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movie theater, presumably there will be a restaurant or two, and it's going to be an extension <br /> of what we know has become downtown Pleasanton and I think that's a reasonable <br /> expectation. <br /> And so as a result, I support allowing the applicant to deviate from the office requirement <br /> because it isn't reasonable, therefore, and I'm agreeing, to hold this applicant accountable to <br /> decisions made in a completely different context because we're making decisions for the next <br /> 30, 40, 50 years not based upon criteria or circumstance of the past. So, if it's a reasonable <br /> expectation that the civic center site is going to become this new vital mixed use area, then the <br /> question becomes what's appropriate for right across the street? It strikes me as what's <br /> appropriate across the street is what the applicant is proposing or something very similar. So it <br /> turns it seems to me on the issue of what happens with this secondary building: Residence 1. <br /> To me, that's where if I were the applicant wanting guidance from the Planning Commission, <br /> I'd be asking, okay, let's just really focus on what we think about Residence 1. And on that <br /> point, I would ask the applicant and architect to put some creativity into what might be done <br /> with that building to both re-orient it more towards the street and also potentially use part of the <br /> first floor for mixed use and if it isn't feasible or if it somehow doesn't work in the context of <br /> what the applicant is attempting to do, I would vote for the project as presented.. <br /> Commissioner Brown: So, to me this is a cornerstone property in that I think all of the <br /> properties around are looking at this project and we are setting a precedent. My only concern <br /> is that we're getting ahead of the Specific Plan update. The specific planning process would <br /> take into account what should we do with the 0 space, and so the conservative approach <br /> would be staffs which is in the spirit of the 0 you could look at changing Residence 1 into <br /> mixed use which I think we all agree that there's probably not the demand there for office, so if <br /> you make it office/retail, you're more flexible and you're setting yourself up for whatever is the <br /> outcome of that Specific Plan redesign. <br /> In summary, what I would say is if you're not willing to wait for the Specific Plan redesign, if <br /> you approve the project as it is, you're essentially setting a precedent and you're essentially <br /> pre-dating that Specific Plan redesign. My advice would be to wait for the Specific Plan, and <br /> one of my questions is what the timeline is for that in terms of whether that's fair or not. And if <br /> you're not willing to wait, my recommendation would be to David's point, put some architect <br /> time into considering making that other building more flexible. <br /> In terms of the project itself, the look of the building, what it looks like now, it is miles ahead. I <br /> love the project, I love the architecture, love the mixed use, but that would be my advice. <br /> Commissioner O'Connor: What's the timeline on the Specific Plan? <br /> Beaudin: We're going to start this summer and it's a 12-24 month process, depending on our <br /> public outreach and scope of work that we felt for the effort. <br /> Chair Ritter: The job of the Planning Commission is to do it in the spirit of what the need is at <br /> the time when applicants come forward, right? We have deviated from Specific Plans or <br /> General Plan amendments before, haven't we? <br /> EXCERPT: PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, May 25, 2016 Page 15 of <br /> 22 <br />