Thank you Matt for the great update below on the poorly noticed community meeting in October and advice on how to stop this unnecessary rezoning of 40 acres into a traffic congested big box retail center! "Thank you to all that came to the Neighborhood Meeting last night about Costco/Johnson Drive EDZ. For those of you that could not make it, the city staff presentation of this project left something to be desired. They tried to downplay the project, did not want to focus on a potential Costco or other big box store, were not forthcoming about the approval process, and tried to dodge several questions asked by the public. The Planning Staff that ran this meeting are all new to Pleasanton, and while I had disagreements over the almost 20 years of working with the “old guard” staff (now mostly retired) as a citizen activist, Planning Commissioner, and City Councilmember, the were always respectful and largely honest with the public. Not this bunch. It’s clear that this project is being driven by staff and the developer Nearon. The goal for staff is to reap the sales tax revenue from a big box store and the occupancy taxes from a hotel, which would indeed be substantial. So much so that they are willing to provide “incentives” to the developer and new businesses that will occupy the EDZ – such as relief from the costs for roadway and freeway improvements necessary to mitigate traffic, or a discount property tax rate. As I pointed out last night, this is a public subsidy for developers and private businesses which will be paid for by you and me. The city says they have done a fiscal study that demonstrates that even with subsidies the net revenue to the city would be beneficial. So even if that’s true, it seems that they are willing to sacrifice northwest Pleasanton and our quality of life to get a few extra bucks in the city’s coffers. Approximately 30-40 people attended the meeting, which was more than I expected based on the poor notification by the city, a 49’er game, and a DSRSD meeting that many Val Vista folks attended. However, all in attendance were adamantly opposed to the project. Many people spoke and raised concerns about traffic, noise, air quality, impacts on neighborhood quality of life, and the inappropriate use for that location. No one was chanting “I want a Costco!” Surprisingly, several business owners who already are located along Johnson Drive attended and spoke out against the project and questioned how the EDZ would impact their existing businesses. Some were not even notified by the city that this was being considered! Beyond the direct impacts this project will have, the process the city is using to approve this is very troubling. They continue to downplay this as a simple “rezoning” and are assuring that Costco or no other business has submitted a formal application. What they didn’t explain last night – until I asked about it – is that once the rezoning is approved, which will contain a list of “permitted uses”, the city staff can unilaterally approve anything that comes forward on the list, whether a Costco or Super-Walmart – without City Council OR public notification or review. In addition, this process would prohibit the public from overturning these approvals by voter referendum. The only way anyone would know this would be if you read a once per month published list from the so-called “Zoning Administrator” (a city planner). This is buried in the Planning Commission agenda packet and you would truly have to be eternally vigilant to find out that a project is approved. The city is using a very sneaky process designed to limit transparency and avoid public oversight of city and developer actions. The good news is that the city has agreed to hold another neighborhood meeting (date and location not yet determined) and to extend the EIR comment period to Nov. 16th. Please send your concerns about this project to the City Council at citycouncil@cityofpleasantonca.gov and the lead Planner, Eric Luchini, at ELuchini@cityofpleasantonca.gov. And please come to the next neighborhood meeting – I will send a note when it is announced. We can’t win against the legalized bribery known as campaign contributions to City Councilmembers from the developers, big box store owners, and the Chamber of Commerce. THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THIS PROJECT IS IF ENOUGH PEOPLE SHOW UP TO THESE MEETINGS TO PUT THE FEAR OF GOD IN THE CITY COUNCIL THAT THEY MIGHT LOSE THEIR JOBS!" - Matt S.