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that should be provided is the restoration of the arroyo as a recreational and wild life habitat. <br />He supported formation of a committee to draft a specific plan for the area and if a plan came <br />forward starting at the low end of units, that provided for restoration of the arroyo, he could <br />support it. However, he did not think that could happen in the near future. He felt it will be <br />impossible to restore the arroyo within the next ten years because of the quarry operations and <br />it is too early to develop this area. He felt the Steering Committee recommendations were good <br />and provided a starting point for discussions on what can develop in this area, bearing in mind <br />that the Steering Committee and General Plan process has already recommended approval of <br />more than adequate in-fill areas (with lower infrastructure costs) that will accommodate all the <br />reasonable amount of medium density residential development anticipated during the life of this <br />General Plan, ten years. There is no housing need in Pleasanton at this time to develop the <br />Vineyard Corridor. He believes the General Plan is acceptable and has undergone hundreds of <br />hours of review and testimony. For someone to accuse Council of ramming the Plan through <br />is a joke and an insult to the members of the committee. He urged Council to adopt the General <br />Plan with a couple of modifications. He wanted the West Las Positas interchange removed from <br />the General Plan. He supported voting on key issues of the Plan and believed the voters are <br />capable of making informed choices. He disagreed that the voters would be swayed by spending <br />a lot money on an election and cited the Kottinger Hills referendum as an example. <br /> <br /> Mike Demas, 969 Sycamore Road, presented colored maps of the Happy Valley area to <br />Council and displayed a transparency demonstrating lot sizes. He referred to the proposal for <br />a two acre average density in the area. He did not like the proposal because it allowed more <br />density in some areas and less in others. He wanted the area kept as a rural community without <br />having dense populations in some parts of it. He mentioned the petition signed by 60-70 % of <br />the residents who opposed the two acre parcel. He referred to the map showing the sizes of <br />existing lots and stated that 57% of the area is already less than two acres and he did not know <br />where the idea of a two acre minimum came from. It seems that a few people who own small <br />lots are trying to say what the large landowners can do with their property. One point raised <br />was that people want the area rural and to be able to keep horses. He said this is not really a <br />good area for horses. The large parcels are privately owned and permission must be given to <br />ride on the land. You see a lot of people riding along the streets. What is really needed is some <br />kind of equestrian trail or other area. These people can buy the land for that kind of enterprise <br />if they want. There is also a desire of the community to preserve the scenic view of the <br />mountains. As the land is currently designated, a house can be put on every five acres and with <br />the proposed plan, the area will be built up anyway. He felt keeping the area as scenic <br />undeveloped land will not happen. It would be better to have one home per acre than to allow <br />heavy density along the roadways. That will block the view of people already living in the <br />Happy Valley loop. He referred to a letter from Bill Tooracy, who opposed one home per two <br />acres or a general density of the same because it allows too much building in small areas. <br /> <br /> Roger Smith, 6344 Alisal Street, supported approving the General Plan as it is currently <br />written with a specific study of the Happy Valley area. He replied to the comments of Mr. <br />Demas and indicated there are about 45 homes represented on the petition. There are 215 homes <br />in the Happy Valley loop and 130 are represented by the Alisal Improvement Club. He strongly <br /> <br />08/06/96 - 11 - <br /> <br /> <br />