A winning plan for Staples Ranch A winning plan for Staples Ranch (October 14, 2005)

After years of wrangling, we have what looks like a winning plan for developing the last large piece of vacant land in Pleasanton, the Alameda County-owned 124-acre Staples Ranch at the city's eastern edge along I-580. Long considered surplus land by the county, city officials turned down a proposal by KB Home in 1997 to build 311 homes on the site, and in 2001 blew the chance to complete a deal with IKEA home furnishings to build a 300,000-square-foot store at Staples Ranch. With Pleasanton mired in debates over extending Stoneridge Drive to El Charro Road, IKEA packed up and took its development plan and roughly $2 million in future annual sales tax revenue to the city to Dublin, which welcomed IKEA with open arms. We're still debating the Stoneridge Drive extension, but the beauty of this new plan being advanced by the county is that it doesn't matter if the street is extended or not. The Hendrick Automotive Group wants to move its existing Pleasanton auto dealerships, including Lexus, Acura, BMW, Mini, Infiniti and Volvo to a new and larger auto mall that it would develop on 36 acres adjacent to the 580-El Charro interchange, which is also being widened to four, and eventually six, lanes. As part of the county's simultaneous bid to dispose of Staples Ranch and have Pleasanton annex it, Continuing Life Communities of Carlsbad (CLC) in Southern California wants to build a 690-unit senior care facility on the western edge of the site, which would include apartments for independent living, 76 assisted/personal care units and an 89-bed skilled nursing center with 24-hour nursing care and treatment. Access to Hendrick's dealerships would be off El Charro near the interchange. CLC would be served by an extension of Stoneridge Drive into its complex with no need to connect to El Charro. In fact, CLC doesn't want Stoneridge extended to El Charro because its elderly residents try to avoid heavily-traveled streets.

Time is of the essence in these proposed deals, especially for Hendrick which is being pressured by car manufacturers to increase the size of its dealerships. Unless Pleasanton can move its proposal forward quickly, Henrick will look for other sites outside of the city, taking along its 330 employees and the $335 million in the annual taxable revenue that it generates.

This would seem like a slam-dunk deal, a large auto mall that could be expanded with more jobs and tax revenue, a senior care facility to be built, owned and managed by an award-winning developer that specializes in quality care, and, did we mention, a 17-acre public park on land the county plans to give to the city free of charge. Add to the pluses the lack of need to rush a final decision the Stoneridge Drive extension issue and there's plenty in this Staples Ranch proposal to please everyone. Still there are concerns as we heard Tuesday night, that the commission and council can't pull it off. Some want to force CLC to set aside part of its upscale senior care complex for affordable housing, although that seems hard to do when those living there pay entrance charges from $200,000 to $800,0000 along with monthly fees. They're not renters or owners, but part of a sort of membership club with dues that cover everything from meals to activities to nursing care. Others object to building out Staples Ranch to El Charro where, across that roadway, Livermore is planning a large outlet mall. Hendrick, of course, wants Staples Ranch for its freeway frontage where drivers can see the multitude of dealerships at that interchange, while several commissioners would move the auto mall behind the 17-acre park because it would look nicer to freeway travelers, making us "look like Hayward, Milpitas "or even worse." Others also fear that by fast-tracking the Staples Ranch plan, there could be further delays in updating the 1996 General Plan, a process that is already three years behind schedule.

The county's plan for an expanded auto mall and full-service senior care facility looks just too good for Pleasanton to pass up. We urge the council to act fast and not let bureaucracy muck it up again.

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