PC 01/22/97 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commissioner Cooper discussed his concern that when cars stack up, it is human nature to turn right and go down Stone Pointe. Mr. Abrams advised there is no stop light at the Stoneridge/Stone Pointe intersection, and the traffic study indicates that with the ease of the right turn, stacking will not become problematic. Commissioner Cooper asked why the applicants chose this site if they already have a site in Hacienda. Mr. Bernstein advised that with the exception of possibly six homes on Stone Pointe, there are no other neighbors to impact this site. He also stated there are no parcels in Hacienda zoned for a school. Matt Clausen, 3865 Stone Pointe Way, is concerned ELI is comparing themselves to an elementary school when this school is to go through high school grades. The traffic of driving students will impact the neighborhood. The limited parking will also be affected. As a real estate agent, he has not seen a neighborhood that is not directly affected by the traffic of the neighboring school. Stone Pointe Way will be impacted by cars parking to drop off their children or waiting for their children to walk out to them. He also feels that a school that borders only one neighborhood has a higher impact than if it were to border on two or three neighborhoods. Mr. Clausen noted many people who left because of the lateness of the hour. Mark Butler, 2824 Garden Creek Circle, stated he does not agree with all of staff's recommendations, but he does appreciate their time and effort. He spoke on the high density in the immediate area of this project. There is substantial usage in this area already with a high density residential area and a neighborhood park. Mr. Butler corrected previous student/acre figures in that the Mohr Avenue school has a maximum of 600 students over 10 acres (60 students/acre). Mohr is a school that operates from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm; in comparison to ELI, which is a year-round school operating from early morning to early evening. Older students need more space and concentrating them on a small lot is not fair to the children. The traffic impacts from Mohr Avenue elementary are still not known. The conversion of St. Elizabeth Seton to a full-scale church with a potential for a private school will cause unknown impacts. The extension of Stoneridge to EI Charro is a negative impact to the neighborhood because of freeway cut-through traffic. With all of the unknown impacts to the neighborhood, it does not make sense to use this property for such a high-density use. Mr. Butler urged the Planning Commission to recommend denial to the City Council. Holly Baumback, 2982 Garden Creek Circle, talked about Pleasanton's quiet, serene environment. She is a teacher, and if children are engaged at the school, there will be a lot of noise from the children on the playground. She is opposed to living near a school because of the noise generated by children on the school grounds. She needs to have a calm, serene environment; she doesn't want to live in a noisy environment. She doesn't want to have to shut her doors and windows. School parking and traffic will be extreme. Ms. Baumback doesn't want her street to be used as the parking lot for the school because they do not have adequate parking. She also felt that her comments from the neighborhood meetings were not accurately reflected in the minutes, and further, she believes some petitions have been excluded from the staff report. She states that she asked the developer specifically if a school would go on this site, and she was told no. Robert Horton, 2708 Vista Diablo Court, knows the area residents would prefer to have this space left open or a park, but this is the trade-off for living in a built-up area. Most of Pleasanton's Planning Commission Minutes Page 19 January 22, 1997