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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 8.5 TriVlyTranspLandUse , . . . . - - CITY OF DUBLIN AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: January 23,1995 SUBJECT: Proposed rri- Valley Transportation Plan! Action Plan - Explanation of Land Use Issue Report by: Lee S. Thompson, Public Works Director EXHIBITS ATTACHED: 1.) Letter to TVTC conveying objections to the Plan RECOMME~DATION: ~~ccept staffreport, review attached letter, modilY letter, if necessary, and authorize Mayor to send letter to the Tri- Valley Transportation Council. FINANCIAL STATEMENT: A reduction in land use in the Eastern Dublin Planning Area could affect the ability to fund infrastructure imprpvements and/or require increases in the Traffic Impact Fee. DESCIUPTION: Councilmember Paul Moffatt requested that this item be placed on the agenda for tonight's meeting. Both City Staff and City Council have, in the past, been concerned that under the proposed Tri- Valley Transportation Plan! Action Plan that other cities and counties in the Tri- Valley Area could force Dublin to reduce its land use densities based upon the other agencies being allowed to use up Dublin traffic capacity on Dublin's own roadways and accessible freeways. On Wednesday, January 11, 1995, the Tri-Valley Transportation Council (TVTC) met to review the Transportation Plan! Action Plan (Plan) and send it back to the Tri- Valley jurisdictions for adoption. This report still includes growth management as a mitigation measure to improve the Level Of Service (LOS) in certain intersections, one of which is in Dublin (Tassajara Road and Dublin Blvd.). At this TVTC meeting, Dublin Staff raised the objection that the Dublin City Council had directed that a reduction jft land use not be the primary action used to meet the acceptable LOS; and as it stands, this Plan could require the reduction in land use only in the City of Dublin when the majority of the traffic comes from othe~ jurisdictions in the Tri-Valley area. For the intersection of Tassajara Road and Dublin Blvd., the Plan shows that the City of Dublin is contributing 35% of the traffic on Tassajara Road and the remaining traffic is from other jurisdictions. The only jurisdiction at that meeting to commit itselfto land use reduction was the City of Pleasant on. However, no other jurisdictions would make such a commitment. Dublin Staff pointed out that other jurisdictions, such as San Ramon, could allow development to occur at this time, and those developments would use up existing road capacity. By the time Dublin is ready for development, the intersection capacity may have been used by other jurisdictions and the LOS at intersections will not be acceptable. The City of Dublin would be required to suffer the consequences for San Ramon's actions. Dublin Staff also suggested that as long as the intersection congestion physically does not impact other jurisdictions, each jurisdiction should be able to determine its own LOS standard. This suggestion was not acceptable to the TVTC because they would like to have uniform LOS standards withip the Tri- Valley area. our ;~;,; ~"(;:-S~.-''- - - - - - - - - - ~OP~~~ ~~; - - - - - - - - - - - - -. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -. - - - - -- c 10' "t EMol FILE I O. 0 .. . . e It is to the City's benefit to remain as members of the TVTC. The Council must be aware that if the City wishes not to adopt the Plan, or if other jurisdictions adopt the Plan without the City of Dublin, the Plan cannot be used as a Alameda County Congestion Management Agency (CMA) deficiency plan for the City of Dublin. If Dublin's development-generated traffic impacts any CMA roadway network (Le. 1-580, 1-680, and SR 84 with the Tn-Valley area) to unacceptable levels of service, Dublin must provide a deficiency plan to mitigate roadway deficiencies. The Plan would serve as the City's deficiency plan. The City would not have to prepare their own deficiency plan and would not have to pay for roadway/freeway improvements on its' own. Also, the mitigation measures specified in the Environmental Impact Report completed for the Eastern Dublin General Plan Amendment/Specific Plan state that the City must implement the Plan to mitigate regional transportation impacts. The City must participate in the regional transportation and impact fee study, such as the Tri-Valley Transportation Plan study. Staff recommends that the City Council review the attached letter (Exhibit 1), modify the letter, if necessary, and authorize the Mayor to send the letter to the TVTC. The other option is for the City Council to wait until the Draft Plan is distributed for adoption and provide comments at that time. However, this would delay the adoption of the Plan and Contra Costa jurisdictions are required to adopt the Plan no later than February, 1995. This deadline was already extended for two months. All other Contra Costa jurisdictions adopted their transportation plan before or during December, 1994. The TVTC had requested at the January 11 meeting that the City of Dublin submit modifications to the ~owth management section of the Draft Plan that would satisfy Dublin's land use concerns before the Plan is circulated for adoption. a: \agenda95\23tv1c -2- - CITY OF DUBLIN . "Celebrating 10 Years Of Cityhood 1982-1992" PO Box 2340. Dublin. California 94568 . City Offices. 