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The Pleasanton City Council will be discussing two future residential development projects that SteelWave LLC is proposing to build in East Pleasanton — the main focus of Tuesday night’s agenda item will be on allowing city staff to look into annexing and developing within the city’s borders.
According to the staff report, the council will vote on authorizing staff to engage with the San Mateo-based real estate developer so that staff can return by the end of the year with additional information and, if possible, the initial terms or a framework agreement for the next steps in the annexation process for the council’s consideration. The report states that this would help the city determine how to best move forward with development in east Pleasanton, which has been an issue in recent years.
“The two adjacent applications highlight an overarching concern that development in east Pleasanton appears to be occurring in a piecemeal, uncoordinated manner, and without the benefit of a comprehensive vision or strategy to manage this growth or its impacts,” according to the staff report. “Engaging the property owner to more holistically consider how the two projects will interface to most efficiently coordinate and plan for utilities and services, interface with properties within the city limits … would be of substantial benefit, absent a specific plan being in place.”
Both project sites would be located in the East Pleasanton planning area, which is a 1,100-acre area located east of Valley Avenue and Busch Road, north of Stanley Boulevard and south of Arroyo Mocho.
One of the projects aims to develop 194 detached single family homes and 49 accessory dwelling units on 26.56 acres of land which is dubbed the Arroyo Lago site. The site is located immediately east of the city’s limits on Busch Road, to the west of El Charro road.
The project has been under review by Alameda County since early 2022, according to the staff report.
The project, which would reflect a density of about 7.3 dwelling units per acre, would also include a 0.7-acre park and walking trails. The homes would be located on lots ranging from 3,000 square feet to 4,000 square feet.
According to the report, the homes would range in size from 2,541 square feet to 3,398 square feet depending on the size of the lot. All homes would have four to five bedrooms depending on the model that is selected by the homebuyer. Access to the property would be via Busch Road which is a street owned by Pleasanton, meaning the city would have to make street improvements.
The second development in question is a 61.6-acre property located directly east of the Arroyo Lago project that Steelwave LLC is looking to turn into up to 569 age-restricted (senior) housing units.
This application was submitted to the county under the builder’s remedy, which allows developers to fast track developments if jurisdictions fail to certify a compliant Housing Element. According to the staff report, the county has not updated or certified its sixth cycle Housing Element, which is why the application for this development was made possible.
Apart from related site improvements and amenities, the second project would include 357 single-family residences — detached and duet units — and 212 multi-family independent and/or assisted living units.
According to the staff report, 455 of the units would be market-rate units and 114 units would be for low-income households. The development would be mostly located west of El Charro Road with a cluster of approximately 40 single-family units on the east side of the road.
After being approached by the developer to gauge interest from the city to annex the two properties and develop them within Pleasanton, staff went to work with the developer to further analyze the two projects and work to understand what would come with annexation. That way, staff can begin discussing a framework agreement for the council’s consideration, which could lead to a future pre-annexation and development agreement.
“These two recent applications pose a series of important questions and considerations for the city, with the core question being whether the projects should ultimately be annexed and developed within the city of Pleasanton,” according to the staff report.
“While the developer has indicated its serious intent to develop, and has advanced the two applications with the presumption that they can be approved and developed in Alameda County, both staff and the developer agree that annexation could be an appropriate path or outcome — with the important caveat that appropriate terms and conditions around such annexation can be agreed between the developer, the city, and the county around annexation,” staff added in the report.
Thursday’s meeting will focus solely on initial discussions and background information outlining the two projects with the goal being to get the council’s approval to advance discussions with the developer before returning by the end of the year with next steps to annexation.
The City Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 20). The full agenda can be accessed here.
In other business:
* As part of the council’s consent calendar, which are items considered routine in nature and are typically approved by a single vote with minimal discussion, the council will be looking to approve the transfer of ownership of the Amador Theater to the Pleasanton Unified School District so that the district can move forward with its plans to use bond money to demolish the theater and build a new theater arts facility.
* The council will be looking to approve the plans, award a construction contract in the amount of $1,265,000 and approve an amendment to a professional services agreement in the total amount of $31,800 for the Lions Wayside and Delucchi Park Renovations Project as part of the consent calendar.
The proposed renovations would include the construction of a new bandstand, a larger lawn area and other amenities to the Lions Wayside Park — construction would be set to begin next month and is scheduled to last until May 2025. The lawn would additionally be closed until July 2025 due to lawn maintenance. However, staff will not be recommending moving forward with a new pathway to and landscape improvements at Delucchi Park due to high costs.
* Another consent calendar item will be a resolution for a new Waste and Recycling Manager position that would be funded by the Pleasanton Garbage Services Reserve Fund. According to the staff report, the position has an estimated fully-burdened annual cost of $266,100, which would be paid by the city’s garbage rates — the city’s general fund would not be affected, according to staff.
* City Manager Gerry Beaudin will be looking for the council to authorize a three-year maintenance and trade services agreement as part of the consent calendar for janitorial services for a total amount of $2,700,000 with an option for two additional one-year extensions. After the first year of the contract, staff will re-evaluate the contract depending on the city’s financial status.
* Also on the consent calendar is an update on the various sites that were damaged during the storms that wreaked havoc on the Tri-Valley at the beginning of 2023. Staff have outlined in the agenda report all of the projects that have been completed or restored using federal money and state money.
