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working relationship with BART. He noted that they had heard many comments regarding the <br />desired "look" of Pleasanton. He displayed a PowerPoint presentation describing the <br />landscaping and emergency vehicle access (EVA). He noted that this was a gateway prof ect for <br />Pleasanton and that it was important to make an impact statement to the BART patrons. <br />Therefore, they increased the EVA access width over the existing access at the BART garage. <br />He noted that Windstar was very conscious of the City's Green Building Ordinance requirements <br />and had exceeded the minimum 50 points that are required. He added that they were currently in <br />the mid-70s in LEED points and that they intended to increase that number substantially as the <br />design was finalized. <br />Mr. Heffner noted that they increased the affordability on this prof ect from the City's mandated <br />15 percent to 20 percent for 50 percent of the AMI, very low income wage earners. He noted <br />that this prof ect held a 95-year ground lease with BART, with 93 years remaining. He stated that <br />all the units would remain as rental units throughout the term of the lease and would not be <br />converted to condominiums. He added that they intended to provide office space for both the <br />Pleasanton Police Department and BART Police Department on the promenade, which would <br />add security for the residents as well as for the BART patrons. He indicated that the BART <br />police would parkin its own parking garage, and the Pleasanton police were free to park <br />wherever they wished. <br />Mr. Heffner advised that they had received a letter of intent from the grocer for the space, <br />although he was not at liberty to divulge the identity of the grocer. He noted that it was a <br />well-known name and that this prof ect fit its urban concept. He added that they were extremely <br />excited to put the deal together with the grocer. He noted that this was apublic/private <br />partnership as a TOD project. He noted that he believed that a TOD project would be timely and <br />that it was even more important as gas pushed through the $4.00-per-gallon level. He noted that <br />they had provided parking spaces above and beyond the ratio recommended by the parking <br />study. He added that while they recognized that the automobile was heavily used in California, <br />he believed a good quality of life could be attained in the TOD without the use of the <br />automobile. <br />Mr. Heffner did not know whether CalTrans would ever take the space behind the project and <br />that although he did not anticipate it, they could do it. He noted that if there was demand for the <br />flyover space in 20 to 25 years, the gas price level may be much higher. He believed that public <br />transit would become more heavily used by that time. He stated that he hoped that people would <br />be able to live by the green principles that they supported and that by that time, many cars would <br />be removed from the road and that there would be less carbon dioxide in the air. He noted that <br />this prof ect was sustainable not only by using green building standards, use of mass transit, but <br />also by the fact that 20 percent of the residents would not need an automobile if they had a j ob in <br />San Francisco as they would be able to take BART to San Francisco and back. He stated that the <br />time had come for a premier TOD project. He noted that having a BART station less than <br />150 feet away from the development was an important aspect of the project. <br />Commissioner Pearce stated that she would like to speak to a consultant about the tot lot and <br />inquired who the appropriate person might be. Mr. Heffner replied that the prof ect landscape <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, April 23, 2008 Page 15 of 28 <br />