Pleasanton could lose $millions in Staples Ranch grab

Pleasanton stands to lose millions of dollars annually in future tax revenue it’s been counting on if either of two initiatives under way to stop commercial development of the unincorporated 124-acre Staple Ranch or to have the land annexed into Livermore succeed.

Late Friday, Anne Fox, chairwoman of the Pleasanton Planning Commission and a coalition that includes former chairman Brian Arkin filed a petition with Pleasanton City Clerk Karen Diaz calling for a referendum to turn Staples Ranch into a greenbelt with no residential or commercial development.

Arkin and John Carroll, a frequent speaker at City Council meetings who has objected to ever extending Stoneridge Drive to Livermore, also are believed to be backers of the petition, although neither signed it.

At the same time, political interests in Livermore are talking to county officials and to LAFCO, the Local Agency Formation Commission in charge of annexation, about annexing Staples Ranch and all of El Charro Road from I-580 to Stanley Boulevard. Both the roadway and Staples Ranch lie in the so-called Pleasanton “sphere of influence,” but that is a non-binding agreement that both LAFCO and the county, which controls both Staples Ranch and El Charro Road, could change.

The petition was clearly a surprise and believed to be an unprecedented move by a sitting chair of the Planning Commission to un-do carefully crafted and long-discussed plans by city officials to eventually annex Staples Ranch. A land use document endorsed by officials calls for development of an auto row by the Hendrick Automotive Group along with retail stores, a 600-800 unit senior independent and assisted living facility by Continuing Life Communities, an indoor ice skating arena to be built by an affiliate of the San Jose Sharks and a community park.

Fox’s petition, also signed by Matt Morrison, a supporter of Brian Arkin when the former Planning Commissioner chairman ran unsuccessfully for City Council, and Bimal Sangari, a project manager for Applied Biosystems in Pleasanton, does not specifically mention turning Staples Ranch into a greenbelt. But it states that its purpose is “to protect the remaining open space, park land and/or green belt along I-580 between Pleasanton and Livermore from urban sprawl.”

“Any undeveloped public owned lands within the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) larger than 25 acres shall be designated as open space, park land and/or green belt,” states the text of the “Open Space, Park Land, and Green Belt Initiative” given to Diaz.

“The city of Pleasanton shall not allow or support the commercial development of any undeveloped public owned lands within the UGB larger than 25 acres,” the petition adds.

The petition goes on to state that while it is the intent of the initiative to preserve public lands for open space and park land, uses such as sports fields, sports facilities, parking, daycare centers, youth organization facilities, cultural arts facilities and public trails for public use would be allowed.

“It is the intent of this initiative to classify any undeveloped publicly owned lands as land owned by the public as of Jan. 1, 2007,” the petition states. “This is to disallow the sale and transfer by a public agency to another party of any publicly owned lands before the voter adoption of this initiative.”

City officials, including members of the City Council and City Manager Nelson Fialho, learned about the petition late Friday. Mayor Jennifer Hosterman, in vacation in Montana, was told of the petition by telephone.

“This is clearly a very irresponsible move and could be damaging to Pleasanton,” said Councilman Jerry Thorne. “If Pleasanton doesn’t annex this property, you can be sure Livermore will and all of the development already contemplated–and possibly more–will go forward. You can be sure there won’t be any greenbelt, just a city limits sign with Livermore’s name on it smack up against the Stoneridge Drive barricade where Pleasanton now ends.”

It’s not clear what impact any city initiative or petition filed with the Pleasanton City Clerk would have on Alameda County, which controls Staples Ranch and has long sought to sell the property. Supervisor Scott Haggerty has said repeatedly that the property should be developed and told the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce a year ago that Hendrick Auto was becoming exasperated by repeated delays by Pleasanton in developing the land.

Besides waiting for Pleasanton to act on its request to build an auto mall on Staples, Hendrick has also been talking to Dublin and Livermore about alternate sites where it could move its business. Pleasanton’s Saturn dealership already has leased land in Dublin and plans to move its agency there later this year.

Hendrick and the auto row it plans to develop, which could include other upscale car dealerships now in Pleasanton, would produce an estimated $5 million a year in sales tax revenue, with even more to the city’s revenue base in the form of property taxes.

Quietly, however, the city of Livermore has been advancing its interests in annexing Staples Ranch and El Charro Road. It believes the proposed automobile row and retail stores planned on the site would mesh with a discount outlet mall planned for the southeast corner of El Charro and 580, which is in Livermore. Livermore and the developers of Prime Outlet Mall, which plans to build 180-200 stores in the outlet, also want El Charro Road reconstructed as a major thoroughfare between Stanley Boulevard and 580. Developers will help pay to extend Jack London Boulevard to connect to El Charro and to widen El Charro to four lanes from that roadway to 580, where a new four-lane interchange will be built.

Livermore Mayor Marshall Kamena said he wants Jack London Boulevard to connect to Stoneridge Drive.

Livermore officials said all of the plans now before Pleasanton for Staples Ranch would fit nicely, even better if the property was part of Livermore. They also want El Charro Road built through to Stanley Boulevard quickly, pointing out that Pleasanton hasn’t even considered that plan yet.

The Livermore City Council will meet June 11 in a special hearing to finalize plans for the outlet mall, with construction expected to start late this summer.

The Stoneridge Drive extension has been a contentious issue for years, and recently Haggerty, Kamena and Dublin Mayor Janet Lockhart voted against Mayor Hosterman over improvements she wanted to State Hwy. 84 because of the Pleasanton City Council’s delay in deciding whether to keep the Stoneridge Drive extension in a new General Plan the city is drafting.

Two weeks ago, the council voted to keep it in the plan, but gave no timetable for actually building the extension. Hosterman said she is trying to arrange a meeting with Haggerty and the two mayors to seek their support for Hwy. 84 and other regional and local traffic improvements.

Although it’s rare for one city to challenge another on annexation, especially when the “sphere of influence” is on the other side, it’s happened before. Pleasanton annexed the property that is now Ruby Hill, which was at the time in Livermore’s sphere of influence,” although Livermore did not object to that action.

In the case of Staples Ranch and El Charro Road, any annexation effort by Livermore would need the approval of LAFCO. Dublin Mayor Lockhart chairs that seven-member commission, with both Haggerty and Kamena as voting members. Pleasanton has no representation on LAFCO.

Pleasanton City Attorney Michael Roush is reviewing the petition filed by Fox and friends before it can be certified and signatures can be collected for a voter referendum. Its sponsors hope to have the measure on the November ballot.

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