CCMIN011706 - Laserfiche WebLink

Mr. Sullivan believed the project blended in with the area and the density was appropriate. He was comfortable with the density transfer issue. He believed the applicant did his best in his attempts to work with the neighbors to resolve all of the issues, although it appeared one significant neighbor believed its issues have not been resolved. He was uncertain the parties were the best ones to have been a part of the discussion process and he believed more work needed to be done before he was comfortable in approving this project. Because the Jones family had owned this property for many years, he believed their issues should clearly and fairly be addressed. He proposed Council refer the matter to staff to facilitate discussions with the applicant and the Jones family to identify and negotiate the issues. He asked staff if the process of facilitated discussions between the applicant and the Jones family had been satisfactorily conducted. Mr. Fialho deferred the matter of the facilitated process to Donna Decker, Principal Planner, who led the project through the planning process and asked her to summarize the process and the staff resources that were used. Donna Decker, Principal Planner, stated that when it was brought to staff's attention that the sons of Mr. Ernie Jones, Sr. had additional concerns regarding the project, staff was requested to initiate and willingly participated in a facilitated process to bring both sides together and address the concerns of Mr. Jones' sons. She noted that Mr. Jansen willingly met with Mr. Jones' sons. The issues raised included the conditions of approval as well as language in the agreement. She noted that the process took several weeks, during which time staff worked with both parties regarding what would make the Jones family feel more comfortable with respect to the terms of the agreement or any other item. At that time, staff believed it had almost reached consensus between the two parties. She noted the language contained in the agreement was memorialized by the applicant and forwarded to the Jones family. Communications broke down, however, and both parties hired attorneys to represent their interests. Staff was then asked not to participate further in the discussions, although staff did offer City facilities as a neutral ground for the parties to continue their discussions. From that point forward, negotiations were handled by Mr. Peter MacDonald, attorney for Mr. Jansen, and the Jones family's attorney. Because the parties failed to reach an agreement, staff was requested to participate in the process once more. Staff, however, declined and indicated that the lawyers should continue the negotiations without staff, and staff reiterated its offer of the City's facilities as a neutral place to hold their meetings. If Council decided to have staff proceed with facilitated discussions between the applicant and the Jones family, Mr. Fialho suggested that it set a specified time limit for those discussions. From staff's summary, Mr. Sullivan believed staff was making progress and then subsequently staff was removed from the process. From that point forward, staff is not aware of what has occurred. Ms. Decker said that was correct. Mr. Sullivan proposed that staff be given an opportunity to complete the facilitated discussions. He concurred with staff's suggestion to place a specified time limit on the facilitated discussions. Pleasanton City Council Minutes 14 01/17/06