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<br />Jennifer Hagen
<br />From:
<br />Sent:Friday, January 7, 2022 9:42 AM
<br />To:Jennifer Hagen
<br />Cc:Karla Brown
<br />Subject:Comments to City Council RE rezoning; affirm Planning Commission on removal of Valley and
<br />Mission Shopping Centers
<br />Jennifer, all of the members of the Danbury Park Board of Directors would like to submit the letter below for review by
<br />the City Council before or for their January 18 meeting regarding potential housing sites for rezoning. We wish to state
<br />that we are in agreement with the Planning Commission’s decision to remove the Valley Plaza and Mission Plaza
<br />shopping centers from the list of potential sites for rezoning.
<br />
<br />Robert Gonella
<br />
<br />
<br />Our letter is as follows:
<br />
<br />We, the members of the Board of Directors of Danbury Park in Pleasanton, would like to express our opposition to any
<br />potential rezoning of the Valley and Mission shopping centers located near the intersection of Valley and Santa Rita Rd.
<br />It is our understanding that the Planning Commission last month recommended that these two centers be removed
<br />from the list of sites to be potentially rezoned to housing. We concur with this recommendation and ask the council to
<br />affirm that decision.
<br />
<br />Danbury Park is a single‐family complex of 204 units located across the street to the east of the centers. Besides
<br />Danbury Park, there are thousands of other single family and apartment complexes located near these centers.
<br />
<br />A vital neighborhood is more than just housing; you also need businesses nearby to provide services to the residents of
<br />the housing.
<br />
<br />There are about 75 businesses that currently operate at these centers. These businesses provide many valuable,
<br />essential, convenient and importantly, reasonably priced services to the thousands of residents near them. They provide
<br />such services as: grocery stores, hardware store, laundry, insurance agent, donut shop, spa, shoe repair, dentist office,
<br />veterinary service, UPS store, credit union, thrift store, auto shop, printing, tutoring, office buildings, hair and nails,
<br />sports store, restaurants (e.g. sushi, Asian, pizza, Mexican, bar and grill), café, fast food( Kentucky Fried and Jack in the
<br />Box), thrift shop, vitamin shop, property management, insurance and real estate offices, doctor, lawyer and counseling
<br />offices, mortgage brokers and wealth advisors. These services and the residents to whom they serve make up a cohesive
<br />community. In addition, these services are a walkable distance away from the many nearby residents, many of whom
<br />are senior citizens.
<br />
<br />These many businesses provide the livelihoods for the owners of these businesses and for hundreds of their employees.
<br />Many of these businesses have been operating there for decades. Retail is in trouble as it is; these businesses should not
<br />be displaced. If they are displaced, residents will be forced to drive all over Pleasanton or Dublin or Livermore to find
<br />similar services.
<br />
<br />There have been some comments about putting mixed use at these sites. That would not be appropriate, as it will
<br />displace all the tenants mentioned above and would not be able to accommodate all of these tenants. Additionally, the
<br />rents would inevitably be higher at a new complex and many of these small, quaint and unique businesses would not be
<br />able to continue to operate (e.g. donut shop, thrift shop, shoe repair, hardware store, etc.).
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