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Stoneridge Drive, they feel the sound walls do not work, they cannot leave their windows <br />open, smell exhaust from vehicles, dust is sooty and gray, homes vibrate with big trucks, <br />the volume of traffic is grossly understated, traffic mitigations never happened or took too <br />long and are not effective. She presented a list of “should’s”; the City should have never <br />allowed so many homes to be built on Stoneridge Drive, should have allowed for two <br />additional lanes with the frontage road and effective sound walls, developers should have <br />disclosed the truth to buyers, previous city planners should have provided reality to those <br />seeking the truth, previous city planners should not have refused those of us who <br />specifically asked to review the General Plan and Stoneridge Drive Specific Plan, telling us <br />instead there was nothing in them because nothing was planned, and all traffic Triangle <br />committee members should have acted with integrity and kept State Route 84 <br />improvements in the priority list. She questioned how one could make 6 lanes from 4 <br />without negative land trade-off’s, wanted to know if bike lanes would be deleted, would <br />road medians be deleted, would landscaping buffers or sidewalks be deleted, or would <br />eminent domain be used even though this has been denied. She wants Pleasanton traffic <br />to be better, wants traffic problems managed, wants the Valley Avenue problems solved, <br />does not believe Stoneridge Drive is the answer and believes regional traffic problems <br />require regional solutions. <br /> <br />John Carroll supported removal of the Stoneridge extension from the plan if possible. If not <br />possible, he wanted to see some conditions made. He believes the traffic report should <br />have either an addendum or summary re-write so that the differences of opinion between <br />the two different groups is addressed, felt key details are buried deep and are hard for <br />people to find. The text form did not include the information about the other streets and he <br />encouraged the Council to have something done so they can at least be on the same page <br />and not have to draw from two different diverse areas. Secondly, he felt the Staples Ranch <br />MOU provides for a permanent right-of-way and he disagreed with Mr. Bouschard’s <br />statement that he believes it never can be built. He agreed with Otis Nordstrom on the <br />deposit; the County of Alameda should deposit $3.5 to $7 million in an escrow account <br />and he felt this was the bare minimum condition that the City needs to have in place <br />before discussions on extending Stoneridge are even considered. Lastly, he did not see a <br />referendum or an initiative as a threat but as a promise. <br /> <br />Council took a five minute break. The meeting reconvened with all Councilmembers <br />present. <br /> <br />Shellie Gianotti discussed comments from former Mayor Tom Pico who could not attend <br />the meeting, and asked her to read them into the record. She said Tom believes that <br />Stoneridge Drive is the last piece of valuable leverage that the City has with regard to <br />regional transportation improvements and that the extension should stay in the General <br />Plan but only with specific conditions tied to regional traffic improvements. He believes that <br />without such conditions, the item would be the subject of a referendum which he would <br />support. She said Tom recognizes that the extension is a divisive issue in the community. <br />In the past, with issues the Council anticipated it would be subject to a referendum such as <br />the 1996 general plan update, the Council chose to take action on the issue, and then <br />placed the issue on the ballot asking the voters to ratify its decision. The Council thought it <br />was reasonable and responsible to ask the residents to weigh in on the Council’s decision <br />and Tom believes it would be appropriate to do that in this situation. <br /> <br />Anne Fox read a letter into the record, “On December 17, 1985, the City Council adopted <br />resolution 85-588 modifying the 1984 General Plan and deeming Stoneridge Drive as a <br /> <br />City Council Minutes 12 May 1, 2007 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />