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Pleasanton Downtown Association <br /> <br />December 81 2004 <br /> <br />City Council <br />City of Pleasanton <br />123 Main Street <br />P.O. Box 520 <br />Pleasanton, CA 94566 <br /> <br />Subject: Ervin Addition, 4473 Railroad Avenue <br /> <br />Honorable Mayor Hosterman and Members of the Council, <br /> <br />The Pleasanton Downtown Association (PDA) supports the application of James Ervin to <br />add to his building at 4473 Railroad Avenue bringing our first retail fxontage to that <br />street. <br /> <br />We were surprised by the Planning Commission denial and we did not want to by-pass <br />the Planning Commission with the reasons for our support. But, City procedures required <br />that the appeal go forward to City Council rather .than back to Planning Commission for <br />reconsideration. We do understand the sensitivity of small property owners who can be <br />burdened by protracted approval processes. <br /> <br />Our first reaction to the Planning Corranission raising the issue of historical value of the <br />.. building is "Good catch". Ideally, the issue of historical value would have been raised <br />and dealt with in the Staff Report, (or through the historical preservation ordinance well <br />in advance of this development proposal), but it was not. And this issue needs to be <br />addressed. <br /> <br />, The PDA agrees that downtown buildings with significant historical value should be <br /> preserved essentially intact and renovated. We agree that the historical architectural <br /> styles in downtown need to be maintained, and that new construction should complement <br /> or even replicate those historical styles. In the case of buildings with marginal historical <br /> value, we need to balance historical preservation with other Specific Plan policies and the <br /> desire for economic vitality of the downtown. Downtown Pleasanton has been evolving <br /> in positive ways for the last twenty years both physically and economically, and we want <br /> that trend to continue. <br /> <br />RECE <br /> <br /> The City and PDA have been hoping for an expansion of retail and pedestrian oriented <br /> activities on Railroad Avenue to complement the planned black box theatre and the <br /> public park and trail along the former railroad corridor. A longstanding goal of the PDA <br /> ~ l~e~to bring more depth to downtown off Main Street and create critical mass <br /> through side street development. Side street and Railroad Avenue development are <br />3 20O4 <br /> <br />CITY OF ?LEAS/-~NTON <br />PLANNING DE. PT, <br /> <br /> <br />