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project. The loss of public parking for my employees and other employees and <br />customers of businesses in the area is a minor point and one that I could easily mitigate <br />for my people. I'm actually in favor of widening Johnson Drive to accommodate <br />alternate retail solutions that will likely occupy this prime space. The reason I'm <br />opposing Costco here is because of the eagerly anticipated potential tax revenue <br />increase associated with a big box addition is blatantly outweighed by unacceptable <br />traffic congestion which cannot be mitigated properly according to the EIR, additional <br />pollution, extreme cost to the road building infrastructure and the negative impacts on <br />local small businesses. Traffic is my biggest concern. Yes, it will be costly to my <br />business. More than this, it will adversely affect all community members by significantly <br />increasing travel delays on all roads surrounding this area including Hopyard, <br />Stoneridge, Owens, ultimately 1 -580 and 1 -680. Despite all of these drawbacks, the <br />program continues to move forward to the benefit of the land owner, Nearon, and the <br />City without the approval of people of Pleasanton. Public safety, quality of life and the <br />stability of our local businesses are all being disregarded in the hope for more tax <br />revenue and minor convenience for Costco club members, many of which will come <br />from outside of Pleasanton. <br />I promote the responsible growth of commerce in this City. I'd like to propose a mixed <br />use retail in the EDZ, limiting building size to 50,000 square feet with small to medium <br />sized businesses. This could be local businesses who have contributed to Pleasanton <br />over the years a much needed boost and additional visibility in a high traffic area. I use <br />Costco; I think it's a great company. This just isn't the right place for one. If a Costco is <br />approved here, it will speak loudly to the future direction of Pleasanton. Outside the <br />undoubtable issues it will cause, it will also put a welcome mat for more big box retail in <br />our City. At what point will enough be enough? I urge you to re- examine the General <br />Plan and the EIR while considering what is best for the general public and present your <br />findings and determinations in an effective manner that welcomes equitable input from <br />our residents. Thank you. <br />Chair Ritter requested Mr. Weinstein provide an update on the matter. <br />Weinstein: The comment period on the Draft Supplemental EIR (DSEIR) ended in <br />November and so we've spent time since then compiling the large number of comments <br />we got from the public and from government agencies and are organizing them and <br />responding to them. So we're in the middle of the Response to Comments process right <br />now. As part of that Response to Comments process, we will be responding to all of the <br />individual comments that we've received. We'll also be undertaking and we are <br />undertaking enhanced additional technical studies on the project, including additional air <br />quality work, additional traffic work and an expanded economic study that will look at <br />impacts to small businesses among other things, and we're anticipating that the <br />Response to Comments document and FEIR will be published in the next couple of <br />months. Then following that we'll have a joint City Council /Planning Commission <br />meeting where the City Council and you can sit down together to talk about the project <br />with the information in the FEIR in front of you. Then after that there would be Planning <br />Commission and City Council meetings on the project, all of which will have <br />opportunities for public input. <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, January 13, 2016 Page 3 of 26 <br />