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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br /> In January 2017, the City of Pleasanton commenced a planning process to update the <br /> Downtown Specific Plan (DSP), which was comprehensively updated in 2002. The City Council <br /> appointed a ten-member Task Force to guide and oversee the plan update, with representatives <br /> from City Council, Planning Commission, the Pleasanton Downtown Association, the Economic <br /> Vitality Committee, and at-large members. <br /> With a goal of setting the vision, policy, and regulatory framework or the next 20 years or so in <br /> Downtown Pleasanton, the key objectives of the update were identified as follows: <br /> • Provide clear and consistent policy guidance; <br /> • Provide a framework for new development on significant opportunity sites, particularly the <br /> existing civic center site; <br /> • Ensure consistency and integration with recent and ongoing planning efforts; <br /> • Achieve the most desirable mix of land uses, including residential, retail, and office <br /> throughout the downtown area, including ground-floor uses along Main Street; <br /> • Ensure a high-quality, well-designed public realm; <br /> • Improve connections from Main Street to side streets; and <br /> • Improve the mobility of cars, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians in the downtown area. <br /> The Task Force had its final meeting on May 28, 2019. The Planning Commission is now <br /> requested to provide its recommendation on adoption of the Downtown Specific Plan; as well as <br /> a series of related amendments to the General Plan, Pleasanton Municipal Code (PMC), <br /> Downtown Design Guidelines, and Downtown Hospitality Guidelines that are required for each <br /> of these documents to be consistent with the updated DSP. In some cases, the amendments <br /> consist of text amendments, and in other cases, such as with the Downtown Hospitality <br /> Guidelines, the update is to the boundary of the specific plan area in a map within the <br /> guidelines. <br /> BACKGROUND <br /> Since January 2017, the DSP Task Force has been working toward updating the 2002 specific <br /> plan, with the objective of reviewing strategies and options for the most desirable mix of land <br /> uses, design improvements, future development opportunities for the existing civic center site, <br /> and improvement of multi-modal mobility throughout the specific plan area. The end result of <br /> this effort, in conjunction with public outreach, is the November 2018 Public Review Draft <br /> Downtown Specific Plan (draft specific plan). <br /> The draft specific plan was circulated to the public and also presented to various City boards, <br /> commissions, and stakeholder groups for input and comments. Results of this outreach were <br /> reported to the Task Force on February 26, 2019, along with a series of options and <br /> recommendations on five specific policy topics: 1) Regulation of massage businesses; <br /> 2) Application of the Active Ground-Floor Overlay; 3) Ground-floor residential uses; <br /> 4) Treatment of property owner-initiated requests for re-zoning; and 5) Development standards <br /> within mixed use and residential land use districts. The Task Force considered and made <br /> recommendations regarding the policy topics based on community outreach results, some of <br /> which differed from that reflected in the November 2018 Public Review Draft Plan. The Task <br /> Force's February 26, 2019, direction is summarized in the meeting notes, Exhibit A, attached. <br /> Downtown Specific Plan Planning Commission <br /> 3 of 15 <br />