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understands it, Fehr and Peers is saying that typical analyses do not necessarily work <br />because Safeway's prices for gas are so much cheaper than those at other gas stations <br />such that more people come in than a typical analysis would allow for; so Fehr and <br />Peers went to the Safeway gas stations in Dublin and Livermore, analyzed the PM peak <br />data, and then extrapolated from them the numbers for the 18 fuel stations. <br />Kathrin Tellez, Fehr & Peers, replied that was correct <br />Commissioner Pearce inquired if allowances were made for the fact that the proposed <br />Pleasanton station is so close to an off -ramp on the freeway, while neither the Dublin <br />nor the Livermore station is, although Livermore's is near a freeway but there is no <br />actual off -ramp in Dublin's where one can simple exit off of the freeway and get gas. <br />She expressed concern that in this regard, the extrapolation may be too low. <br />Ms. Tellez replied that they did consider what the traffic volumes were on the adjacent <br />streets because that is a big indicator of how much traffic might be coming into and out <br />of the gas station. She explained that in that process, they did take a look at traffic <br />volumes on 1 -680 and Bernal Avenue just to make sure that they are confident with their <br />results. She noted that their analysis shows that there should be plenty of queuing <br />space the majority of the time; there will be room for 15 vehicles to be queued behind, <br />even with a lot of people already at the fuel station. She added that from looking at the <br />stations in Dublin and Livermore, Safeway continues to realize that it needs a little bit <br />more space, and the Pleasanton station has a lot more space than those at Dublin or <br />Livermore. She indicated that she felt confident a lot of the queuing issues will be <br />resolved with this project. <br />Commissioner Blank recalled that at that last meeting, the Commission talked about <br />something he does not remember seeing in the Minutes, that part of the reason the <br />Commission selected the location it did was that it did not want to make it too easy for <br />people to get on and off; that this location does in fact do that, so it would actually <br />discourage people from stopping and getting gas and then going to the Safeway to do <br />shopping. He stated that then this location, in his opinion, would be more of a <br />convenience gas station as opposed to a destination gas station. <br />Following up on Commissioner Pearce's question and noting Ms. Tellez' statement that <br />as spaces for stacking would be adequate the majority of the time, Commissioner <br />Narum inquired if staff had considered a contingency plan for stacking up beyond <br />15 spaces should this station be much more successful than proposed. <br />Joshua Pack replied that staff had looked at eight different alternatives on what the <br />volumes could be, and considering that the trip volumes of a typical gas station are not <br />synonymous with what the Safeway station's volumes would be, staff did a number of <br />iterations, and the number staff used for its analysis was the absolute highest they <br />came up with of all those iterations. He noted that, as a result, this analysis with the <br />15 spaces is the peak, the most conservative estimate, and staffs comfort level. <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, July 25, 2012 Page 5 of 12 <br />