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<br />Ms. McGovern wanted a legal review of how to set policies. She did not <br />understand how any Council could have set a level of service D at any intersection, <br />because everyone lives next to some intersection. <br /> <br />Mr. Roush acknowledged that the rules with respect to that have changed over <br />the years and staff is dealing with current regulations. He noted what past rules had <br />been. It is not always easy to give clear answers to these questions because there are <br />a lot of gray areas. <br /> <br />Ms. McGovern thought she would write the Fair Political Practices Commission <br />(FPPC) a letter about this. She wanted to be able to set policy for this community. <br /> <br />Mr. Roush said a number of small cities have this same kind of problem. A <br />number of city attorneys have asked the FPPC for a rule change to address these kinds <br />of issues with respect to small cities. <br /> <br />Ms. McGovern then referred to the assisted living units and the housing cap. <br />She asked herself why she would want to count the units on Staples as residential units. <br />Some people come to the facility because they no longer want to live in and maintain a <br />big house and yard. If one wants to reduce the number of houses on the hillside, this <br />seems like a good place to transfer density to because it has the least impact on traffic, <br />schools and other infrastructure. It also fills the needs for senior housing for existing <br />Pleasanton residents who do not qualify for affordable housing. It allows people to stay <br />in the community with their friends. She felt it was a positive idea to count the <br />residential units towards the housing cap (not the 89 assisted and 76 skilled nursing <br />units). She felt it allows building closer to the housing cap while still reducing impacts <br />on the infrastructure. She agreed with the idea of reserving units for a later time for <br />many reasons. She said the number one concern of people is the reduction of quality of <br />life in Pleasanton. If some units are held back pending review of the infrastructure, <br />economic vitality, schools, etc. then it would be possible to see how many more units <br />would fit in without harming the quality of life. One could determine if there was a need <br />for an additional type of housing to meet a quality of life issue. She wanted to make <br />certain the infrastructure keeps up with the housing and jobs. She did not want to rush <br />to build out and felt a review of growth management should be done to allow slower <br />growth rather than faster. She did not think the jobs/housing balance could ever be <br />achieved. Commerciallretail/office development should not be reduced because it is <br />vital to the economic stability of the community. She believed future housing <br />developments should include some condition to provide priority to those who live or <br />work in Pleasanton and felt that could improve the jobs/housing balance. She <br />commented that the land and number of units in a development dictate the size of <br />homes. However, she felt Council can encourage affordable units by design to provide <br />housing for young families. Pleasanton is weak in that regard. She referred to <br />increasing the density in the downtown area so more units can be built and did not think <br />that had been addressed. In her two years on Council she has heard many different <br />kinds of affordability, such as second units, affordable by design, workforce housing, <br />etc. None of them seem to count toward the ABAG goals. <br /> <br />Joint Workshop <br />City Council/Planning Commission <br /> <br />17 <br /> <br />11/29/05 <br />