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For the first time, the Pleasanton City Council and Pleasanton Unified School District trustees will hold their annual joint meeting virtually, starting Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
No action will be taken during the online meeting, which includes a public comment period near the beginning and a total of five updates on city and school district items on the agenda.
Staff from the city’s Community Development Department will give a summary and update that evening on the city’s “notable development projects, long-term planning efforts and transportation planning projects,” including Valley Link and the I-680 express lane, as well as major residential projects under review, in progress or nearing completion.
Housing permit activity “has been significantly affected by COVID” this year, particularly from April through June, according to a report by City Manager Nelson Fialho and community development director Ellen Clark. Last year, 127 new residential building permits were issued — a slight uptick from the previous two years, though still less than the city’s recent peak in 2015 and 2016.
Only 31 new residential building permits have been issued in 2020, though volumes have been rising recently and should return to normal by year’s end. Staff expects no more than 40 to 50 permits to be issued by the end of 2020.
The city is also currently processing applications for two major residential developments — 486 multifamily units at Stoneridge Shopping Center and an estimated 50 single-family homes — and updating their Housing Element requirement for the state. Pleasanton must show it has the appropriate sites and zoning available for the construction of up to 5,000 homes in the period from 2023-30.
Officials said, “The city will continue to coordinate closely with PUSD to consider the possible impacts and necessary planning for school facilities through the Housing Element process,” and noted the Housing Element process does not require the construction of the units.
A staff report and accompanying list of information about all 44 planning, development and transportation projects is available online with the meeting agenda.
In other business
* A report will be heard Tuesday evening on the city’s Youth Commission’s progress over the past year and a half to ban local sales of flavored tobacco and e-cigarette devices, and set minimum pricing and package sizes.
Fialho, assistant city attorney Larissa Seto, and library and recreation director Heidi Murphy called the Youth Commission’s work “instrumental” in passing several ordinances since 2019.
“The Youth Commissioners’ interest, diligence, and testimonials of observing vaping by their school-age peers has been a catalyst for the city to adopt these tobacco restrictions,” officials said.
* Both city and school district staff will separately report on their respective annual budgets that evening. PUSD officials will also give an update on various Measure I1 facilities projects, as well as a report on the beginning of the 2020-21 school year.
PUSD and the city should work together to meet PUSD funding needs. It should be through direct taxation of the residents and not thru Bon Measures. Bond Measures are expensive, time consuming and distracts school administration from focusing on education.
Naveed, I’m not certain you understand how the money works, or maybe it’s how you are stating your desire. Pleasanton taxes are mailed (true for all districts other than about 100 that are/were community funded) to the state and then ground through a formula and sent back to us, with a lot of it missing. The city can’t do anything about it.
The district could try for a parcel tax, but there is some conflict on how those are paid (a $100K house pays the same as million dollar homes). Bond measures can only pay for, essentially, new/remodeled structures.
Am I misunderstanding your intentions?