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residents can live here as well. He noted that this is his goal in doing this as smart <br />planning, as the City of Planned Progress. <br />Chair Olson stated that Ms. Dennis' letter pointed out the big mismatch between <br />employees commuting in from outside the area versus residents who live here and work <br />here, and the mismatch gets greater overtime from 1990 through 2010. Looking back <br />to the acquisition of PeopleSoft by Oracle and the extension of BART out to Pleasanton, <br />both of which happened during this period of time, he wondered if the City had the <br />ability to determine how many of these workers were coming in via mass transit, as he <br />did not think 75 percent were driving automobiles. He indicated that he used to ride the <br />ACE train to San Jose, and every morning, the train was full of people who got off in <br />Pleasanton, coming in from the Stockton area to work in Pleasanton. He pointed out <br />that the statistics may not be as alarming as they appear. <br />Chair Olson stated that what he hears tonight are cross currents. He indicated that <br />there certainly are properties on this list that are more controversial than others as the <br />turnout of people in the audience indicates. He stated that Pleasanton has a need for <br />housing, and looking at the housing numbers, some may say that they do not want the <br />City to go over 29,000 housing units. He emphasized that Pleasanton has no housing <br />cap, and trying to live within the spirit of the housing cap runs the risk of being sued <br />again. He pointed out that this desire to limit housing in the City needs to be balanced <br />against the need for low- income housing. He referred to the Kottinger Gardens project <br />the Commission just recommended for approval, where the applicant indicated there is <br />a long waiting list of seniors wanting to live in the existing facilities and the additional <br />95 units to the new facility will not still be able to accommodate them all. He reiterated <br />that both low- income and senior housing represent a need which runs counter to the <br />desire to limit housing in this town, and finding a happy medium means that the City <br />needs to continue planning and developing alternatives. He added that there is also the <br />need for schools, which would lead some to say that the City should not do any more <br />housing. He stated that these three elements are at cross - currents and need to be <br />balanced with one another; it cannot be all just one way. He stated that based on this <br />big picture view, he thinks that many of these sites should stay on the list, and the City <br />should continue to try to work through this and make sure the City has alternatives <br />available. He then asked staff if they had any specific questions on this for the <br />Commission. <br />Ms. Stern stated that it sounds like the Commission wants the City to continue with the <br />sites, so staff will provide additional information for the next go around. <br />Commissioner Allen stated that with respect to the rezoning of the sites, she could <br />argue for two or three of the sites that on their own look good. She noted, however, that <br />she does not think this is the right time in this Housing Element to rezone more <br />properties. She added that she thinks the City needs to focus on helping support the <br />needs Chair Olson mentioned by encouraging people to build the 3,000 units on the <br />sites that have already been rezoned so the City can get more senior housing and more <br />low- income housing. She added that there is also the East Pleasanton Specific Plan <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, April 23, 2014 Page 22 of 27 <br />