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The Pleasanton City Council will be considering bringing back a property it had previously removed from its 2023-31 Housing Element site list during Tuesday’s council meeting after city staff received a notice that the Kaiser property near Stoneridge Mall doesn’t want to develop housing on its land anymore.
The council had previously signed off on its sixth Housing Element document during a special meeting on Jan. 26 after making modifications to the list of sites, which started as a list of 24 potential locations for redevelopment that had been cut down to 19 sites.
In order to accommodate Pleasanton’s state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) of 5,965 new units — 2,758 of which are targeted toward lower-income households — the city was supposed to get its Housing Element certified so that the sites could be officially zoned for potential housing in the near future.
However, after city staff had resubmitted the Housing Element on Feb. 14 for state certification, officials from the California Department of Housing and Community Development told the city it needed to make some additional revisions in order for the document to be approved.
Since then, city staff have been working on the document and were even ready to bring it back for council approval at the June 6 meeting — but it was on that same day that staff received the notice letter from Kaiser that they did not want to let go of its property on 5600 Stoneridge Mall Road and does not want to build housing there.
“Staff notes that until receipt of the letter, it was the city’s understanding that the three-acre portion of the site designated for housing (the undeveloped area; approximately one-third of the site) remained a viable option for inclusion in the city’s Housing Element, having not received communication from Kaiser to the contrary, nor indicating any definitive plan or proposal to develop that three-acre portion to another use,” according to the staff report.
The Kaiser site, which was originally zoned for housing during the city’s fourth Housing Element cycle, had planned to house up to 182 high-density, lower-income residential units — which was supposed to give the city a surplus buffer of lower-income units in this current housing cycle.
But now that the site is no longer viable, the city’s surplus of low-income units has gone down from 189 units to 7 units.
Since the June 6 meeting, where the Housing Element discussion was continued due to the new development with Kaiser, staff are now suggesting that the council bring back the Boulder Street site in order to make up for the loss of the Kaiser site.
Located on 3400 and 3500 Boulder Street, the previously eliminated site would add 284 units from the lower income category and increase the buffer to 291 units within to meet the city’s RHNA requirements.
“This site was eliminated in the council’s prior discussion, in part based on concern that it would reduce the number of locations in Pleasanton suitable for light industrial and service commercial uses,” according to the staff report. “While this remains a factor/concern, several other commercially-zoned sites were excluded from consideration by the City Council (e.g., Rheem Drive, Sonoma Drive), leaving them available for similar service commercial uses.”
Even though staff state in the report that the “very low degree of current utilization and other site characteristics” make the Boulder Street site a viable location for housing development within the next 8 years, if HCD officials deem the site not viable another site the city could look at is the Old Santa Rita site located between 3534 and 3956 Old Santa Rita Road.
The City Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday (June 20). The full agenda can be accessed here.
In other business
* The council will be reviewing and providing comments on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreement with the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department’s newly recognized battalion chiefs union and the LPFD’s Joint Powers Authority.
On July 18, 2022, the International Association of Firefighters Local 1974, Battalion Chiefs Unit (IAFF) was formally recognized as a union representing seven LPFD battalion chiefs. Since then, the union has met with representatives from both Livermore and Pleasanton 10 times before reaching consensus on a tentative agreement to raise salaries and benefits for the next two years.
According to the staff report, the terms of the agreement — which would end June 30, 2025 — includes 3% wage increases in this year and in 2024 as well as a 1% increase in 2025.
The agreement also includes establishing salary ranges; one-time payments equal to $4,000; increasing the training premium pay from 15% to 25%; increase and expanding the Battalion Chief Coverage Stipend; allowing battalion chiefs to fill fire captain vacancies when needed; a uniform allowance; vacation accumulation and scheduling; and long term disability pay.
“The financial impact to the LPFD budget as a result of implementing the MOU is approximately $300,000 through June 2025,” according to the staff report. “This cost is shared by Livermore and Pleasanton. The portion of Pleasanton’s obligation for the term of the agreement is approximately $150,000. Funding is included in the fiscal years 2023-24 and 2024-25 General Fund budget.”
As per city practice, the council will discuss the key elements of the proposed MOU and receive public comments before voting to approve the agreement during its July 18 council meeting.
* City staff will be asking the council to waive the first reading of an ordinance that would, if approved at a later meeting, allow residents to use their e-bikes on city trails and pathways.
Currently, the city of Pleasanton’s municipal code prohibits “motorized bicycles in park and recreation facilities.”
But according to the staff report, the proposed ordinance is coming to the dais after Assembly Bill 1909, which removes the prohibition on e-bikes on trails and pathways and allows local jurisdictions to adopt their own e-bike regulations was approved in 2022.
“With a focus on safety, balanced with an acknowledgment of the existing use of e-bikes in Pleasanton, the proposed amendments would allow e-bikes on trails and pathways and in parks and recreation facilities wherever existing regular bikes are allowed,” according to the staff report. “All bikes would be subject to a 15 mph speed limit, or slower if circumstances warrant, unless the bike is on a bikeway or bicycle lane on a public street where bikes are subject to California Vehicle Code laws.”
Having been reviewed by both the Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Trails Committee (BPTC) on April 24 and the Parks and Recreation Commission on May 11, the ordinance will be part of the council’s consent calendar, which are items that are routine in nature and typically approved by a single vote.
If approved, the ordinance will still have to come back for a second reading and final vote before it is implemented.
Some concerns from the BPTC and the Parks and Recreation Commission listed in the staff report include safety concerns of allowing e-bikes on all bike paths and trails; signage to inform the public; appropriateness of setting a speed limit; and how neighboring jurisdictions are regulating e-bikes and how that might affect riders going on trails that connect those different cities.
* City Manager Gerry Beaudin will be looking for council’s authorization to apply for a grant that would help city police address both organized retail theft as well as motor vehicle and motor vehicle accessory theft within Pleasanton.
According to the staff report, staff are looking to apply for the California Board of State and Community Corrections’ Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant. The request is also part of the council’s consent calendar.
The public safety grant would “provide funding to support law enforcement services by increasing the police department’s ability to prevent and respond to organized retail theft and to motor vehicle and motor vehicle accessory theft.”
“It is anticipated the grant application will seek technology-based enhancements that promote regional information sharing and investigative tools,” according to the staff report. “Receipt of grant funds will allow the police department to develop innovative programs to prevent and more effectively respond to these crimes within the city.”
The grant could also be used to fund salaries, benefits, services, supplies, equipment, training and other indirect costs, thereby reducing the city’s general fund expenditures.
