01 8-27-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

He also said one of the things the PUD process allows them to do is to handle the different demands of their diversity of stakeholders, he said they do not see any difference in terms of public process in terms of what they are willing to go through and said they will fully engage the public once they have something to show and lay out. The issues have to do with whether the mixed use is on one site or between sites, which is very important. There will be places in Hacienda where there will be very specific uses and some with mixed uses on a single site. He said the purpose of the planning is to determine where those go and how they work. He said everything in Hacienda has the potential to be transit-oriented. They now have a shuttle that leaves the BART station, it goes to CarrAmerica in five minutes, they have hundreds of people utilizing the shuttle free of charge, and those are the types of functional relationships they want to examine in the plan and work even better than they do today. He emphasized they are not looking for any approvals today, but rather direction in order to start the community process. David Gold, Morrison & Forrester, land use attorney, said he has been working with the team and owners of the CarrAmerica Corporate Campus for years, described the campus as under- utilized, referred to his letter which was contained in the staff report relaying the fact that since Hacienda is substantially built-out, there may be no need for a specific plan since remaining issues can be addressed through the PUD process, that the draft General Plan update provides a vision for mixed use, sustainable projects at Hacienda which they support, and that the number of residential units proposed is now substantially less than when the idea of a spec plan was first conceived. He focused on the point that from a legal and planning standpoint, they agree that a PUD modification can accomplish everything the City could want a specific plan to address. Also, they believe it is a better fit for Hacienda. Hacienda has more than adequate infrastructure and financing and the PUD design guidelines have worked well to reflect the City's vision. PUD's are planning mechanisms that reject conventional zoning principles and are well- suited for innovative mixed use and sustainable development. And, they believe their plans will meet or exceed the City's development vision for Hacienda and this can be accomplished through a PUD update. Chair Blank said the park has not materially changed from 2005-2008 and he asked why in 2005 did Hacienda come forward and say to the City Council they wanted to do a specific plan, while only now to say one was not needed. Mr. Gold said General Plans sit at the hierarchy of land use and until direction is given to move aggressively, it is a question, and that direction is now near and this is why it is timely for them to be before the Council. James Paxson said they were in a different situation several years ago, in 2004 they did some preliminary presentations with the idea expressed at that time was that given the update of the General Plan, all of the policy language has been established. Matt Edwards of Equity Office Properties, introduced Steve George, owner; Marty Interbitren of the Terra Company, thanked everyone for their work over the last two years in shaping the proposal, and he introduced Doug Dahlin. Doug Dahlin, President of Dahlin Group, presented a PowerPoint presentation, stating their office was re-located next to BART in the park and enjoy being in Pleasanton, said they just received their LEED certification, said having BART very nearby is a huge plus in recruiting employees, said they purchased some bicycles for employees, and are going through themselves in how to make their business transit-oriented. He acknowledged the need for a shuttle or bicycles to truly link the project together, reiterated Hacienda is a corporate business CC/PC Joint Workshop Minutes 9 August 27, 2008