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Commissioners urge joint workshop with council on strategic land-use priorities, suggest waiting for budget signal
Summary
Planning commissioners discussed asking City Council and the city manager for a joint workshop to set strategic priorities on land use, economic development and signage; they agreed to draft a proposal but to wait for budget guidance from the May budget hearings before formalizing it.
Members of the Pleasanton Planning Commission spent the latter portion of their May 14 meeting debating whether to request a joint workshop with the City Council and the city manager to lay out strategic land-use and economic-development priorities.
Commissioner Mohan argued the commission should start longer-term planning now rather than reacting to isolated projects, suggesting a joint workshop to align the council, planning commission and staff on priorities and avoid repetitive work. "Let's actually start not getting a little bit ahead of the curve rather than, just, on a project by project basis," Mohan said.
Director Clark and other staff noted the city manager plans a post-budget discussion with the council about work-plan priorities once the draft budget is adopted in June, and that the proposed budget (published just before the meeting) already includes items to better integrate economic development work with community development. Clark said a general-plan update is in the city’s five-year strategic planning list but is a costly undertaking; staff suggested the commission convey interest and stand ready to participate.
Commissioners proposed forming a small subcommittee to draft a letter or proposal to the council requesting a workshop; several commissioners signaled support for waiting to see council action on the budget (May 20 budget hearing and final June 17 vote) before finalizing any request. The commission directed two members (Commissioners Jane and Mohan volunteered) to prepare a draft for the commission to consider at a future meeting.
Commissioners and staff framed the workshop as a way to clarify objectives such as where to encourage business types (for example, life science/biotech), how to streamline approvals, and whether sign-code or zoning amendments should be prioritized. Clark noted a forthcoming code amendment to Chapter 18 to encourage innovation-based businesses will be discussed at the May 28 meeting and that Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley has a design-review item pending for an emergency department expansion; both items were cited as examples of the planning work the commission reviews and would be guided by a broader strategy.
No formal action to schedule a joint workshop was taken at the May 14 meeting; commissioners agreed to place the matter on a future agenda (May 28) for further consideration after the council’s budget discussions.
