PC 031319_Special Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

THE CITY OF PLANNING COMMISSION _pLEASANTON_ SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES City Council Chamber 200 Old Bernal Avenue, Pleasanton, CA 94566 APPROVED Wednesday, March 13, 2019 1. CALL TO ORDER, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, AND ROLL CALL The Planning Commission Special Meeting of March 13, 2019 was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair Allen. Staff Members Present: Gerry Beaudin, Director of Community Development; Ellen Clark, Planning Manager; Stefanie Ananthan, Recording Secretary Commissioners Present: Commissioners Jack Balch, Justin Brown, Greg O'Connor, Herb Ritter and Chair Nancy Allen Commissioners Absent: None 2. PUBLIC COMMENT — Comments are limited to items listed on this agenda. There were no members of the audience wishing to address the Commission. 3. PRESENTATION BY KNUT OJERMARK REGARDING DOWNTOWN PLEASANTON Community Development Director Gerry Beaudin stated Knut Ojermark had requested to make a presentation to the Downtown Specific Plan Update Task Force regarding downtown Pleasanton, however, Mr. Ojermark was directed to give his presentation to the Planning Commission. Planning Manager Ellen Clark echoed Mr. Beaudin's remarks and welcomed Mr. Ojermark with a brief introduction to the Commission, stating he has been a long-time Pleasanton resident, has maintained an active interest in downtown planning, and a frequent attendee of the Downtown Specific Plan Task Force meetings. He will be presenting his ideas and concepts regarding downtown Pleasanton to the Commission. Mr. Ojermark gave a PowerPoint presentation with a brief background on his education, upbringing, experience and worldwide travel. He presented photos of various cities' downtowns, highlighting people walking through the streets, and spoke further on his ideas to alter the layout of downtown, proposing either to close Main Street to vehicles, or making it a one-way street, so that the space would be available to pedestrians and for dining and outdoor gatherings. He also spoke to concepts of marketing, creating attractions like a "niche" movie Planning Commission Special Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 3 March 13, 2019 discussion with the community as to whether the project is appropriate and additional environmental review at that time. Again, he stressed that this is a healthy policy discussion on the horizon as to whether those sites are in or out. From an environmental perspective, staff is comfortable that the document allows that policy conversation to take place. Commissioner Ritter lastly said his biggest issue is to make sure the environmental report is not overly restrictive in its analysis, where if the whole City was wiped out by a natural disaster, the roads and buildings could be rebuilt. He wants to be sure they are encompassing the big picture where they can put a garage underneath and two units above so they are not over-restricting their analysis. Other than that, Commissioner Ritter said he thinks the DSP came up with some good recommendations at the last meeting and he endorsed most of those. Mr. Beaudin confirmed that a motion was not needed and he thanked the Commission for their comments. Planning Commission Minutes Page 17 of 18 March 13, 2019 anticipation that the envelope, location of the driveways, number of trips, location of the parking structure, hotel, etc. will require more analysis and details, especially around traffic. Planning Commission Minutes Page 16 of 18 March 13, 2019 nutes Page 7 of 18 March 13, 2019 m a head start. Their two-year-old tested highly in both English and Spanish when they began kindergarten which was a huge benefit. Planning Commission Minutes Page 6 of 18 March 13, 2019