13 - Laserfiche WebLink

I don't have a problem with this thing going either way. I mean, you know, I would probably rather see what was proposed by the applicant. I can get on board with retail on the two in the front but I really think long-term these homes are going to stay homes for a long time. Chair Ritter: Okay, let's just keep going down, so I'll go next. I think the Downtown Specific Plan dated March 5, 2002 is 14 years old and a lot of things change in 14 years, so I'm not opposed to making an adjustment a little bit. My kids have changed a lot in 14 years and I think this town has changed a lot in 14 years. I don't like this permanent "office space for lease" sign. It's not a normal lease sign. It's permanently embedded in there and I've been looking at it for 8 years driving to the City Hall here coming to the Planning Commission and Parks and Recreation meetings and so that's got to be telling me something that maybe office is not a high need in that location. Also I think if the City Hall moves across to Bernal that opens up that whole opportunity and at that time we'll know if we do need office spaces and we could zone for that at that time. But I don't think it's fair to push off and have an applicant wait for 5 or 10 years when we finally do that, or even another year for the Downtown Specific Plan to get updated based on market needs. So, I'm okay with deviating a little from it, but I do like having that mixed use building in there. I don't mind just the one. I like that Ace Train is right there and it's workforce housing, we have a shortage of that. And I think there's a market need in Pleasanton for the people who come in and out and I want my kids to come back here and work and be able to afford to live in a little studio. Commissioner O'Connor: Maybe I didn't understand the question on conformance, but I thought we were talking about whether the downstairs could be either retail or office. Weinstein: That's right. Commissioner O'Connor: Okay, because I really don't see office coming in here. Chair Ritter: I agree. Those are my thoughts. Commissioner Balch: I think I'm ditto of you. So I don't think the project necessarily needs to be revised. I think how staff has interpreted it is extremely practical in light of a lot of complex issues that it sounds like staff has gone through. So from my point of view, I think this office mixed use on the corner is a good mix. I think it also allows flexibility. Residence 1 converting—I could see that. I'm not sure I'm all the way there yet with it, and with that I'm reserving the parking element challenge that that would bring with it, but the premise of me being able to say "I could see it" is that when it doesn't work, he can flip it back to a residential project and I don't know how we would handle that. So maybe I'm throwing a little hat towards staffs recommendation or alternative. Commissioner Nagler: I appreciate all of the comments that have been made because I'm viewing this project in the context of what I think is likely to occur in the general neighborhood because if we're able to find the funding for a new civic center and library, it's going to be on Bernal and if the civic center/library moved to Bernal, then we're going to have a terrific opportunity in many ways to redefine downtown Pleasanton by virtue of the property we're sitting on. That is an incredibly exciting prospect. If you look at what is a reasonable expectation for the outcome of that planning effort it's going to be a mixed use. There's going to be interesting residences, there's going to be some retail, there may be a small boutique EXCERPT: PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, May 25, 2016 Page 14 of 22