Traffic woes and the lack of affordable and moderately-priced housing continued to dominate campaign commentaries in public coffees and candidate forums last week in the city’s mayoral and City Council races, but the extension of Stoneridge Drive has suddenly become a major focus of some voters.
Up to now, the council has put the controversial issue aside by agreeing to a Memorandum of Understanding with Alameda County to reserve a right-of-way should a future council want the street extended to El Charro Road and Livermore. The five current members of the council, including Mayor Jennifer Hosterman and her challenger for the mayor’s post, Councilman Steve Brozosky, have vowed to keep Stoneridge barricaded where it now stops at the city limits in the Mohr-Martin neighborhood.
Only council candidate Cheryl Cook-Kallio has said she would consider extending Stoneridge if traffic studies showed it would help move traffic more efficiently into and out of Pleasanton.
Since then, speakers at council meetings have urged the council to consider the extension. A new group advocating extending the street is also distributing flyers, calling on the council and mayoral candidates to attend a public forum scheduled for 5:30 p.m. next Thursday and at the same time on Monday, Oct. 23. The group has opened a Web site at www.stopleasantongridlock.com to voters to read traffic data supporting the view that the Stoneridge extension would reduce heavy traffic volumes on Santa Rita Road and Valley Avenue.
“Without exception, the Stoneridge extension issue has become the most divisive I’ve ever seen in Pleasanton,” said Councilman Jerry Thorne, who is seeking reelection. Addressing a Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce forum, he said the issue “probably should be placed on the ballot as a referendum so that the public can decide.”
Hosterman and Brozosky, however, stood firm, telling constituents that until traffic congestion can be reduced on I-580, they will opposed opening Stoneridge, where motorists could drive through the city to connect to 580 and I-680.
“Frankly, we can do a lot locally without relying on outside money,” Brozosky said. “We just need to fix our traffic lights so that they allow us to move smoothly across the city. We need to synchronize the signals.”
Hosterman said that in the two years she has served as mayor and as a councilwoman for two years earlier, she has represented Pleasanton on a number of regional, county and Tri-Valley traffic agencies. Her work on the Triangle Study Committee and the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency has helped direct millions of dollars to projects that will widen highway 84 and build HOV (carpool) lanes on 580.
Brozosky, however, said Hosterman had actually missed a number of those meetings and not asked others from the council or city staff to represent the city, possibly missing out on funding considerations.
The candidates are also facing housing issues as Pleasanton nears buildout with a 1996 voter-mandated housing cap of 29,000 residential units. Only about 1,700 residential permits have yet to be issues, and the candidates differ on where those housing units should go and whether they should be affordable, priced for moderate income buyers or mostly apartments.
Council candidate and former Planning Commission Chairman Brian Arkin said he wants the bulk of those units yet to be built placed near the BART station next to Hacienda Business Park, with others to go near the new BART station being built near Foothill Road.
Council candidate Dan Faustina said, however, that he opposes using the remaining number of available housing permits for only affordable and high-density homes.
Like Arkin, Faustina said he would never support raising the housing cap, which was mandated by voters and cannot be changed by the council. Responding to threats by affordable housing advocates that the cap might someday be challenged in court, Faustina said he would brace for that as a councilman and have the city fight vigorously any legal action to take away what Pleasanton voters have said they wanted.
Cook-Kallio said she would work to keep the housing cap, but also believes that more housing is needed in Pleasanton to accommodate the needs of its workforce, including many who simply can’t afford the higher price homes here now.
