Publication Date: Friday, March 19, 2004

City identifies more sites for housing development

Although much of the talk at City Hall and among developers lately has focused on Pleasanton nearing build out of available residential sites, the city's Planning Director Brian Swift said several thousand more housing units may be required to meet "regional housing needs" identified by the state and the Association of Bay Area Government (ABAG).

The Housing Element adopted by the City Council a year ago acknowledged ABAG's growth target of 5,059 units that needed to be constructed between 1999 and 2006, with 48 percent of those to be made available to very-low-income, low-income and moderate-income households - generally those households with incomes under $60,000. Swift estimated that if all currently planned residential development projects are approved, that would leave up to 1,700 additional units for construction under the city's 29,000 housing unit cap, which was mandated by voters in 1996.

He also clustered potential sites for these affordable units into five general locations: the East Area, Hacienda Business Park, South Bay Bernal Property Site, North Pleasanton Hacienda Park Intensification and Miscellaneous Infill Sites. These locations could provide builders with new opportunities in Pleasanton and at locations that could be less objectionable for current homeowners.

East Area - These potential sites include the Staples Ranch, Hanson and Kiewit properties that are either undeveloped or contain industrial uses. Development in these areas, Swift pointed out, would be dependent on major street connections involving Busch Road, Stoneridge Drive and El Charro Road.

Although Staples Ranch comprises about 100 acres, only 35 acres would be available for housing along the eastern edge of existing homes. The rest of the property is in the Livermore Airport protection zone, since it lies directly in the flight path of jets and light aircraft takeoffs. Two quarry sites that have been or will be filled as Hanson closes down gravel mining near El Charro and Stanley Boulevard contain 60 acres of developable land at the east end of Mohr Avenue and another 35 acres at the east end of Busch Road. The 32-acre Kiewit site at Busch Road and Valley Avenue could hold up to 600 housing units, although Kiewit owns the land and has no plans to close down its operations here.

Hacienda Business Park - Swift has identified about 65 acres in Hacienda Business Park where property owners want to rezone vacant land they bought in anticipation of commercial development which they no longer need, or want to tear down vacant buildings to redevelop with housing. Both the Planning Commission and City Council will hold a joint workshop late this spring or early summer to consider these sites, which could accommodate all of the 1,700 units required to satisfy ABAG and the state.

South Bay Bernal Property Site - South Bay Construction has announced that it no longer intends to build 750,00-square-feet of office buildings on the site it owns between Valley Avenue and I-680, west of the already-developed Bernal property homes and apartments. It has proposed that the city rezone this property for residential units and has said it has developers interested in handling the project. Some members of the Planning Commission have indicated they will object to changing the land use designation.

Miscellaneous Infill Site - These include smaller properties that could be developed or redeveloped with housing. Most controversial among these is the 5-acre Vintage Hills Shopping Center and another 5-acre site at St. Augustine Catholic Church. A developer has proposed tearing down the nearly-deserted shopping center and replacing it with 148 low-income apartments and owner-occupied upscale town homes. Along with the proposal, there has been an indication the developer might include ground-level retail units as well. At St. Augustine, proponents of a 110-unit assisted living and skilled nursing center on vacant land next to the church failed in their effort to gain Planning Commission approval of the project. Since then, there has been no request to rehear the request or to downsize the project in accordance with planners' suggestions.