PC 082615 - Laserfiche WebLink

George Albritten, a 27 -year Pleasanton resident, stated that he has been on the Ventana Hills Steering Committee for 24 years and has worked with the current Commissioners' predecessors many times. He added that he also happens to be a 37 -year Sierra Club member and does not agree with the Sierra Club's letter. He indicated that 17 years before Measure PP and Measure QQ, the Steering Committee worked with Shapell and the Planning Department and others to try and make sure that the Shapell homes were built down in swales and not on the top of the hills. He noted that it required a lot of movement of earth, and being a Pleasanton resident during the 2008 timeframe, he did not want to see houses up on the hills. Mr. Albritten stated that the community has the Commission as its representatives to interpret the laws. He indicated that the Commission has heard people tell it to force the laws, to apply the laws, but it is really simple: the Commission has to interpret the laws for the good of the community. He noted that Pleasanton is a Community of Character, a City of Planned Progress, and the Steering Committee has worked very hard over the last 25 years to work with the City and do the right thing; he asked the Commission to do the same. Mr. Albritten stated his colleagues from the Steering Committee and his neighbors from Ventana Hills and Mission Hills have already done a wonderful job of which Options they are supporting. He asked the Commission to interpret the law for the betterment of the community and do what is right. Christian Seebring, representing the Applicant, reminded the Commission that none of the documents relied on by the Ventana Hills group involved the owners of Lund Ranch or Greenbriar, that at the time that those documents were prepared, there were 150 homes proposed on the site and that the General Plan still shows 149 homes on the site. He noted that that is not what is proposed today. He also reminded the Commission that the EIR concludes there the project does not have any significant traffic impacts, but the project has nonetheless been conditioned to provide $200,000 in traffic - calming that can be used at the City's discretion. He further reminded the Commission that the volume of project traffic with the proposed project being a single access to Lund Ranch Road would be about one car every two minutes on the AM peak hours and less that one car a minute on the PM peak hours; and on Junipero Street, the project traffic would be one car every two minutes during the peak hours. He acknowledged that that would be more than without the project. He then clarified that with respect to the nature of the roads that have been shown earlier, his understanding is that the 24 -foot option would require a guardrail for safety reasons, which was not discussed earlier. THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED. Commissioner Ritter stated that it has been brought up a couple of times that the Planning Commission or the City Council had an agreement regarding a road and structure. He inquired if this has ever been voted on or if the Commission or the Council kind of agreed as part of their discussion points. Mr. Dolan replied that the matter has been on the Commission agenda and the Council agenda at different times, and there was at least one time when the majority of the PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, August 26, 2015 Page 19 of 43