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By Tim Hunt

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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...  (More)

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Big plans for the east side

Uploaded: Oct 22, 2013
A unanimous City Council last week approved moving ahead on environmental studies for East Side Specific Plan that covers about 1,000 acres.

The environmental impact will consider up to 2,279 homes, a total that is highly unlikely to be approved in the final version, but a critical number because the city and the school district both are expecting development to pay the freight for major infrastructure improvements. School officials have indicated they will want both a donated site and a developer-built elementary school.

For the city, the biggest infrastructure piece is extending El Charro Road to connect with Stanley Boulevard—a key link in the valley-wide road network, but an expensive one that will include an underpass for the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Planners estimate it will be a $60 million project. Then, toss in the various trails and parks that the city will require and you can see the need to plan for that many units.

About 600 of the 1,000 acres are exhausted gravel quarries that will have to be reclaimed before they can be used. Three of the lakes are owned by Zone 7 and will be part of its Chain of Lakes plan.

The key question will be whether residential or commercial uses can actually pencil with the heavy expense for infrastructure to say nothing of the challenges of doing business with the city of Pleasanton. Of course, given the desirability of the community, there will be builders eager to see if they can sharpen their pencils enough to bring new housing to market.

When the opportunity to build apartments opened up after the city was required to rezone additional land to meet its regional housing goals, developers have submitted numerous proposals. Of course, most of these projects utilize existing infrastructure and thus do not costs that likely will be involved on the east side.

So, for those potentially up in arms, take a deep breath. The process has a long way to go and there are still many more questions than answers.


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Comments

Posted by Winnie, a resident of California Reflections,
on Oct 23, 2013 at 10:35 am

Congratulations, Tim! The amount of enthusiasm shown for your column is reflected in the number of views it has gotten; and the absence of any oomment other than my own indicates that your words provoke a kind of speechless thought, which is something you should feel good boasting about.

Unlike most of your posts which have numerous grammatical errors, I've only found one in this current piece. Now, most of your errors tend not to be important because, after all, why should you or your readers care?

But today's error - at least I think it's an error, who knows? - is in what appears to be the most important sentence of your thought piece. It goes as follows:

"Of course, most of these projects utilize existing infrastructure and thus do not costs that likely will be involved on the east side."

As a life-long newspaper man, I'm sure you ... and your editors ... At any rate, it is writing like this that no doubt leaves readers absolutely spellbound and stupefied, especially if not exclusively the latter.


Posted by Winnie, a resident of California Reflections,
on Oct 23, 2013 at 10:38 am

Oooooooh, forgive me for editing! Not oomment but comment.

e.d.i.t.i.n.g.


Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of Alamo,
on Oct 23, 2013 at 5:32 pm

Tim: I hope you'll hoist one this evening -- a toast to the pedant's own petard. (boom)

I don't know how that flaw ever got through the platoon of copy-editors we have at our disposal. I'm guessing that yours are preoccupied with the running up your 'views' count. Deal with them harshly!


Posted by Cholo, a resident of Livermore,
on Oct 23, 2013 at 5:33 pm

I think that what he meany to sais that he been had mistaake in the pass but no now.


Posted by Carl Bernstein, a resident of Carlton Oaks,
on Oct 23, 2013 at 6:45 pm

When a self-professed newspaper man has to rely on a platoon of copy editors (no hyphen), then one wonders whether or not they are sleep walking through life.

Like teachers tell their students: re-read once or twice before turning in your work. Of course, their students don't face the onerous time pressures faced by the bloggers at PW.


Posted by Tom Cushing, a resident of Alamo,
on Oct 23, 2013 at 10:13 pm

@CB: I guess the sleepwalking 'they' must refer to the platoon, because the 'newspaperman' is singular. 'They' can do whatever you want them to do, since they don't exist (follow the money).

However, if you're ever over my way, please feel free to email any editings -- I find it difficult to proofread for both form and content, and we've traditionally had limitations as to matters like bolding and italics. We can now fix mistakes that we find after we post the blog, however, so fire away!.


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