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BACKGROUND At its June 26, 2008 special meeting, a majority of the City Council directed staff to prepare aCity-sponsored initiative measure for the November 4, 2008 ballot for the protection of scenic hillsides and critical ridgelines, as well as clarify growth management determinations based on existing Council policy and practice. This initiative measure is to be an alternative to the Save Pleasanton's Hills & Housing Cap initiative, which will appear on the same ballot. DISCUSSION Council's direction at its June 26t" meeting was to draft an initiative measure which would generally: / Define a collaborative and public process to identify critical ridgelines and scenic hillsides, and possibly establish elevations, where development would not occur, based on engineering considerations, view lines, geotechnical information, environmental impact analysis, etc. / Focus particularly on the Southeast Hills / Reaffirm General Plan Policy 5.1': "Develop a ridgeline protection ordinance and scenic hillside guidelines to improve safety and reduce the potential negative visual impacts of development in hilly areas." / Set a specific time frame in which the development of such an ordinance would occur / Clarify the existing City process to count housing units under the growth management cap, including a possible formula based on impacts / Make such City-sponsored initiative measure an alternative to the Save Pleasanton's Hills & Housing Cap initiative The attached full text clarifies the collaborative and public process for the development of the hillside and ridgelines protection ordinance /design guidelines (Section 2. B), including the November 2009 deadline (Section 2.B.b. and Section 4), as well as the policy clarifying growth management determinations about how housing units count towards the housing cap (Section 3); as well as General Plan policies which are being reaffirmed and readopted (Sections 2.C, D, and E. and Section 3). The alternative nature of the initiative measure is set forth in Section 5.B. of the proposed text, where voters are advised that if this initiative measure receives more votes that the Save Pleasanton's Hills & Housing Cap initiative, the former prevails, and the latter is void in its entirety. ' In the Open Space and Conservation Element of the General Plan, Goal 1, Policy 5.1. Page 2 of 5