Planning Commission Meeting Agenda Packet 04222026

P18-0078, P18-0080, P18-0081, PUD-130 and Tract 8569 (Hidden Canyon) Planning Commission 21 of 28 ANALYSIS Annexation The project site is located outside of the Pleasanton city limits, but within the City’s Sphere of Influence (SOI) and UGB. As such, annexation of the project site, along with the adjacent Oak Hills property located at 10971 Dublin Canyon Road, is required prior to development. The annexation is consistent with applicable Alameda County LAFCo policies, which promote orderly and logical boundary adjustments. Annexation of these properties would represent a logical extension of the City’s boundaries and ensure that development occurs in a comprehensive manner consistent with the City’s General Plan and PMC. The project site is identified in the City’s Housing Element, and annexation would facilitate implementation of Housing Element programs that encourage annexation of contiguous unincorporated lands for residential development. Additionally, annexation would allow the City to apply its development standards, infrastructure requirements, and environmental review processes to the project, while LAFCo would retain authority to review and approve the boundary change to ensure consistency with regional policies. General Plan Land Use and Policy Conformance The project site has General Plan Land Use Designations of Low Density Residential (LDR), Open Space –Public Health and Safety, Open Space –Agriculture and Grazing, and Housing Element Sites Overlay which permits residential uses and open space. While portions of the proposed development are located within areas currently designated Open Space –Public Health and Safety, the project includes a corresponding redesignation of other portions of the site from Low Density Residential (LDR) to Open Space, resulting in a reallocation rather than an increase in the amount of land allocated to residential development across the project site. The Pleasanton General Plan supports such amendments where they further land use and environmental objectives, particularly in hillside areas. Specifically, the General Plan emphasizes preservation of scenic ridgelines, protection of natural landforms, and the use of site planning techniques that concentrate development in less constrained areas while maintaining larger, contiguous open space areas. Consistent with these policies, the proposed General Plan amendment would cluster residential development within the more suitable, lower-gradient portions of the site while redesignating steeper slopes and visually prominent areas to Open Space. This approach aligns with General Plan direction to preserve hillside character, avoid excessive grading, and maintain open space resources, while also allowing flexibility in the precise location of land use boundaries so long as the overall intent of the Land Use Element is achieved. Accordingly, the proposed amendments of LDR and Open Space redesignations maintains the overall land use framework envisioned by the General Plan, ensures consistency with hillside development and resource protection policies, and does not result in a substantive loss of open space, but rather a more appropriate and policy-consistent configuration of uses across the project site. The City’s adopted 2023 Housing Element identifies the proposed project site as Area 1- Lester, which allows up to two residential units per acre with a total maximum number of 31