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Mayor Hosterman thanked everyone for all their time and hard work and noted this has <br />been a lengthy process and noted that those who are most impacted are those with <br />development proposals on hold pending completion of the General Plan update. In <br />addition she indicated it has taken a lot of staff time. This is the most important General <br />Plan update this city has had and it is important to take as much time as necessary to <br />get the job done right. <br />Councilmember Cook-Kallio supported the modeling of Stoneridge now to get more <br />data. She also supports the modeling of the TOD development for the same reasons as <br />expressed by other Commissioners. She noted her mixed feelings regarding the <br />gateways as she did not want to inhibit entrances to the freeway and she did not like the <br />idea of taking out any landscaping. <br />Councilmember McGovern indicated she would like Stoneridge modeled soon and <br />agreed with Commissioners Fox and Blank about getting a range of data. She believed <br />traffic assumptions were based on averages and did not provide the broad spectrum of <br />what is high or low. She expressed deep concerns about the transit-oriented <br />development as she is uncertain it would bring the level of affordability the city needs. <br />She noted it is right next to the most congested part of the city and even if 40% of the <br />residents take BART, it still added traffic to congested areas. She indicated she may <br />consider a TOD development of 350-400 units. She noted her concern and confusion <br />about constrained gateways. She agreed with limiting the number of cars getting onto <br />Vineyard Avenue and believed she would have to consider each area on a case-by-case <br />basis to see what the impacts would be. <br />Councilmember Thorne believed by constraining the gateways into the city, it was <br />constraining Pleasanton residents from getting home from work. However, he believed <br />there should be a constrained gateway policy in the General Plan. He pointed out that <br />by reducing the number of people getting onto a freeway, it also reduces the number of <br />people who get off and try to get back on at another point. He said he first asked for a <br />traffic model of the Stoneridge Drive extension four years ago and since that time the <br />community has become more polarized on the issue. He thought part of that <br />polarization is because the data has not been gathered and no decision has been made. <br />He supported doing the models with and without the extension as soon as possible in <br />order to make a decision to stop the division of neighborhoods in the city. He agreed <br />with validating the models. He wants to check the performance of the models and have <br />the flexibility to act if it is not working. He supports modeling the transit-oriented <br />development but was uncertain whether he could support over 1,200 units in one place. <br />He further indicated when the models were done he wanted to make certain the issues <br />regarding Busch Road were included. <br />Councilmember Sullivan indicated he supported the constrained gateway policy. He <br />acknowledged the negative impact for local residents trying to get onto the freeway, but <br />believed the concept was trying to keep freeway traffic on the freeway and not on city <br />streets. He noted even though it is hard getting on the freeway, the benefit is the <br />freeway continues to move more free flowing, which encourages people to stay on the <br />freeway. He suggested relaxing the level of service standards at those gateways in <br />order to enact the policy. He agreed landscaping is an issue, but felt it was secondary to <br />the function of what is trying to be accomplished. He supports doing the modeling now <br />and noted the Mayor, Commissioner Fox and himself were the only ones that were on <br />the Council or Commission when the process started. He stated there have been <br />City Council Minutes 14 January 30, 2007 <br />Joint Workshop <br />