Planners OK new downtown office building Planners OK new downtown office building (February 06, 2004)

Last vacant lot set for development
by Jeb Bing

The city Planning Commission has voted 3-2 to allow construction of a 15,000-square-foot office building on the last undeveloped acreage, at 325 Ray St., in downtown Pleasanton.

The one-story building, planned by Valley Park Associates, would also include a 2,500-square-foot second floor that would comprise about 17 percent of the structure and would be located in the rear of the building, largely out of sight from Ray Street motorists and the nearby Walnut Avenue homeowners.

Commissioner Matt Sullivan voted against the proposal, arguing that it was too massive for the Ray Street site. He said the second-story addition would violate a provision of the Downtown Specific Plan that limits use of the site to one-story buildings. Anne Fox, an alternate member of the commission, also opposed the project, saying that the final plan "looked larger than its original depiction."

However, the majority of commissioners agreed with the city's Principal Planner Jerry Iserson that the proposed building design meets the intent of the Specific Plan in that it offers a satisfactory buffer between commercial businesses on Main Street and the Walnut Avenue homes. Even though the Specific Plan also calls for public access to the Arroyo Del Valle, which runs along the back of the proposed structure, both the developer and Walnut Avenue neighbors objected to allowing unrestricted access to the arroyo banks.

Development of the high-priced 1.5-acre site has been delayed for years by neighborhood opposition to building proposals. In 1998, Pacific Union applied for a development permit to build a two-story, 26,000-square-foot office and retail building there, but the plan was rejected by the City Council. In considering revisions for the Downtown Specific Plan, a Council-appointed committee met with the neighbors and concluded that a one-story, garden-office type development would best serve the community's interests.

If the council approves this new plan at its meeting Feb. 17, Valley Park Associates would start construction this summer. The new office building would have parking spaces for 51 vehicles. Although Valley Park's Tom Siewert offered to make the lot available for use for downtown parking on weekday evenings and on weekends, that proposal will require further discussion, Iserson said, since some in homes along Ray Street oppose having a public parking lot in their neighborhood.

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