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Home My WebLink About8.1 GPA Study ACSPA CITY CLERK File # 0420-30 AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE' May '16, 2000 SUBJECT: Request by Alameda County Surplus Property Authority to Initiate a General Plan Amendment for a 91 acre site, located generally between Arnold Drive, Dublin Boulevard, the former Union Pacific Railroad Right of Way and 1-580 and to consider Eastern Dublin Specific Plan Amendments for Site 15 adjacent to the above property. Report Prepared byEddie Peabody Jr., Community Development Director ATTACHMENTS: 1. Letter from Stuart Cook, Alameda County Surplus Property Authority dated May 2, 2000 (with maps) 2. Resolution initiating General Plan Amendment Study for the Alameda CoUnty Surplus Property Authority site. RECOMMENDATION: 1. Receive Staff presentation and public testimony 2. Question Staff and the public 3. Adopt Resolution initiating a General Plan Amendment Study as recommended by Staff (Attachment 2) or 4. Instruct the applicant to refile the request in September, 2000 FINANCIAL STATEMENT: None at this time. Applicant will be required to pay fees and deposits for Staff and Consultant review of subsequent entitlements. DESCRIPTION: Mr. Stuart Cook of the Alameda County Surplus Property Authority is requesting a General Plan Amendment Study for the area located between Arnold Drive on the east, Dublin Boulevard on the north, the Union Pacific Railroad Right of Way on the west and 1-580 on the south. The chart below summarizes the present General Plan designation and the applicants proposed General Plan designations. (;eneral Plan Present I)esignation i A~ri~ulture In Acres Proposed Applicant Designation 91 ................ High Density Residential and Campus Office .in Acres 91 The Alameda County Surplus Property Authority originally acquired this property from Camp Parks in 1991 and 1996. It comprises the immediate property adjacent to the Pleasanton/Dublin BART Station. In the applicant's letter, reference is made to the proposal to designate portions of the BART Station site for various land use designations. A proposed new BART parking structure would be built on a portion of the Alameda County Surplus Property Authority and BART property; in return for which Alameda County Surplus Property Authority would develop portions of the BART property for office and COPIES TO: Alameda County Surplus Property Authority In-House Distribution ITEM NO. residential uses. In addition, it is proposed by Alameda County Surplus Property Authority to transfer some residential units now on Site 15 of the present Eastern Dublin Specific Plan to this proposed General Plan Amendment under consideration; thus allowing the remainder of Site 15 next to the Sybase site to be redesignated for office use. The summary request by Alameda County Surplus Property Authority is to initiate a General Plan Amendment Study for the described area and to consider an amendment to the present Eastern Dublin Specific Plan area to include the subject area within this Specific Plan. Development in the new General Plan area and including Site 15, 16A, and 16B of the existing Eastern Dublin Specific Plan area would total 4,000,000 square feet of office, 70,000 square feet of commercial uses and a total of 1,700 residential units. Present General Plan & Specific Plan Amendment Conditions The present General Plan designates this area as Agricultural (based on its earlier Camp Parks ownership). A Specific Plan has not been applied to the property. The present Eastern Dublin Specific Plan Area designation for residential uses in Site 15 would be changed by the proposal and the residential uses presently shown (864 units) would be transferred to this area. General Plan Amendment designations for the property described would permit office, some retail and residential uses. Evaluation The timing and processing of this General Plan and Specific Plan Amendment project comes at a time when Staff is heavily involved in Downtown, West Dublin and large scale planning projects. Below is a list of present projects underway as a part of the adopted 2000 City Council Goals and Objectives: ~- ................................ l'roje-~'i ........................... l.. Time Required i Council Priority Tri-Vall~3) Vision ~0)'ect 12 months 'High "' Process $175 million of new development 12 months High Village Parkway Specific Plan Amendment 9 months High West BART Station Specific Plan Amendment 6 months High Downtown Core Specific Plan Amendment 6 months High Downtown Physical Improvement Plan 6 months after Specific Plan High Completion Housing Implementation Program 9 months High New Housing Element 2 years High West Dublin Sphere of Influence Study 2 months High West Dublin General Plan Amendment 7 months High Tassajara Road Annexation 11 months High Telecommunication Study 12 months High Major Current Planning Projects Shea Shopping Center DiManto Commercial Area Shamrock Village Shopping Center Sybase Archstone Apartment Complex Home Depot Expo Dublin Nissan