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of looking for vacant land, obviously there is land in the east side, and Staples Ranch is <br />in that zone where right now the policy is to do auto dealers there; however, if that does <br />not ever come to fruition, the City may be wanting to consider other possible options, <br />and staff is just trying to keep flexibility. He reiterated that it is fine if the Commission <br />and the Council ultimately decide they do not want it. <br />Commissioner O'Connor stated that he is more concerned about what might be pressed <br />upon the City if it opens up more acreage. He added that, obviously, at some point, the <br />limited land that the City has today that is possible to rezone for high- density housing <br />will be built out and there is no acreage left, then there is no acreage left. He noted, <br />however, that if the City has available acreage, ABAG could certainly push those <br />numbers on the City. <br />Chair Blank stated that in his opinion, the language in Appendix C that is currently <br />crafted is much broader than what is in the language in the ALUC. <br />THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPENED. <br />Kay Ayala stated that she appreciates the discussion because she thinks some of the <br />Commissioners got it. She indicated that she just heard about this earlier this <br />afternoon. She noted that when the topic of discussion is about the east side of <br />Pleasanton and the airport zone, the room is full; but tonight it is empty so people do not <br />know this is happening. She added that particularly, there is an East Pleasanton study <br />in process, and that Task Force did not even know this existed; and in the past, staff <br />has relied on a serving committee to study this plan inside and out and prepare a <br />recommendation for the Commissions and the Council, but that did not happen here. <br />Ms. Ayala stated that she is dreadfully worried about the flexibility that staff is building <br />into this. She noted that Pleasanton residents want to keep the population in town so <br />that there is the infrastructure to serve it, particularly schools, and all the schools are <br />over - crowded. She indicated that amending the General Plan at any time is a big deal. <br />She noted that during the eight years she was on the City Council, she recalls having <br />only one General Plan Amendment. <br />Ms. Ayala stated that she came here tonight first of all to tell the Commission that <br />people do not know this is going on. She noted that this room would be full if the people <br />thought you were weaving flexibility into our General Plan to allow more high- density <br />housing within the protection zone of the airport. She indicated that it just does not <br />make sense because people do not want more housing closer to the airport, let alone <br />high- density housing closer to the airport. She appealed to the Commission not to <br />amend one line of the General Plan that would allow more flexibility in the east side of <br />town. She noted that the Council Chamber will be full when people hear about this. <br />She added that Mr. Jeb Bing is in the audience, and she is sure there will be an article <br />on this in the Pleasanton Weekly. She indicated that she understands Livermore's <br />dilemma, but that's Livermore's dilemma and not Pleasanton's. She encouraged the <br />Commission to overrule it, take all the flexibility out of this, and protect the General Plan. <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, January 9, 2013 Page 10 of 20 <br />