PC 01/23/1991 - Laserfiche WebLink

P\I)-90.17. Sulwest Horizon - St.ncrest TOIriI~ Devel---t Appl iCBtion for Pl..-ned Unit Devel~t rezoning to rezone approxi_tely 2.3 acres of land fr~ the Agriculture District to the Pm (Pl.-..d Unit Devel~) - High Derwity Residential District and devel~t pi.. _ov.1 for the construction of 27 t...-story tlllril-. located .t gener.lly east of the Old Sant. Rit. Road street intersection. Appl ication continued to February 13, 1991. PIIl-80-01-1MIII'-90-69. Pleas..ton PI.YhOUBe Application for a _jor mdification to a Plamed Unit Devel~t plan 8A)f"OV8l to extend the specific hours of operation and application for a conditional use penlit to operate an llCIIIinistrative office and rehearsal facility. to be cordJcted indoors. in the existirw buildirw located at 3942 Valley (Suite L) Avenue. Zonil1ll for the pr_rty is PIll (Plamed lkIit llevel~t) - l.....tri.1 District. Application withdrawn from consideration. P\I)-90-18. Bonde Ranch/Shaoell Industries of Northern california The Dr.ft Envir~t.l IlIIpIICt Report (EIR) for the proposed rezonil1ll f.... A (Agriculture) to PIll - LOR (Plamed lkIit Oevel~t - Low D.....ity District), Devel~ PI.. _oval, and Willi_on Act cancellation to allow construction of 149 single.f.ily residential waits on an approxi_tely 103 acre property located along the northerly and southerly sides of Ilem8l Averue, 2.250 ft. southeasterly of SUlOl Boulevard. The p.lrpo&e of this pi>>lic hearing is to encourage pi>>l ic participation and receive CORIerlts on the contents of the Draft EtR for this project. Mr. Swift stated the purpose of the hearing is to encourage public discussion on the fIR and receive comments from the public and Planning Commission. No action will be taken by the Commission on this project tonight. THE PUBLIC HEARING ~S OPENED. Donald Temple, 6409 Alisal, stated that he is Vice President and representative of Alisal Home Association. He said he is not speaking in opposition of the application, but has serious concerns. He felt that the fIR does not address and resolve issues previously raised in response to the NNSP and the golf course proposal; long range planning and circulation of traffic which is projected to bring 15,000 ATDs to the intersection of Sunol Boulevard and Sycamore Road. They have asked that a northsouth corridor be provided to Bernal Avenue to reduce the impact of traffic and public safety. He felt if the Bonde development goes ahead as planned it will close the doors to any effective resolution to this important issue. He stated that Independence Drive cannot handle the flow of increased traffic from the Bonde and Lund projects. In addition, he said the fiR does not address environmental issues such as the impact of grading, visual impacts, endangenment to wildlife, and other issues related to the addition of a collector street to alleviate traffic. Mr. Temple said he is prepared to review alternatives at any time. He felt the project may have adverse impact on density, but could possibly be mitigated in some way. He stressed that much more investigation is necessary before anything is approved. Slaise Lofland, 1039 Nelson Court, stated he agreed with the previous comments and felt that much more long range planning should be done. He said it is very important to look at major arteries that would take traffic off side streets. He said it seems as though the City is in too much of a hurry to push the project through and feels it is premature to design any other streets. He was opposed to any move to cancel the Williamson Act (an agricultural contract on the Sonde Ranch) as the Act is supposed to be in effect until 1999 and was an exchange for property tax breaks. He thought it would be most prudent to wait and see how development of neighboring properties might affect that area in the course of traffic impact. Mr. Lofland felt the Bonde Ranch is a beautiful piece of property and should be left undeveloped (much applause). He said that people in the Ventana Hills, Pleasant Hills, Mission Parks and all those who drive down Bernal Avenue can enjoy the view of the Ranch. He felt that the natural beauty should be left for all to enjoy. Mr. Lofland stated he has read the fiR completely and feels significant impacts were brought out. He felt that extensive grading would have to be done which could add further drainage problems; he thought there was a discrepancy of 250 AOTs between parts of the fiR and felt this should be resolved. He thought that traffic concerns should be carefully addressed and that development would create more traffic concerns for Bernal Avenue. He felt the fiR did not SUfficiently address the visual impacts: 40-50% of the native vegetation would be destroyed; there are 47 trees on the property with all but four being considered Heritage trees; 28 of those would be removed. He felt a soundwall would be necessary and also would create a negative visual impact. Mr. Lofland noted that the fiR says there are several landslide deposits on the site and feels this needs extensive investigation. He stated that some areas of Ventana Hills have already experienced extensive water problems from water drainage which has been ascertained to come from the Bonde Ranch area. He felt that further grading would severely magnify that problem. In addition, with the last four years of drought, no one really knows how bad the water problem could be. He concluded that with all the aforementioned problems this was not a logical place to develop for housing. MINUTES PLANNING aMllSSIOll ~AllUARY 23. 1991 PAGE 5 II -