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The Pleasanton Planning Commission offered initial support last week for the Hidden Canyon Residences and Preserve Project, a major redevelopment proposal for an unincorporated area of Alameda County just south of Dublin Canyon Road.
During the Dec. 10 commission meeting, members of the dais were asked to review the draft environmental impact report and provide feedback on the several hundreds of pages that outlines what the proposed housing and land development project would look like and what impact it would have on the surrounding environment.
According to staff, the project aims to construct 28 new detached single-family residential units and roadways on approximately 23.89 acres of an approximately 130.98-acre project site in the northwest area of Pleasanton. The site currently sits just outside of the city’s limits and one of the entitlements for moving the project forward in the future will include the annexation of the area — as well as the existing Oak Hills Congregation Church Site — into the city’s boundaries.
However, a prominent point of discussion during the meeting was the numerous roadway improvements that the project is proposing.
“The improvements that are being made here, they’re going to make the situation significantly better than it is now,” Planning Commission Chair Ken Morgan said during the meeting. “It may not be perfect but from what I can tell so far … that roadway is going to be significantly safer than it is now.”
According to Derek Farmer, assistant director of community and economic Development, those improvements include a new traffic signal at Canyon Meadows Drive and the widening of — along with other improvements to — Dublin Canyon Road that staff and the commission agreed would increase safety and visibility for vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians.
“It’s a very busy road during traffic hours and it does flood,” Commissioner Stephanie Wedge said. “I think this will slow the traffic down, and I think it’s a huge improvement to the area.”
According to Jeff Schroeder, a representative from applicant developer Ponderosa Homes, the Hidden Canyon project has been in the city’s General Plan for over 40 years, even though the site lies in an unincorporated area of the county and still needs to get annexed into the city.
Due to complications with annexation and and lengthy review and refinement process — as well as the COVID pandemic — the project has taken a long time to get to this point, Schroeder and city community and economic development director Ellen Clark explained.
But now, with the draft EIR done, the city’s next steps will be to continue to receive comments from the public and take all of that feedback, as well as the feedback from the commission, to draft and complete the final EIR.
That final report will look to answer questions from the public and also include details surrounding impacts the project would have on things like air quality, energy, greenhouse gas emissions, noise, public services, recreation and utilities and service systems, just to name a few.
The draft impact review found that there would be no impact or less than significant impact before mitigation on those environmental topics. The only notable impact, which would still be less than significant in terms of impact, is transportation — specifically, impacts related to vehicle miles traveled.
However, the commission didn’t spend as much time reviewing the details of the hundreds of pages in the impact report and instead focused on what a lot of members of the public spoke on during public comment: road improvements.
Members of the commission noted how the project, despite one of the main focuses being the nearly 30 houses, would benefit the greater community. Many public commenters voiced their support for the project mostly because of the traffic mitigation improvements that would come along with the project.
The commission also noted the other benefits that would come from the project, which includes the dedication of about 104 acres of open space and numerous park improvements including: a new public trailhead dedicated to the East Bay Regional Park District, a new trail connecting to the Pleasanton Ridge EBRPD trails system, new restrooms and parking, and an equestrian staging area.
But with the holiday season coming up, the commission directed staff to give the public 60 days, rather than the required 45 days, to review the hundreds of pages in the impact report and provide comments to the city and the project applicant. Residents will have until Jan. 20 to submit their comments.
Following this comment period, the Planning Commission and the City Council will vote on accepting the Final EIR and any relevant entitlements. According to staff, these future actions are expected to take place in the first quarter of 2026.
