RES 91013 - Laserfiche WebLink

Impacts on Pleasanton Despite the overall soundness of the Plan, several components bear scrutiny, especially as they affect development and preservation of land in Pleasanton. It should be noted that the only areas which are located within Pleasanton~s Sphere-of- Influence are the 350 acre Gateway Area, a 590 acre portion of the Ruby Hill project, and about 100 acres north of Vineyard Avenue, directly across from Ruby Hill, that is generally considered quarry land. These three areas are affected by four of the land use categories defined in the plan: gateway, cultivable, conditionally developable, and non-developable. Gateway: The Pleasanton Gateway includes 350 acres between the existing City limits and the western edge of the Ruby Hill project, as shown on the attached map. Staff estimates that about 200 of the 350 acres within the Gateway are non-developable due to steep slopes or the presence of sand and gravel deposits. An additional 70 acres is considered cultivable lands. The Plan does not determine whether cultivable land within the Gateway is developable or not. Staff believes that the Plan should be modified to indicate that cultivable land within Gateways generally should not be developed, subject to the outcome of site specific studies. Under the Concept Plan, the remaining 80 acres could be used for residential use, conditioned on City site, design, and service requirements. The Plan is silent on the question of whether cultivable lands can be developed within the gateways. The City~s General Plan currently designates the Gateway area as Public Health & Safety, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation, and Rural Density Residential. The current holding capacity of the Gateway is thus only a few units. The Concept Plan would increase the potential holding capacity to a range of about 80 to 320 units, depending on City review, with the potential for another 280 units on cultivable land. Although this number of units probably can be accommodated by upgrading planned infrastructure improvements, the City may wish to allow more flexibility and the possibility of extending improvements to other parts of the City e.g. South Pleasanton or West Pleasanton. Also, setting a minimum density (1 unit per acre) tends to raise owner expectations in the area and inflate the value of the land. Such a minimum density also closes off the City~s options should site specific studies indicate the need for reserving agricultural, open space or park acreage in the area, as currently designated on the General Plan. Therefore, staff believes that the Pleasanton Gateway should be redesignated in the Plan to allow either Agricultural or Residential use and that the density range should be revised to allow 0 to 4 units per acre, subject to a General Plan Study of the Vineyard Corridor, as called for by the Planning Commission. SR:91:30 -6-