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moves to the EIR is going through the Specific Plan Design Guidelines and the actual <br />Specific Plan, and the Transfer Station is a subject of a lot of deliberation in the Task <br />Force meeting. He stated that what they have asked for and what was recommended <br />through several members of the Task Force was to give the underlying zoning to the <br />Transfer Station but not have it count towards the total units because, right now, when <br />they are counting all the units as they do the financial feasible studies, and taking away <br />83 of those units for the Transfer Station would mean less money to pay for all the <br />needed infrastructure. He noted that, as the developers of the project, if they had the <br />extra units, they are willing to say that they will not contribute to the infrastructure as an <br />incentive for them to get more money to sell the property, and they will then offset the <br />cost of the move or cover it. He further noted that they do not know yet what the total <br />cost for doing that is. He asked the Commission to consider those two points as <br />additional recommendations to what staff has. <br />Mr. Constanzo stated that there was some discussion about throwing in another Plan, <br />taking out one of the Plan 5's. He asked that Plan 5A be kept over Plan 5B if that is <br />being considered, because Plan 5A has more land use value. <br />Lastly, Mr. Costanzo stated that everyone gets focused on the numbers and he thinks <br />Mr. Dolan did a very good job of making everyone understand that these are not the <br />final numbers. He indicated that the higher limit was quoted by the Council so that <br />when all the EIR information comes in and all the costs are piled in, whatever is needed <br />will be there; and if it is not needed, he is sure this community will not go to that level. <br />He pointed out that the Preferred Plan, as Mr. Rasmussen described it, has some great <br />points. He indicated that they are looking forward to working with the community, the <br />neighbors in Ironwood, and everybody else to create a Plan that ultimately everyone will <br />like. <br />Patricia Mitchell complimented the Commission as well as the previous Commissioners <br />and staff, for doing a good job. She stated that she knows this is not an easy job, and <br />the Commission is faced with some very difficult decisions here. <br />Ms. Mitchell stated that she is wearing a dual hat here because she is a resident of <br />Ironwood as well as a Pleasanton Unified School District employee. She expressed <br />concern about retail space that was mentioned earlier and asked that how much vacant <br />retail space currently exists in Pleasanton. She stated that she used to have a business <br />in the Vintage Hill Shopping Center, and they struggled for many years to keep that <br />center going; she noted that it was a total eyesore and would not want to see something <br />like that take place again. <br />As far as traffic is concerned, Ms. Mitchell stated that coming out of Ironwood to get <br />onto Valley Avenue is very difficult and challenging at best. She noted that looking at a <br />school in the Hacienda Business Park, even with certain restrictions that have been <br />placed on Hart Middle School, traffic is a nightmare. She indicated that she knows a lot <br />of the businesses around there and how they feel about having a school in the area for <br />the safety of the kids. She stated that there have fortunately not been any major <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, September 25, 2013 Page 36 of 45 <br />