100 CiVIC Plaza. Dublin. California 94568 January 10, 1994 11 ht~ 1- .II,,' ,.'tlltto , ~'. <" .... . -'1/1 ......... " Ms. Millie Greenberg, Chair Tri-Valley Transportation Council c/o Mr. Bill van Gelder Traffic Engineering Department, city of Pleasanton 200 Old Bernal Avenue Pleasanton CA 94566 . " SUBJECT: Dublin City Council's Preferred Transportation Alternatives and Opposition to Reduced Land Use Growth Rate Dear Ms. Greenberg: In response to the Tri-Valley Transportation Council's (TVTC) request, on January 10, 1994, the Dublin City Council analyzed and ranked the transportation plan alternatives for further study in the Dublin area as follows: Road Improvements (a lot); Transit Improvements (some); Higher Densities (some); Reduced Land Use Growth Rate (none); Reduced Level of Service Standards (some) i Increase TDM Measures (a lot) . At the TVTC meeting of December 15, 1993-, the TVTC directed its Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and consultant, Barton-Aschmann Associates, Inc., to run the Tri- Valley Model using a slower growth rate for the whole Tri-Valley area (2.8%, instead of the current 4%) for the Year 2010. EPS, a'land use consulting firm, recommended an absorption rate for development in the Tri-Valley area based on what they feel the market will support by the Year 2010. The members of the TVTC have not received any type of formal report from EPS that supports this conclusion. The TVTC is hoping that network deficiencies will be improved or eliminated if jurisdictions slow the rate of land use growth. The TVTC concluded that if the model results still show network deficiencies, the rate of growth may be decreased more in some areas. The City of Dublin would like to go on record as opposing a reduced land use growth rate for the following reasons. First, our staff and the City's land use consultant, WRT, derived land use numbers after more than three years of professional land use studies. Second, Dublin's Year 2010 land use numbers are consistent with ABAG' s projected land use numbers. This is significant to the extent that the Congestion Management Agency (CMA) and MTC will not accept a computer model that shows land uses inconsistent with ABAG's. If the model is not consistent with ABAG numbers, then the model cannot be used for CHA Deficiency Plans, air quality studies, and/or other environmental documentation. We do not believe that it is prudent to have two models, one with numbers acceptable to the CHA, ABAG, and some Tri-Valley jurisdictions, and another with TVTC's numbers that indicate a slower growth rate with no traffic congestion that cannot be used for any official and legal purposes. Administration (510) 833.6650. City Council (510) 833.6605. Finance (510) 833-6640. Building Inspf-ction (510) 833.6620 Code Enforcement (510) 833-6620 . Engineering (510) 833;6630 · Planning (510) 833-6610 Police (510) 833-66iO . Publoc Works (510) 833-6630 · Recreation (510) 833-6645 . . -- . Third, we strongly believe that the Tri-Valley Transportation Plan and Action Plan should incorporate policies, objectives and implementation strategies for ultimate Tri-Valley growth for the Year 2010. Not planning for ultimate growth or faster growth rate for Year 2010 may result in increased traffic deficiencies at the Year 2010 or beyond and costly right-of-way acquisition expenses to construct the needed roadway network at that time. Fourth, with a slower growth rate through land use regulations, the regional traffic impact fee could be higher. If the amount of development is reduced, a higher traffic impact fee is needed to pay for the transportation network. Fifth, there is no accepted evidence to support a slower market growth rate. sixth, the JPA clearly states that its purpose is to provide for the joint preparation of a Transportation Plan and to provide a forum for the review and coordination of transportation facilities and must be approved by all jurisdictions. Therefore, it is more appropriate for each jurisdiction to provide the TVTC and the TVTC's consultant with land use data than having the land use data dictated to the jurisdictions. We realize that the Tri-Valley area is at a critical juncture in terms of anticipated future development and future transportation plans. The TVTC has a major responsibility and task to develop a transportation model and plan that is acceptable to all Tri-Valley jurisdictions. Therefore, we urge you to reconsider your direction to run the model with only the slower growth rate alternative. We feel it is more appropriate to study a combination of alternatives. This will present a more viable solution for future traffic congestion in line with the original charge to the TVTC. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. We look forward to continue working with the TVTC to develop an effective and reliable transportation plan for the future Tri-Valley area. PS/CRC/mb cc: Alameda County Board of Supervisors Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Town of Danville Town Council San Ramon City Council Pleasanton City Council Livermore City Council TVTC TAC a:jan\05tvtc " -- . CITY OF DUBLIN Po. Box 2340, Dublin, California 94568 . City Offices, 100 Civic Plaza, Dublin, California 94568 January 24, 1995 Ms. Millie Greenberg, Chairperson Tri-Valley Transportation Council c/o Mr. Bill van Gelder Traffic Engineering Department City of Pleasanton 200 Old Bernal Avenue Pleasanton CA 94566 SUBJECT: Draft Tri- Valley Transportation Plan! Action Plan Comments Dear Millie: We would like to commend the Tri-Valley Transportation Council (TVTC) and the Tri-Valley Transportation