(PLEASANTON, CA.) – Pleasanton’s planning commission met on Jun. 24 for a lengthy discussion regarding a residential project potentially coming to East Pleasanton. The 29.9-acre plot of land for the project is located north of Busch Road and immediately east of the city’s public works department.
Associate Planner Jenny Soo provided this basic information, as well as other project details, its history, and city staff’s recommendation in a brief presentation.
According to Soo, the project has been around since at least August of 2022. Since then, it has gained the approval of the county and has passed through Pleasanton’s city council.
Though it has already been to their city council, the council requires a recommendation from the planning commission before making a final decision.
The project features 189 single-family residences. 159 of these will be two stories tall, with the remaining 30 one story tall. Within these units will be 48 optional junior accessory dwelling units (JADU).
San Ramon, CA., is also considering implementing a new residential project with affordable apartment rentals.
Photo Credit: YouTube / City of Pleasanton Public Meetings
The white rectangle pictured above is a park that will be accessible to all residents of Pleasanton.
Other outdoor details include sidewalks, the extension of existing trails, street lights, and three different designs for the houses.
The planning commission met to decide whether to pass this project according to the following terms:
Developer completes off-site public improvements
Developer contributes $3M dollars to El Charro Road Extension
The project’s term is ten years, no extensions included
The full list of terms can be viewed in the image below.
Photo Credit: YouTube / City of Pleasanton Public Meetings
City staff’s recommendation was to approve the project and its conditions.
Chair Brandon Pace engaged in dialogue with Traffic Engineer Mike Tasno, inquiring how this project would impact the city’s existing roads.
Tasano responded by referring to two other, bigger projects that would also impact the city’s roads. These, he explained, would cause the Santa Rita Valley intersection to fail. In order to mitigate this, the extension El Charro would be necessary. When considering this project specifically, the need for El Charro would be only slightly increased, but enough so that it is absolutely necessary when paired with the other projects.
Commissioner Dave Jagoe began his questions by inquiring about the role the planning commission or department had in the review of this project, if any.
According to city staff, the project was submitted through the county. By the time it came to the city, things like the design and lot count were already decided. Despite this, the city worked closely with the applicant to adjust what they could to improve the project.
The planning commission was still free to offer its opinions on the site plans.
Commissioner Ken Morgan ended up having a number of these. Morgan stated that with the increased traffic this project will bring, the existing project meant to expand El Charro Road is very important. Due to this, he called for an increase of the developer’s $3M contribution to the road to an $8M contribution instead.
“[If we accept less], we fail, and this sets the precedent for other projects. If the applicant is willing to contribute the $8 million, then we can assume future projects will do the same.”
Photo Credit: YouTube / City of Pleasanton Public Meetings
Jagoe had an issue with this stance, arguing that if the city denies the project in search of a larger contribution, the developer can simply build it outside of city limits under the county.
If that happened, Pleasanton would receive no money at all from the deal.
Commissioner Samantha Wedge was not phased by this argument and asserted her agreement with Jagoe.
City staff provided insight into this matter by stating that accepting less El Charro money from this developer would not set a precedent for future projects.
“This is really about the consideration of the broader development of East Pleasanton, particularly the next project, which will be significantly larger. [We shouldn’t lose this] opportunity by placing too high of a financial hurdle for this project such that it would preclude future projects from also developing in Pleasanton.”
They continued to explain that requiring an $8M contribution to the road is a drastic difference from the zero dollars the developer would have to pay if they chose to move forward under the county instead.
After further back-and-forth, the council unanimously passed the project and its conditions, except for the proposed $3M contribution toward El Charro Road.
A separate motion was passed three votes to one, which would bump that number up to $8M instead.
To add or correct any information in this report, please contact me at madison.v@lead4earth.org.
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