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would also continue to support the long-term preservation and enhancement of the Arroyo del Valle, consistent with the General Plan Wildlands Overlay and Public Health and Safety land use designations, which preserve open space resources throughout the city. Planning Process The Downtown Specific Plan update process began in January 2017. Throughout the update process, City staff and the professional services team conducted outreach and met regularly with a 10-member Task Force consisting of City Council members, Planning Commissioners, representatives from Pleasanton Downtown Association and the City's Economic Vitality Committee, and at-large members appointed by City Council. The Task Force has provided guidance on the DSP's vision, options and alternatives for the transportation network, new uses for the existing civic center site, regulations for ground floor uses, a "base" land use plan, and corresponding set of strategies, and draft plan policies. The Proposed Plan was drafted in late 2018 based on feedback from the Task Force, input from the community, and guidance from City Council. DRAFT EIR The City has determined that an EIR is necessary to evaluate environmental impacts of the project, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Accordingly, the City has prepared a draft environmental impact report (DEIR). The DEIR serves several functions: • Satisfies the requirements of the CEQA for the project's environmental review; • Identifies the potential environmental impacts of the proposal and the mitigation measures for these impacts; and • Identifies potential impacts that cannot be mitigated and are therefore unavoidable. As an informational document, the EIR does not formulate recommendations on the project or proposal (e.g., approval, conditional approval, or denial of the plan). The Draft EIR analyzes the potential environmental effects of implementing the Downtown Specific Plan (Proposed Plan), which guides development with the 300-acre downtown area. The EIR is a "program" EIR that evaluates the Proposed Plan as a whole and identifies the broad, regional effects that may occur with its implementation. As a programmatic document, the EIR does not assess site-specific impacts. Any future development project made possible by the Proposed Plan will be subject to individual, site-specific environmental review, as required by State law. The EIR represents the best effort to evaluate the Proposed Plan given its planning horizon through the year 2040. It can be anticipated that conditions will change; however, the assumptions used are the best available at the time of preparation and reflect existing knowledge of patterns of development. The Draft EIR for the Pleasanton Downtown Specific Plan identifies the potential for significant effects in the following impact areas: Aesthetics; Air Quality; Biological Resources; Cultural, Historic, and Tribal Resources; Energy, Climate Change, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Geology and Seismicity; Hazards and Hazardous Materials; Hydrology, Drainage, and Water Quality; Land Use, Population, and Housing; Noise; Public Facilities and Recreation; Traffic and Transportation; and Utilities and Service Systems. As described in the DEIR, although many of these impacts can be fully mitigated, some cannot, and they would remain significant including Air Quality; and Energy, Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change. Resource topics that are not addressed in the EIR include Mineral Resources and Agricultural and Forestry Resources due to a lack of these resources in the planning area. Downtown Specific Plan: Draft EIR Planning Commission 3 of 5 tes adding one park in the new Town Square District. The Proposed Plan Downtown Specific Plan: Draft EIR Planning Commission 2 of 5 eral Plan identifies land use compatibility standards for different land uses. For instance, noise levels between 60 and 75 decibels on the day-night equivalent level (Ldn) are considered conditionally acceptable in single-family residential