Technical Advisory Committee for doing a good job preparing the Tri-Valley Transportation Plan! Action Plan. The Plan shows that most of the Routes of Regional Significance meet the proposed Traffic Service Objective (TSO) Standard, except for a handful of intersections, of which three are in the City of Dublin (Dublin Boulevard/Dougherty Road, Dublin Boulevard/Tassajara Road, and Dublin BoulevardlFallon Road). The Plan includes a growth management section and recommended actions for improving the level of service that require growth management. In the past, the TVTC requested that the reduction of growth and land use be used to improve TSO' s. On January 10, 1994 (see attached letter), the Dublin City Council gave their reasons for why a reduction of development or land use as one of the alternatives to improve TSOs is not acceptable to the City. At this time, the City of Dublin strongly feels that implementing growth control measures for areas of our city that have approved General Plan land use designations are inappropriate. Two of the five deficient intersections are located within the Eastern Dublin Specific Plan area. The City recently adopted the Eastern Dublin General Plan Amendment and Specific Plan. This project was finally completed and approved after many years of study and after conducting many public hearings for the General Plan Amendment, Specific Plan and associated Environmental Impact Reports. We realize that three Contra Costa County jurisdictions must adopt the Tri-Valley Transportation Plan (Plan). We also realize Contra Costa Measure C mandates that the Plan must address the growth management issue when TSO's cannot be met. All references to growth management and recommended action plans resulting in growth management/control for Contra Costa County jurisdictions can remain in the draft Plan to meet the Measure C requirement. Administration (510) 833-6650 . City Council (510) 833-6605 . Finance (510) 833-6640 . Building Inspection (510) 833-6620 Code Enforcement (510) 833-6620 . Engineering (510) 833-6630 . Parks & Community Service (510) 833-6645 Police (510) 833-6670 . Public Works (510) 833-6630 . Planning (510) 833-6610 . Millie Greenberg, Chairperson Tri- Valley Transportation Council January 17, 1995 Page 2 . However, the City of Dublin would like the TVTC to complete a detailed growth and congestion management study to address anticipated TSO violations before the other Tri-Valley jurisdictions approve development projects that would use up the existing roadway capacity. Other Tri-Valley jurisdictions are also contributing to the amount of traffic using roadways that do not meet TSO standards. The City of Dublin is concerned that by the time the City is ready to develop, the level of service at the above mentioned three intersections would not be acceptable and Dublin would suffer the consequences of other jurisdictions approving development. The City of Dublin is recommending the following changes to the draft Plan. First, we recommend that the third paragraph on p. 126 of the draft Plan be modified to state: "The TVTC jurisdictions, except the City of Dublin at this time, expect to implement a ...to meet the TSOs." We also recommend that the following be added to this paragraph: "At a later date, the City of Dublin may implement a proactive Growth and Congestion Management strategy once a detailed growth management study has been conducted. The study should indicate the development reductions, land use density reductions, or other types of growth management/control that would be required for Dublin and for each applicable Tri- Valley jurisdiction in order to achieve TSO standards. Any development reduction should be proportional to the traffic distribution percentages for each jurisdiction. Also, the impact of this development reduction to traffic impact fees should be analyzed. The Dublin City Council and other jurisdictions will then review this information and know exactly how much reduction in development or growth management/control is needed to meet acceptable levels of service." We also recommend that the recommended action for Tassajara Road north ofl-580, which states "Put in place growth controls to insure achievement ofTSOs" be replaced with: "Widen or expand a highway network, improve transit service, or improve transportation demand management." Additionally, the City of Dublin recommends that the draft Plan include the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency's deficiency language for those intersections that violate TSOs. The draft Plan should state that if there are TSO violations, the Tri-Valley jurisdictions can either: a) implement a specific plan (Le. road widening) to correct the LOS deficiency on that affected network segment; or b) implement other measures intended to result in measurable improvements in LOS on the Routes of Regional Significance network and contribute to significant improvements in air quality. With incorporation of these modifications, the Plan can be adopted as soon as possible to meet the deadline for the Contra Costa County Authority. 2 . "". 'Millie Greenberg, Chairperson Tri- Valley Transportation Council January 17, 1995 Page 3 . Again, we would like to thank you and the TVTC for doing a commendable job. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our representative to the Technical Advisory Committee, Mehran Sepehri. Sincerely, Guy S. Houston Mayor RCAlMS/mb Attach. cc: Bill van Gelder, City of Pleasanton Roger Henderson, CMA a:\jan\ 18tvtc 3