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six more lanes on Johnson Drive. He noted that the $15 million to put that freeway ramp on tells him that it is going to cost $20 million. He added that he knows how the sales tax plans work because he has generated those plans for other cities, and he is certain that the City has to do a plan for Costco that will give it back one percent of the City's sales tax revenue until the City gets some kind of a plan back. He noted that the City will get its money back for years, and it will take away a lot of money from its sales tax revenue from small businesses that are in Pleasanton right now. He added that he knows many businesses that have lost money when other large businesses come to a city. He asked the Commission to make sure the City plans accordingly. Jerry Sandbrink stated that he too wants to voice his concern over the redevelopment plan or the rezoning plan for Johnson Drive for two major reasons: (1) The traffic is going to be absolutely horrendous and will affect more on- and off -ramps than just the one on Stoneridge Drive; it will go down Bernal Avenue and around the corner. (2) If a big store like Costco comes in, there will be adverse effects to the small businesses in the neighborhood. She pointed out that it is not just the "plus" that a Costco store would generate; there are a lot of "minuses" for all the small businesses that will go out of business. She noted that big -box stores do not spend their money in Pleasanton; they ship them off to corporate wherever that happens to be. He added that, on the contrary, small businesses spend their money here, they get involved in community affairs and schools, and they are acutely aware of their businesses and how they affect the community. Don Maday, owner of a small consulting firm based here in Pleasanton, stated that he also attended the neighborhood meeting last week on the Johnson Drive Economic Development Zone and would like to share a few observations with the Commission. He indicated that because this project will impact traffic Citywide and has a substantial impact on local businesses, the City's notices and communications regarding the project should be sent to all residents and businesses in Pleasanton. He noted that most residents she has talked to so far do not know anything about the project, and when they do learn about the magnitude of the project, they get very upset over the fact that they have not been informed because they also want to have their say on how the project impacts their community. Mr. Maday stated that the EIR needs to be amended to include the impacts that big stores like Costco, as proposed in the project, will have on existing Pleasanton small businesses, and added that input from local business owners should be sought out and included. She pointed out that while the project will certainly generate tax dollars, a large portion of those tax dollars will come at the expense of existing local businesses. Mr. Maday stated that increased traffic is by far the biggest concern raised in the EIR, and it is very troubling that Caltrans is being relied on as much to provide most of the traffic mitigation, yet Caltrans had given no commitment and there is no implementation timeline that has been agreed to at this point. He stated that the City should not move ahead with any phase of this project without having traffic mitigations already in place, as adding 10,000 to 12,000 cars a day to City streets and highway entrances without having that mitigation in place is just dangerous. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, November 18, 2015 Page 3 of 34