City Council Meeting – 1/6/2009
UPDATE: The Dublin City Council approved the Sales Tax Reimbursement Program and Wallis Ranch Development Agreement on Tuesday night. Starting 2009, summaries of official decisions will be posted on Dublin Townhall.
The Dublin City Council will be meeting Tuesday night at 7pm in the City Council Chambers at 100 Civic Plaza. Tuesday night’s Council meeting has many critical items on the agenda, including (Cut-and-paste Alert):
- Economic Incentive Program / Sales Tax Reimbursement Program – if approved, this would be a bold and ambitious step by the City of Dublin to recruit new businesses that generate at least $100K/year of new net sales tax revenue per year. Existing businesses that add at least $100K of incremental net sales tax revenue by expanding or relocating within Dublin would also be eligible for the program. Essentially, businesses would receive up to a 0.5% sales tax credit to cover the cost of improvements to their property. This program would help to kick-start the re-development of the Downtown Dublin district (e.g., the Mervyn’s and Circuit City buildings).
- Dublin Promotional Marketing Brochure – Dublin’s Economic Development department will be rolling-out our new promotional marketing brochure entitled “Dublin – A Great Place to Grow!”. Please click on this URL link to check out the brochure (pages 2-11 in the Staff report). It is fantastic to see our Economic Development department taking additional steps to attract and retain businesses.
- Wallis Ranch (Phase I) – the City Council will be reviewing and most likely approving the Wallis Ranch Development Agreement which has the following key features: 1) Community Benefit Payment of $1M; 2) 15-year term vs. the standard 5-year term; 3) relocation and preservation/replacement of Antone School building; and 4) the affordable housing requirement will be satisfied by credits from the construction of The Groves.
- Request to Reduce the Density at Dublin Ranch North – the City Council will consider the developer’s request to initiate a study to reduce the number of units (and density) at the future Dublin Ranch North project from 68 units to 4 units and transfer the resulting 64 unit credit to other Dublin Ranch properties. The developer would like to create 4 estate homes on a 30-acre portion of the property and dedicate the rest of the 157-acre parcel into open space.
The decisions made at Tuesday night’s meeting will have a tremendous impact on Dublin’s economic vitality and growth over the next few years.
12:19 AM on January 6th, 2009
Brochure looks great. Kudos to Economic Development and Chris Foss. Very appropriate in depicting the opportunities and the beauty of our city. A video presentation that could be burned to a DVD or CD would also be nice a compliment to the packet.
2:00 AM on January 6th, 2009
$100K/year is still not quite the $500K/year we’d get had we not put a housing project on where Pac-n-Save used to be. Why didn’t we pursue Costco?
10:22 AM on January 6th, 2009
Thanks for posting the Comment Policy video, John Z. Perhaps Mayor Sbranti, who teaches government at Dublin High, can give Councilwoman Hildenbrand a refresher course on the Bill of Rights and the freedom of political speech.
10:25 AM on January 6th, 2009
I certainly support items 1 and 2. As for item 4, wow what a rare occurrence. Who knows, Council may deny it since it has too low of a density as we are so in love with the high density variety. Impact fees on 4 estates won’t be as juicy as for 68 units, as how our Council will see it. Sorry to be so sarcastic, but it is reality in Dublin.
10:30 AM on January 6th, 2009
The Pac-N-Save lot would have been way too small for a Costco type store. Besides, they would not put one there with one already nearby in Livermore and Danville. Last thing we need is another strip mall with a sea of asphalt parking like Hacienda, Grafton Station, Dublin Place and I can go on. Tralee in my opinion was nicely done, although I don’t like high density housing anywhere away from BART. Hopefully they will keep those units above the commercial area as for sale condos, instead of converting them to for rent apartments. It would ruin the ambience of the retail area below.
12:37 PM on January 6th, 2009
I feel torn about putting a Costco or Fry’s on the Tralee corner. On the one hand, those stores do not fit the upscale ambiance Dublin is trying to create; on the other hand, people can’t live off ambiance. Neither the Danville nor the Livermore location is as good as the Pac-n-Save location, so a Dublin storefront would have been great for Costco’s bottom line and, in turn, Dublin’s. I wonder if what George said about the Pac-n-Save loccation cost him that Council seat.
1:37 PM on January 6th, 2009
A healthy mix of big box discounts vs small scale high end retail. Too much of any is not healthy. Dublin already has an abundance of big box power centers but not much by way of main street retail. Tralee brings us a little bit of it, hopefully the Promenade and some form of Grafton Plaza will do the same to complement the many powers centers/strip malls of Dublin. I do agree that these powers centers will generate higher revenues for Dublin, it also brings us an abundance of low paying jobs, we then need to continue providing BMRs to house the work force.
9:10 PM on January 6th, 2009
Council just sold out the city by approving the Wallis Ranch development agreement for a mere One Million Dollars. They are using rates that date back to early 2000. What an utter disgrace.
1:10 PM on January 7th, 2009
Wallis Ranch, wow I am so dissappointed with that project. From the wrong mix of housing density to the $1mm fee to the 15 year agreement. All are not good for Dublin and its Citizens. Poor Poor decisions all around.
I see Wallis as the last viable parcel for a low density traditional SFR neighborhood. Now it is just like any other, dominated by Medium High Cluster homes to High Density and a mere sprinkling of low density homes with playable yards that will help attract and retain long term families from generation to generation. Our schools will never be top notch without traditional families and their children, families that will be involved with their kid’s education. Young professionals living in high density homes are too busy with career to spend much time with their kid’s education, if they even have kids at all yet. By the time they do they would have left town to more traditional neighborhoods in SR, Danville or Pleasanton.
