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Home My WebLink About8.3 SB 343 March 11 , 2014 /ft Gti�� Of DUe 4 19 —w—i 82 SB 343 Senate Bill 343 mandates supplemental materials that have been received by the Community Development Department that relate to an agenda item after the agenda packets have been distributed to the Planning Commission be available to the public. This document is also available in the Community Development Department, the Dublin Library, and the City's Website. The attached document was received in the Community Development Department after distribution of the March 11 , 2014 Planning Commission meeting agenda packet. March 11, 2014 Item #8.3 Kristi Bascom From: Mark Pilarczyk <mpilarczyk @roemcorp.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 4:16 PM To: Kristi Bascom; Jeff Baker; Linda Smith Subject: Planning Commission - PLPA-2013-00073 Amendments to the Downtown Dublin Specific Plan (DDSP) Good evening Kristi,Jeff, and Linda, Due to a scheduling conflict I will not be able to attend the Planning Commission meeting tonight and therefore cannot express my concerns in person. In an effort to provide my opinion, I wanted to submit to you this email in writing and strongly urge you to reconsider a small portion of the language in the Amendment to the Downtown Specific Plan (DDSP). My concern is with the line that states: "and restrict residential development west of San Ramon Road in the Retail District." As you may know, I am a strong supporter of increasing the residential unit allocation and think redevelopment within the downtown area of Dublin is critical to longevity while reviving and improving the commercial experience and lifestyle in the City of Dublin. Below are items that indicate why this portion of the language should be removed, and why you should consider including the properties west of San Ramon Road for receiving the residential unit allocation and potential residential redevelopment in this specific area: • There are many sites located west of San Ramon Road that abut existing residential uses. The potential expansion of these residential uses makes additional residential development logical, while prohibiting it would actually isolate the existing older retail and make it more dysfunctional. • The potential for future redevelopment in the area west of San Ramon Road is more appropriately seen as its highest and best use with multifamily residential and possibly office providing an adequate basis of population (renters/owners/employees) to make the core retail in the area continue to thrive while also filling existing vacant commercial space in the center of the downtown core area/Retail District. San Ramon Road creates a natural barrier/buffer from the denser commercial uses and provides a transition from the downtown core retail area to the multifamily and single family residences that currently exist on the west side of San Ramon Road. I strongly urge staff, Planning Commission, and City Council to seriously reconsider including the language which restricts the potential of redevelopment with residential uses west of San Ramon Road. Sincerely, Mark Pilarczyk Acquisitions Manager I..LED Green Atisoritrtt' ROEM Development Corporation 1650 Lafayette Street Santa Clara,CA 95050 T 408.984.5600 x 30 F 408.984.3111 www.ROEMcorp.com Pit',Nt cee,tfit'r the e;tt'tr>>'tittti`rt i efi}f't*pi Ha Iltti muffl. 1 2 4) DUBLIN SCHOOL , rp:i n DUBLIN UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT T 7471 Larkdale Avenue, Dublin, CA 94568-1599 • 925-828-2551 • www,dublin.k12.ca.us All Dublin Students will RECEIVED Become Lifelong Learners MAR 0 6 2014 March 4, 2014 Luke Sims, AICP DUBLIN PLANNING Community Development Director City of Dublin 100 Civic Plaza Dublin CA 94568 Re: Impact of Zone Changes Dear Mr. Sims, Thank you for your letter of February 7, 2014, and for seeking information from the Dublin Unified School District concerning the foreseeable impacts of proposed land use/General Plan Amendments, including but not limited to the Downtown Dublin Specific Plan Amendment, on the District's ability to house students generated by new residential development. As we previously discussed, the District's facilities are severely impacted by the continuing,influx of additional students to the District resulting in virtually every school in the District being at or over capacity. This has required the addition of portable buildings each year to house the additional students. Last year, for instance, the District enrolled an additional 1000 new students requiring an additional 12 portable classrooms throughout the District. Anticipated Student Generation Overall, the project areas under consideration, Downtown Dublin Specific Plan, Dublin Ranch Sub Area 3, Fredericsenk, The Green at Park Place, The Groves Lot 3, Heritage Park, Schaefer Ranch Unit 3, and the Transit Center Site A-1, are proposed to generate a total of 975 students from 3,628 units, 400 more than the current densities for those areas would generate, These are the "high" generation rates which District enrollment has consistently exceeded. The District anticipates that the Downtown Area General Plan Amendment alone will generate an additional 442 students, 243 at the elementary level, 93 at the middle school level, and 106 at the high school level. The District does not have the capacity to house these additional students, nor does it have the resources to increase that capacity sufficiently to add enough classrooms to house these students. Current Capacity Looking just at the elementary level, Dublin Elementary School will be faced with 272 new students from these project areas, and it is already short forty seats, well over a full classroom. The District plans to add six portable and six permanent classrooms to this school to house growth anticipated WITHOUT these changes in density. Frederiksen Elementary School anticipates growth of 10 new students from the Transit Center Site A-1, Even without this growth, it has had to convert a computer laboratory to classroom space this year. Dougherty Elementary School will be faced with 69 additional students from these zone changes, particularly from The Green at Park Place. Dougherty has already needed six portables this year for additional growth without these density changes. Kolb School will require space for an additional 181 students from Dublin Ranch Sub Area 3 and The Groves, Lot 3. Even without this additional enrollment, it has no available space with enrollment of over 1000 students. District Lack of Resources to Meet Capacity Needs The lack of a state bond for school construction has placed tremendous pressure on the District to meet the challenges of continuing growth in residential population and resulting student enrollment. A major step in addressing Dublin's current challenges for housing students and maintaining the quality of education provided is a new state school bond. Ironically, the District has also been unable to assess development impact fees that would fully mitigate the cost of housing new students from these new projects. Under the Education Code provisions for development impact fees, these fees were supposed to increase from meeting 50% of the cost of school facilities (Level 2) to 100% of the cost of new school facilities (Level 3) when state bond funds were no longer available. That change has been forestalled, leaving impacted districts throughout the state, including Dublin, struggling to meet the cost of school facilities to house new students from new development without the state providing its 50% of the cost of those facilities. Another option would be to remove the artificial limits on development impact fees all together, returning the District, and other districts throughout the state, to the option of developers providing full mitigation of the impacts of new development on school capacity. Other options for mitigation of these impacts include the formation of a Mello Roos Community Facility District through which future residents can repay a bond measure issued by the CFD to pay for school facilities, funding through mitigation agreements with developers, or further impacting the education of all students by the District being forced to increase class sizes and decrease the learning resources at schools in order to house more students. Facilities do impact learning, and having adequate facilities is critical to the quality of learning in Dublin's schools. We thank you again for the opportunity to address this issue before action by the Planning Commission or City Council and look forward to working with the City on ways to maintain and improve the quality of education provided in the District's schools while addressing the need for additional housing within the City. Sincerely, B v y Heironimus Assistant Superintendent, Business Services Dublin Unified School District cc: Steve Henke Kim McNeely