01 REGULAR MINUTES - Laserfiche WebLink

views. She felt if opponents succeed, Pleasanton will lose its biggest park. If the initiative fails, opponents will enjoy an even bigger park. Tim Belcher said he learned a lot about the Callippe butterfly, presented Figure 17 on page 106 from the Draft EIR and identified a specific plant which was crucial to the Callippe life cycle. He talked to the first author's report about the Callippe butterfly who said the plant species was very difficult to grow and very improbable to grow in a mitigation attempt. He said Lot 51 obliterates the vast majority of the hard to grow plant as well as a main road that runs through the property where the plant also exists. He requested that 1) the Entomologist is approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife; 2) requested no grading or grading permit is granted until the study is completed as the butterfly does not fly until mid-May through July; and 3) to include in the EIR with Alternative 4 mapped over it, which would help future people who would have to implement the EIR. Councilmember Sullivan asked staff to explain the permitting and inspection process by US Fish and Wildlife Service. Mr. Iserson said the EIR contains a mitigation measure that requires a mitigation plan be developed for the Silver Spot Callippe Butterfly and other potential endangered species on the site. The City would have to retain a qualified biologist to go to the site, inspect it as far as the presence of the host plant species. There would also be a requirement that an entomologist go out to the site and try to find and verify whether the species does exist. There has been discussion and disagreement as to whether or not the species is out there and this would need final determination, which would be done under the auspices of US Fish and Wildlife Services. They would also need to provide a permit to the City prior to any final map, grading or construction being done on the site. He said other endangered species are subject to additional studies and determination as to pinpointing their habitat area, which is normal and specified under CEQA law. Councilmember Sullivan confirmed with Mr. Iserson that the US Fish and Wildlife Service instructed the City that additional mitigation was required in the form of purchasing the additional open space to provide for habitat. Bob Grove said the Oak Grove development is a balance and atrade-off; it involves the construction of 50+ large homes but also hundreds of acres of parkland. He believes the Council and a majority of the Planning Commission feel it is a fair trade-off, so he questioned why the Planning Commission turned it down. He asked the Council to ask itself not whether this is a reasonable balance but if this is the best plan they can come up with for the project. If sent back to the Planning Commission, development of it will not go away and developers will come back with a more adequate plan and felt very strongly that it could be made better. Allen Roberts said he is a trail advocate, hikes 15-20 miles a week, is very much in favor of open space and trails and felt whether or not the compromise is a good one. He presented an overhead about fire safety mitigation in the EIR, said the project needs to have fire sprinklers in all homes, as this is a high fire danger wild land area, many issues such as defensible and non- combustible spaces between homes and trees/shrubs that are two times the height. Each home must have an acre of free space around it without plants or trees if they are 30 feet high. Therefore, 50 acres of oaks will need to be clear-cut. He reminded the Council that all of the proposed tree screening for the plan is not allowed, given what is in the EIR. He said he sent the view from Grey Eagle so the Council could see the homes on the ridgeline that show trees behind them, which is not allowed. He said the plan allows for three story high homes and he presented the view of homes three-stories tall with trees removed behind which will be seen from Pleasanton. He presented pictures of two homes in Oakland; one two-story home about 9,000 square feet and one 12,000 square feet, which will simulate what the new homes will look City Council Minutes 7 November 6, 2007