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of City property on the Bemal site that is cost free she would recommend to the Bemal Task Force that it set aside a certain amount of acres for affordable housing. Council should take the lead and tell the Task Force that this is something the Council is interested in. She would initiate that action, but she would like discussion by the Council. She will still stay to her original decision concerning the Pedro's site because from a planning perspective, she doesn't know how it would be achievable to mm it into affordable housing. Ms. Dennis thanked everyone who came to the meeting tonight. Without people coming to the meetings to show that this is a matter that is very important to the community, it never gets weighed into the decisions of the commissions and the councils. There is an incredible amount of work for housing advocates in our immediate future as we look at redoing our housing element. She wished she had had specific input about housing when the Council had the discussion about the Pedro's property, because the recommendation that came from the Planning Commission didn't mention it and she didn't like to go off on her own with no public input whatsoever. On the other hand she would like to agendize a reconsideration of the property for the following reasons: As we are looking at our housing element, we need to look at the entire City and the Business Park is one of those areas. This site may not be the most ideal site for housing, but there are properties that we should discuss and they are all different. Some of the property, as Ms. Michelotti points out, the City owns, could be easier while others are under existing development agreements and may be more difficult to negotiate. She thought everything should be in play and that property is part of a larger area of the City that does have sites that could be used for housing if it was able to be made available somehow, even by changing the agreement. There are folks that want to come and discuss their agreements with us. It is not a bad time to discuss it. She doesn't mind reconsideration. She would like staff to look at the different barriers or advantages on how that could happen. She realized that the situation is complex and they were not really prepared to answer any of those questions, because the Planning Commission in its recommendation to the Council didn't suggest it. She doesn't mind taking the time to do it in lieu of them coming forward tonight. She would also recommend reviewing the City's housing element and she would think that this group that has come tonight to advocate for affordable housing needs to be aware of how that process is proceeding through the Commissions and up the Council. She hoped that they would attend all of the meetings to assure that we have the right balance of public input and their point of view is considered. There is a workshop coming up on the Busch Property that is being discussed. There are properties available, and she doesn't agree that the City is out of dirt. Perhaps the City needs some new plans for the dirt it has. Now is the time to discuss those plans and now is the time for everyone to have the maximum amount of input into the shaping of those plans. A special committee would actually slow the group down. After attending the meetings and wanting certain things accomplished, the Commissions and the Council could be persuaded without creating another commission. The advantages and disadvantages of having a blue ribbon committee have not been discussed. She does not mean she does not support what Ms. Michelotti is saying, but she felt the group needed to go to the Bernal Task Force and talk with them because it is better to have the input there as well as to the Council. She could not be more pleased that this group of people is present. Pleasanton City Council 13 04/17/01 Minutes