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The Dublin City Council last week unanimously approved a development agreement with GH PacVest LLC for the Dublin Fallon 580 Project, a planned subdivision of 192 acres into 11 parcels to accommodate future commercial, campus office, multi-family residential, open space, community park and nature park uses.
In doing so, the council agreed to development standards for 238 residential units and almost 3 million square feet of maximum commercial/campus office use on the nearly 200-acre site, located north of Interstate 580 to Jordan Ranch and east of Fallon Road to just beyond Croak Road.
For the project, they agreed to eliminate 2.5 acres of public/semi-public land and convert about 42.6 acres of open space to parks/public-recreation land use designation.
The city retains discretion for the whole site, since there is no proposed development. “A site development review permit is required for any future development with approval by the planning commission at a public hearing,” according to the July 16 staff report.
Proposed standards for the medium-high density residential areas include townhomes with a maximum building height of three-story and 40 feet.
Of the residences, 30 were proposed as below-market-rate units with the potential for 60% constructed on-site and 40% covered by in-lieu fees.
Commercial building height has not been determined.
As part of the agreement, Dublin-based GH PacVest will dedicate about 42.5 acres of open space to Dublin at $653,400 per acre. The city plans to redesignate this land as a parkland with hiking and walking trails to help close the gap on its parkland deficit. There is no specific timeline for the park, according to city officials.
Other plans for the site include a portion dedicated to the future Dublin Boulevard extension and grading of the area’s knolls.
Revegetation of the land would be decided as part of the permitting process.
Land redesignation requires amending the city’s General Plan, Eastern Dublin Specific Plan (EDSP) and EDSP environmental impact reports.
“The proposed project is not increasing the amount of allowable residential units or commercial square footage from what was previously identified for this area under the General Plan and Eastern Dublin Specific Plan,” according to the staff report.
During council deliberations on July 16, Councilmember Jean Josey voiced concern over impacts to morning traffic. In collaboration with staff, it was agreed that redesign of an internal street might alleviate the potential jams.Â
Upon Vice Mayor Sherry Hu’s questioning, staff shared additional community concerns such as obstruction of scenic views, construction noise and housing affordability.
Mayor Michael McCorriston also addressed transportation concerns, but from the angle of emergency situations.
One of the parcels was proposed as having two points of access, which city staff assured was normal. The other parcel was proposed as having one, given the amount of units.
Following a brief presentation by a project representative on the proposed grading, Josey suggested there may be an issue with rodents exiting to the surrounding areas. In response, the project representatives ensured fencing and was open to trapping the critters.
During public comment, the majority of eight speakers supported the project. All four guests with ties to construction unions, along with two Dublin residents, were in favor of the Dublin Fallon 580 Project.
In their comments, supporters cited a boost in local job opportunities and GH PacVest’s agreement to include apprentices in the project’s construction.
Those against the proposal expressed concerns about the egress options for the proposed housing developments, the impact on privacy in nearby neighborhoods, alterations in natural views, the plants used for revegetation and erosion of the hillside.
Following the public comment, the council followed up on the speakers’ concerns with project representatives who asserted that residential parcels cannot be moved south to improve privacy because it is already at the edge of an airport protection area, plants will be drought-tolerant and noninvasive and no structural concerns have occurred in a Dublin neighborhood with similar grading.
The council approved the proposal with amendments, including one guest parking space per unit (in addition to the two residential parking spaces per unit), rodent mitigation, no contemporary designs, changing document wording from “40% of the inclusionary units shall be satisfied via payment of in lieu fee” into “may be satisfied” and exploring the idea of right turn, exit only at Twain Harte Road.
