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SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL CITY OF PLEASANTON Provided to the City Council After Distribution of Packet CITY MANAGER January 25, 2023 Date • 13 Via Email (citycouncil@cityofpleasantonca.gov) City Council Members City of Pleasanton 200 Old Bernal Ave. Pleasanton, CA 94566 Re: January 26, 2023 City Council Meeting Agenda Item 1 (Stoneridge Mall Framework) Dear Mayor Brown and Council Members: This letter is submitted by Simon Property Group, Macy's/Lowe, and 300 Venture Group, and their affiliates, with regard to the above-referenced Agenda Item. As owners of 89% of the Stoneridge Mall, we are compelled to present our concerns regarding the Planning Commission's recommended actions regarding both items. In particular, and as set forth in more detail below, the ownership is concerned about the proposed "Design and Placemaking Elements" identified in the Framework Components, which are far too detailed and restrictive at this early planning stage, and lack adequate community and owners' input. In order for redevelopment of the Stoneridge Mall to be successful, the City and ownership must work together to develop a feasible land use concept that is memorialized in a Master Plan or similar document. Adopting strict development standards prior to these discussions will unduly limit the discretion and flexibility for both the City and the ownership. Instead, the process should begin with the adoption of basic concepts, which will evolve into specific development standards as the vision for the Mall unfolds. Although the Staff Report (at p. 2) expressly recognizes this, the actual design and development standards proposed for adoption by this Council could undermine this process. A. Design and Placemaking Elements of the Framework Components We support the majority of the Framework Components, including the Vision Statement, Guiding Principles (except as noted in Section B below), and the proposed allocation of housing units. However, the currently proposed density range will dramatically limit the type of housing type products which can be built. To provide for a more thoughtful variation in massing and building forms, we recommend more flexibility in density product types. This is NOT a request for increasing overall proposed allocation of housing units in the Framework, rather it is intended to provide for a variety of housing and product types within the mall parcels. The proposed Design and Placemaking Elements ("Elements") are also problematic. As stated in the Staff Report (pg. 9), their purpose "is to establish baseline expectations for future development" on the Mall parcels. In response to repeated concerns presented during the January 11th Planning Commission meeting, Staff revised the text of the Elements to provide that they "reflect a set of preferred or recommended dimensions" (Staff Report, pg.10; Attachment 1, Exhibit A, pg. 12), yet these attempts to de-emphasize the Elements underscore the problem of identifying them in the first place. Once they are adopted, it is not unreasonable to assume that the City will look to them as the "baseline expectations" for future development,