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ATTACHMENT 3 Citizens for a Caring Community P.O. Box 1781, Pleasanton CA 94566 December 10, 2013 City of Pleasanton Planning Division P.O. Box 520 Pleasanton CA 94566 ATTN: Janice Stern, Planning Manager Dear Ms. Stern Thank you for the opportunity to comment on issues related to the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the East Pleasanton Specific Plan (EPSP). As affordable housing advocates we have been concerned for many years about Pleasanton's jobs/housing imbalance and the impacts of the City's lack of affordable workforce housing. Long commutes, rising fuel prices, and high housing costs most directly and negatively affect employees with income levels too low to access housing close to their workplace. However, the air pollution caused by long unwanted drives to work affect everyone in the form of reduced air quality and global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Because commute traffic and vehicle miles traveled are a primary generator of greenhouse gasses, it has become the responsibility of all California cities to reduce emissions through land use planning designed to shorten the distance between its businesses and their employees . This involves planning for and facilitating the development of housing affordable to the workforce. Therefore, the DEIR should quantify greenhouse gas emissions generated by the EPSP at build -out from automobile commuting by its residents and businesses. The DEIR should also consider the related impact of lower-income housing demand created by the market rate residential and commercial portions of the development. According to the 2013 "Pleasanton Economic Development Strategic Plan Background Report" (PEDSP), 75.7% of the City's nonresident workforce commutes into Pleasanton from outside the Tri -Valley area. Of employed Pleasanton residents, 72.6% commute to jobs outside the Tri - Valley. The percentages of Pleasanton's in -commute and out -commute have increased inexorably since 1990. In and Out Commuting - 1990 to 2010 Portion of Pleasanton jobs held by employees commuting in from beyond the Tri -Valley: 1990 Census - 36.6% 2000 Census: 47.1% 2010 Census: 75.7% Portion of Pleasanton residents working in Pleasanton: 1990 Census - 27.3% 2000 Census - 19.8% 2010 Census - 15.4% Sources: "Economic Development Strategic Plan Background Report" 2006, Bay Area Economics "Pleasanton Economic Development Strategic Plan Background Report" 2013, Strategic Economics