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THE CITY OF 81:••L' 23 " r' °- ' Ann CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT pL£ASANTONo April 15, 2014 Economic Development TITLE: ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ZONE PROGRAM AND INITIATION OF A PILOT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ZONE SUMMARY Businesses are an integral part of the Pleasanton community, from the jobs they provide for residents to the amenities supported by the revenues they generate. To remain competitive in attracting and retaining businesses, it is important to build upon our existing strengths while also adapting to changing market conditions. As we consider how Pleasanton will continue to develop in the coming years, the City should be proactive in identifying opportunity sites that would benefit from being repositioned and/or redeveloped. In this regard, the City Council is asked to consider the establishment of an Economic Development Zone Program that would designate such opportunity sites and take steps to encourage future investment as desired by the City and the community, and also initiate a pilot economic development zone on a portion of Johnson Drive that would include re-zoning and environmental review. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff is recommending the City Council approve implementation of the Economic Development Zone Program and the initiation of a pilot Johnson Drive Economic Development Zone. FINANCIAL STATEMENT There are no direct costs associated with the program concept. While individual economic development zones may require resources to make the recommended updates, a proposed plan for each zone will be presented to the City Council outlining the anticipated financial impact to the City. The Johnson Drive Economic Development Zone will initially require staff time to amend the General Plan and zoning updates and to manage the environmental review process. If approved, property owner(s) within the economic development zone will be asked to underwrite the cost of the environmental review through agreement with the City.