Marriott Hotels (Dublin Blvd.) West Dublin BART Station (La Salle) Kindercare All of the referenced projects are high priority projects. This proposal from Alameda County Surplus Property Authority (Eastern Dublin Transit Center) was designated as a medium priority by the City Council for the year 2000 Goals and Objectives. The square footage of proposed uses (4 million for office, 70,000 for retail uses and 1,700 units) is not the subject of this General Plan Amendment Study request. These issues would be resolved during the preparation of specific General Plan Amendment and Specific Plan Amendment proposals for review by the Planning Commission and the City Council. Staff has concluded that it is appropriate to initiate this General Plan Amendment Study. The proposal has significant merit. However, the critical issues are the timing and processing of this project. Given present priorities there is little Stafftime available except to initiate the study, commence a major environmental evaluation and wait for sufficient Staff time to be available when the Specific Plans are completed in the fall of 2000. Consultants could handle the beginning work. Options: The City Council needs to determine whether this General Plan Amendment Study should be authorized at this time. A full workload by Staff is the predicted outcome until Fall of 2000. The Council may wish to consider the following: Initiate the General Plan Study now (Resolution - Attachment 2) Instruct the applicant to return in September 2000 to initiate said General Plan Amendment Study. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the City Council hear staff presentation, take testimony from the public, question staff and the public, adopt the Resolution (Attachment 2) initiating a General Plan Amendment Study as recommended by Staff or instruct the applicant to refile the request in SePtember, 2000. ALAMEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY SURPLUS PROPERTY AUTHORITY Adolph Martinelli Agency Director Patrick Cashman Project Director 224 West Winton Avenue Room 151 Hayward California 94544-1215 phone 510. 670.5400 fax 510. 670.6529 co.alameda.ca.us/cda May 2, 2000 Eddie Peabody City of Dublin Community Development Department P.O. Box 2340 Dublin, CA 94568 SUBJECT: Dublin Transit Center General Plan Amendment Initiation Dear Eddie: The Alameda County Surplus Property Authority, in conjunction with, BART, is requesting that the City initiate a General Plan Amendment and an amendment to the Eastern Dublin Specific Plan to permit the development of a transit- oriented, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use development on property owned by the Authority and BART, directly adjacent to the Pleasanton/Dublin BART station. The Authority is proposing the amendment of the General Plan and Specific Plan to permit the development of up to 1,700 housing units, four million square feet of office, and up to 70,000 square feet of ancillary retail uses, all within easy walking distance of BART and a major regional bus hub serving the greater Tri- Valley area. Most of the existing BART surface parking north of the station is proposed to be replaced with a parking garage, to be located adjacent to the station and 1-580, with a net increase of 500 spaces over the existing number of BART parking spaces. These additional spaces will reduce the need for an equivalent number of spaces at the proposed West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station, significantly reducing the cost of that station. The Eastern Dublin Specific Plan (EDSP) contains many goals and policies deSigned to promote the type of development being proposed as part of the Dublin Transit Center. However, because much of the Transit Center property was owned by the U.S. Army at the time the EDSP was prepared, the BART 'station and adjacent property were not included in the original Specific Plan. The proposed Specific Plan/General Plan Amendment remedies this situation by modifying the boundaries of the 3,300 acre Specific Plan area to add approximately 91 acres that encompasses lands north of 1-580, east of the Iron Horse Trail/Southern Pacific right-of-way, west of Arnold Road, and south of Camp Parks and Dublin Boulevard. These lands WOuld be designated for a mix of high-density residential, campus office, and ancillary retail uses. The high densities proposed in the Amendment are in recognition of the unique opportunity the BART station brings to the Transit Center. ATTACHMENT i Eddie Peabody May 2, 2000 Page 2 As part of the SP/GP Amendment, the land use designations on several parcels within the current boundaries of the Specific Plan would also be modified. Site 15, located north of Dublin Boulevard, between Hacienda Drive and Arnold Road, is currently designated for high density residential uses, although a portion of the Site is currently being considered to be re-designated for Campus Office uses. Site 16, located to the south of Dublin Boulevard between Hacienda Drive and Arnold Road, is currently designated for campus office, with a