HACIENDA REPORT - Laserfiche WebLink

MORRISON I FOERSTER Mayor Jennifer Hosterman and Members of the Pleasanton City Council August 13, 2008 Page Four use, pedestrian and bike linkages and sustainable development implementation measures. A Specific Plan is generally more appropriate for new development of an undeveloped "greenfield" area, or the wholesale redevelopment of an area, where there are significant infiastntcture and infrastructure-financing issues. State law Specific Plan requirements focus significantly on these infiastructwe and finance issues which are largely unnecessary for the current efforts to make Hacienda more contemporary. Moreover, the bulk of the statutory requirements under California law for the contents of a Specific Plan simply do not apply tq and are superfluous for, a business park such as Hacienda that is already substantially built out and which has existing infrastructure in place. Hacienda is already developed with over 7.9 million sq. ft. For example, Specific Plan requirements under Government Code section 65451(a) that are largely inapplicable to Hacienda include: • Specific information regarding the major components of public and private transportation, sewage, water, drainage, solid waste disposal, energy, and other infrastructure facilities needed to support the proposed land uses; and • A program of implementation measures including regulations, progams, public works projects, and financing measures necessary for such infrastructure. All of the applicable smart growth planning goals of a Specific Plan for Hacienda can instead be achieved more conveniently through a focused, "one-stop" PUD Modification. The current detailed Hacienda PUD is over 300 pages. To avoid duplication and redundancy, this key planning document should simply be updated and modified to incorporate and focus on all of the relevant sustainable development and pedestrian-fiiendly linkage policies that would have been discussed in an entirely new Specific Plan. Finally, the Draft GPU Land Use Element identifies PUD zoning as a method to implement the proposed Mixed-Use land use designation, as an alternative to a specific plan. More specifically, the description of the Mixed-Use designation on page 2-23 of the Draft GPU Land Use Element states that the specific location of land uses within this designation "is determined by the associated PUD zoning or specific plan." Thus, the General Plan Update recognizes that PUD zoning, rather than a specific plan, maybe the appropriate planning mechanism to implement the Mixed-Use designation. D. A New SpecIFc Plan Process Could Provide Disincentives to Employers and IntLl Developers Within the last few months, the Robert Half Company, a longstanding major employer in Pleasanton, evaluated expansion opportunities at Hacienda and determined instead to relocate to San Ramon's Bishop Ranch. Eazlier this year San Ramon approved its wc-138373