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- Policy 28: To work closely with all agencies responsible for making decisions which affect the air quality of the Amador-Livermore Valley to ensure that solutions are found which would improve the air quality of the valley. While the major solutions to the air quality problem must be regional or technological in nature, Pleasanton can take steps to improve its air quality. Air quality is directly related to the number of vehicle miles travelled. Steps taken to reduce the use of vehicles or to reduce the length of trips reduce the .emissions of the precursors of oxidant and, thus, reduce the amount of oxidant which may be formed. Sound planning at the local level can place residential dwellings close enough to shopping and mass transit routes to reduce vehicle trip length and encourage the use of alternative, non-vehicular modes of travel. Policy 29: To encourage development in locations convenient to shopping and mass transit and to encourage the pro- vision of features in residential development which facilitate non-vehicular transportation means. Agricultural Land - Far more land is planned for ultimate residential use than will be developed in the next five, ten, or fifteen years. Much of this land is excellent agricultural land which has been made tenuously profitable, if at all, by the developmental pressures placed upon it and the resultant tax increases. Still, the larger tracts of agricultural land are being used to produce crops, typically through lease arrangements which do not bring the landowner enough revenue _ to cover the taxes. The harsh fact is that most of the planned :resi- dential land will not develop for many years; thus, either the agri- culturally usable land will be developed while the non-agriculturally usable vacant areas of the city sit empty for. up to twenty years, or the unproductive areas will develop while the agriculturally Ras able land continues to produce crops if not profits. There is little to choose from a logical developmental standpoint between the two glasses of lands - all those areas within the Urbanization Line can be about equally well accommodated with public facilities. In some cases, development of agriculturally usable lands caould be "beneficial" from a capital improvement viewpoint; in others, it would not be especially beneficial. The choice of whether to develop such land is up to the landowner. Tax relief through use of the 6illiamson Act Land Preserve mechanism. is possible., but it imposes a penalty in the form of man, dating a postponement of possible development. The 13ndocaner is in the best position to judge whether to opt for deferring development. For those wishing to defer development to the later years of the 20 year planning period, the Williamson Act should be made a possible option. Policy 30: To adopt Williamson Act procedures and enter Land Preserve contracts with those landowners wishing to enter such contracts. -19-