FAR of.85, permitting up to 1.962 million square feet of office space. The Amendment proposes to transfer residential density now assigned to Site 15 to the area directly north of the BART' station, significantly reducing the walking distance to the station for future residents. Site 15 would then be "backfilled" with a portion of the campus office designation now assigned to Site 16, keeping the same total square footage of office development but reducing the overall FAR. Overall, the proposed General Plan/Specific Plan Amendment would result in an additional two million square feet of office space, 500. additional housing units, and 70,000 square feet of ancillary retail uses, above and beyond the amount of development already planned for in the existing Specific Plan. Attached are two exhibits showing the existing and proposed land uses. While we think you would agree that the proposed Transit Center is an important undertaking, we understand that City staff resources are already strained by ongoing planning and development projects, and we are ready and willing to work with you to ensure that this project does not draw away staff resources from other projects now before the City. Of course, the Authority understands that we will need to pay for the City's costs for the entitlement process, including any necessary contract planners and/or consultants. We look forward to working with you on this important project. Very truly yours, Project Planner Attachments cc: Rich Ambrose Adolph Martinelli Pat Cashman EMERALD POINTE BUSINESS PARK CAMP PARKS FORMER RIhlll cji' WAY SOUTHERN PAt II lC RAIl ROAD SCARLET]? COURT INDUSTRIAL AREA DUBLIN/ PLEASANTON BART S T ATION ALTAIvIIRANO (CITY OF PLEASANTON) VILLAS AT EMERALD P ARK LEGEND GENERAL PLAN : PUBLIC US ZONING : AGRICULT EXISTING EAST DUBLIN SPECIFIC PLAN LAND USE DESIGNATIONS J_~ACIENDA CROSSINGS EXISTING LAND USE DUBLIN TRANSIT CENTER ALAMAEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AGEN SURPLUS PROPERTY AUTHORIq D u b I i n , C a I i f o r n i May, 20 CENTRAL PARKWAY PROPOSED -- SUB STATION EXISTING SUB STATION EXISTING BART DUBLIN/PLEASANTON BART STA- TION ALTAMIRANO ROAD LEGEND EASTERN DUBLIN SPECIFIC PLAN DBSIGNATI( CAMPUS OFFICE PUBLIC~ SEMI-PUBLIC RETAIL ENCOURAGED AS GROUND FLOOR USE ALONG IRONHORSE PARK% PROPOSED LAND USE DUBLIN TRANSIT CENTER ALAMAEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AGEN SURPLUS PROPERTY AU THORI] D u b I i n , C a I i f o r n i '.---- , May, 20 RESOLUTION NO. - O0 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN INITIATING A GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT STUDY FOR PROPERTY OWNED BY THE ALAMEDA COUNTY SURPLUS PROPERTY AUTHORITY WHEREAS, a General Plan Amendment Study has been requested by Smart Cook on behalf of the Alameda County Surplus Property Authority for 91 acres located generally between Arnold Drive, Dublin Boulevard, the former Union Pacific Railroad Right of Way and 1-580. The predominate land use designations proposed for this area are General Commercial and High Density Residential uses; and WHEREAS, the applicant will be required to pay all processing costs associated for the General Plan Amendment and Specific Plan Amendments Study; and WHEREAS, additional entitlements including an East Dublin Specific Plan Amendment, Rezoning, and other associated permits will need to be processed before development can occur; and WHEREAS, Section 65358(a) of the State of California Government Code states that an amendment to the General Plan shall be in a manner specified by the legislative body; and WHEREAS, the initiation request has been reviewed in accordance with the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and was found to be Categorically Exempt under Section 15306, Class 6 of the State CEQA Guidelines; and WHEREAS, the staff report submitted one recommendation that the City Council initiate a General Plan Amendment Study for the Alameda County Surplus Property Authority properties; and WHEREAS, the City Council did hear and consider all such reports, recommendations and testimony herein above set forth and is in support of a General Plan Amendment Study to determine the appropriate land use and General Plan designation for the property before making a decision as to the merits of requested specific entitlements. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Dublin City Council does hereby initiate a General Plan Amendment Study for the Dublin Land Company properties with the direction that the applicant prepare general plan designation proposals for all of the area located at Arnold Drive on the east, Dublin Boulevard on the north, the Union Pacific Railroad Right of Way on the west and 1-580 on the south, as well as appropriate amendments to the Eastern Dublin Specific Plan. PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED BY the City Council of the City of Dublin, on this 16th day of May, 2000 by the following votes: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTEST: City Clerk Mayor 2 K/G/5-16-OO/rcso~alaco-gpa.doc ATTACHMENT 2