Pleasanton planners approve split-park general plan amendment, require at least 60% of open space along Vineyard Avenue

Pleasanton Planning Commission members on Jan. 22 voted unanimously to recommend changes to the general plan and to the Vineyard Avenue Corridor specific plan that allow a future 10.64-acre Trumark Homes site at 0 Vineyard Avenue to split the site’s required 3 acres of park and open space into more than one parcel, while ensuring most of that open space remains along Vineyard Avenue.

The commission approved staff’s recommendation to permit a split park configuration and added a requirement that one of the open-space parcels adjacent to Vineyard Avenue be contiguous and account for at least 60 percent of the site’s dedicated open space (1.8 acres minimum). The action was unanimous.

The amendment responds to neighborhood input and an applicant proposal to place a smaller, more active pocket park near the Old Vineyard Trail while retaining a larger landscaped setback facing Vineyard Avenue. Planning staff said the configuration would leave about 2.4 acres of open space abutting Vineyard Avenue and roughly 0.6 acres adjacent to Old Vineyard under the applicant’s illustrative concept; those figures were presented as the applicant’s current concept and are subject to later project-level review.

Why it matters: the site was designated for an elementary school in the 1999 Vineyard Avenue Corridor specific plan, later dedicated to the Pleasanton Unified School District, and was identified as Housing Element Site/Area 27 in the city’s sixth-cycle housing element. The housing element process rezoned the parcel to allow housing; the two parallel amendments considered by the commission (the general plan land-use policy change and a cleanup to the Vineyard Avenue Corridor specific plan) align the specific plan with the housing element’s permitted uses while preserving the total amount of required open space.

Staff told commissioners the general plan amendment is narrowly focused on this single parcel and does not change allowed uses on other Vineyard Avenue Corridor sites. Staff also said the proposed general plan amendment is categorically exempt from CEQA, and that any future development of the site — including detailed design of the parks and other amenities — will be subject to project-level environmental review and standard development review (including traffic analysis).

Applicant and neighborhood input: Garrett Hines, vice president at Trumark Homes, told the commission that neighbors had requested moving active play areas away from high-speed Vineyard Avenue toward the Old Vineyard Trail and that Trumark supported pursuing a split-park design. Hines said the rear pocket park would be intended as a publicly accessible amenity maintained by the homeowners association.

Several nearby residents supported the amendment but raised safety concerns. Igor Ginsberg, who lives adjacent to the site, said the neighborhood has “had problems with people sitting in their cars next to [the site] and doing kind of bad things, leaving behind alcohol and drug paraphernalia, even coming into our neighborhoods to commit crimes,” and asked that bollards and other design measures be reinstated from earlier diagrams to prevent unauthorized vehicle access. Resident Abinde Pablo said the Vineyard Avenue approaches suffer low visibility and morning fog and asked that the city evaluate safety on the surrounding streets and the Old Vineyard Trail’s nighttime access rules.

Traffic and next steps: planning staff and commissioners emphasized that project-level traffic and safety concerns will be studied during the forthcoming zoning and map approvals. Because the specific housing project will be reviewed under the state’s objective standards for housing sites, staff said the project-level review will include traffic analysis performed by the city traffic engineer; that analysis will be published with the zoning administrator hearing materials and be subject to public comment. Commissioners noted the zoning administrator will make the initial decision on the project (the parcel map will return to the Planning Commission), and both zoning administrator actions and planning commission decisions are appealable to the city council.

Commission action and votes: Commissioner Pace moved approval of staff’s recommendation with the added amendment requiring at least 60 percent (1.8 acres minimum) of the required open space to be contiguous and adjacent to Vineyard Avenue; Commissioner Mohan seconded. The commission voted unanimously in favor (Mohan: yes; Pace: yes; Chair Morgan: yes).

The commission also recommended the council approve a city-initiated amendment to the Vineyard Avenue Corridor specific plan to conform the specific plan language with the housing element’s rezoning of the parcel; that action passed unanimously as well.

Context and implementation: staff said the general plan policy text contained a typographical error in the draft (a reference to Policy 11 that should read Policy 12) and committed to correcting that reference in the record. Staff reiterated that the total required open space on the parcel remains three acres and that CEQA review of the specific development will occur at the project stage. Commissioners and staff encouraged neighbors to submit written comments ahead of the forthcoming zoning administrator hearing and to work with the city traffic division to ensure traffic- and safety-related concerns are considered as the project proceeds.

A related consent calendar item earlier in the meeting approved two religious facility permits (including an Owens Drive application presented by Pastor Ki Han of Tri Valley Bread of Life Christian Church) and other routine consent items; the consent calendar was approved unanimously.

The Planning Commission’s recommendations will be forwarded to the city council for final action as required.