for development that can adequately finance its own infrastructure. He stressed again that the term "preferred plan" does not indicate an actual preference, nor should it suggest that staff or the Council are anywhere close in understanding what the final product will be. He anticipated the draft EIR would be complete in the first quarter of 2012. Mayor Thorne restated the purpose of tonight's hearing for the benefit of the public, noting that some of the questions he and the Council have received indicate that it is not well understood. He stressed that what is referred to as a "preferred plan" does not necessarily indicate a plan that is preferred by this Council. The community, task force, Planning Commission and Council will use the information that comes out of the EIR to develop an option that may contain more or less housing units than are identified in the preferred or base plan, provided it is a scenario that was evaluated through the EIR. Mr. Dolan confirmed. He noted that the Planning Commission's recommendation did include one additional alternative that would be described shortly. The Commission made clear in its motion that several members are concerned about the number of residential units that will ultimately be included in the plan, but that they also do not wish to approve something that is economically realistic. The Commission would like to conduct additional financial feasibility analysis as more information about infrastructure costs is available, with the focus being on approving something that is no larger than it needs to be to pay for itself and provide some reasonable return for the developers. He also noted that staff only recently received more detailed information regarding the school district's request, which is a very substantial value and has not until now been included in any sort of financial analysis. Vice-Mayor Cook-Kallio agreed that there seems to be a poor understanding of the goals of the EIR. She asked and Mr. Dolan confirmed that it is important to study a broad enough range of scenarios to include all reasonable eventualities so that the EIR does not have to be revised later at additional cost. She too stressed that purpose of this is to gather enough information to make the best possible decision for this community and not to make recommendations on any one alternative over the other. Wayne Rasmussen, Rasmussen Planning, introduced the EIR preferred plan and plan alternatives, which are more or less refinements of what was presented to the Council earlier this year. Preferred Plan This alternative proposes 1,759 total housing units, 65% of which would be single-family and 35% of which would be multi-family residential units, over a plan area of 1,110 acres. Multi-family housing is dispersed throughout two primary areas which feather out to the lowest density of 4 units per acre at the edges. The El Charro Road extension would come straight down from the north before curving over to connect at the driveway entry to the Shadow Cliffs parking lot. Bush Road would extend all the way through to El Charro. This alternative also includes a proposed extension from Boulder Street at Valley Avenue travelling through the plan area. All plan alternatives include a 32-acre open space facility near the Chain of Lakes. The task force feels this is an excellent opportunity to, in working with Zone 7, further expand the use of the park in terms of trails and vistas by securing easements into the adjacent Zone 7 area. All plans also include a small retail neighborhood facility and village green across from the park. City Council Minutes Page 3 of 13 October 15,2013