5:59 PM on January 7th, 2009
if dublin city approved high density housing at wallis ranch, thats fine ! city should wisely spend additional money (from high density housing property taxes) to improve quaality of education and parks etc …
Otherwise some residents will move away to other places
6:38 PM on January 7th, 2009
Funny how that Dublin brochure didn’t include any photos of the weeds and yellow, dry patches of land near Camp Parks. Or the gridlocked congestion on the 580/680 interchange seemingly 24 hours a day. Or the Santa Rita Jail facilities. Or all the For Sale signs along Tassajara/Dublin, signifying the weak commercial real estate market. Or the postponed plans of The Green. Or all the unsold homes. Or all the trees blowing in the enormous gusts of wind that never seem to stop.
Look, I love Dublin, but that brochure had more fluff than a new housing development brochure. Focus on all the good, ignore all the bad. Of course they had to do it that way, but it’s still hilarious to see.
7:30 PM on January 7th, 2009
Not to be mean or anything, but I am really tired of seeing Kasie’s face on that video under “Around Dublin’s Comment Policy” on the right hand side of this blog.
It’s one of the reasons why I am not visiting as often because I am upset with her and don’t agree with the way she does things.
If there’s a way to put something more pleasant and less haggard, it’d be appreciated.
Thank you.
8:57 PM on January 7th, 2009
$1M is a low number if this will represent impact fees for the project. I don’t think it is. This figure represents extension of the project from 5 to 15 years. I favor this extension as new home inventory in Dublin will not be impacted by this project. I do hope that developer consider supply and demand when releasing units so as not to impact our Dublin home prices. If developers did not flood the market with new homes and did not offer tremendous incentives, maybe we would have not been in this mess. I would even give the extension for free to the Lin’s. The medium high density housing is my concern in this project. Condo units will adversely affect the home prices of low and medium density units in this project. I still have to see where condo units are in close vicinity with townhome and SFR units. Secondly, I don’t see enough parking spaces in the plot plans. Overflow parking will clog up the main and arterial streets of this project. Street parking makes it really undesirable for buyers to move in an area. Not just undesirable, it does create traffic and pedestrian hazards. Same problem we experience here at Willow Creek (Dougherty Rd.). I have also seen this type of issues in mixed residential areas of Pleasanton and San Ramon. Thirdly, condo units at this project that could probably turn in to apartment rental units are not the right place for Wallis Ranch. I hope they do change Medium High to Medium density.
9:13 PM on January 7th, 2009
Hi Jing – nothing should be given away for free! In all seriousness, you bring up some excellent points regarding the challenges with Medium-High density. I believe that the Development Agreement that was approved last night by the Council locked in the density for the project.
Thx, John Z.
1:15 AM on January 8th, 2009
Just want to add that we anticipate a buyers market for the next 5 – 10 years and maybe more. Similar to the late 80′s, early 90′s era. A mixed housing project such as the Wallis Ranch, tendency among high and medium end buyers is shy away from this type of developments. Low end buyer may be attracted at Wallis Ranch. When you get in that type of market, home price and up front cash becomes a big factor. Real Estate 101 is that you never buy a home close to cheaper homes. Be it a townhome or condominium units. The wise buyer with a good realtor will buy a home close to prestigious communities. The current Wallis Ranch mix will not have a problem selling 2 or 3 years ago. Chances are the Wallis Ranch SFR home prices will be pulled down by the multiple unit housing. The townhome unit home prices will be pulled down by the condominium unit housing. Direct result is that Dublin home prices will be affected overall. As comparable sales will be down. Dublin will not realized enough revenues from property taxes as a direct result. If the Lin’s are banking on another housing frenzy like the “Disneyland Days” to get more return on investment; as it looks like they are thinking it will happen in the next 15 years; that is definitely a myth. Unless Alan Greenspan gets appointed once again as Fed Chairman and we see those teaser rates/100% financing. Building Condominiums at Wallis Ranch is a big mistake for the Lin’s and Dublin as a whole. Maybe a mix 40% estate homes and a 30/30 medium density/single family residential is the right mix for Wallis Ranch and Dublin. Our city is in dire need of a signature estate home community to boost our home prices.
1:37 PM on January 8th, 2009
I could not have worded it any better Jing on your last comment.
No offense but when I look for my next home with a playable yard for my kids, it will be in a traditional neighborhood of other low density SFR homes and not next to Condos and Apartments where I will have to fight for park space for my kids and dodge all the cars going in and out of the neighborhood. Not to mention the unsightly view of cars lining both sides of a residential street.
If I wanted to live in a high density environment, I would buy a high density unit in a high density neighborhood or better yet in a neighborhood with some low density SFR mixed in, better for me. On the other hand, I would never buy a low density unit in a neighborhood that also has high density as it is not good for me and my family.
Look at Sorrento West, the larger SFRs priced near the $1mm range are not selling like the Condos and Townhomes and the smaller Courtyard SFRs, regardless of how well appointed they are. Why would I pluck down $1mm bucks to live in a crowded apartment like environment when I can get the same in SR or Pleasanton with larger lots and less crowded and cramped?
3:05 PM on January 9th, 2009
To Anonymous from January 7, 2009 6:30 PM,
I happen to think Kasie looks presentable for her age and stature. The lighting of the video is not flattering on anybody, but she has the right to express her opinion just like everybody else. Also, Kasie has done a lot of great work in our city for the past decade long before she started serving on the Council. The one that comes to mind is Emerald Glen Park. Why not reach out to her and see if you can work out whatever issue you may have with her or the decisions that she has made? Like it or not, she’s our representative for the next four years, and it’s to everyone’s advantage that we work with her.
6:06 PM on January 9th, 2009
Oh, please, let’s not stoop to making comments about people’s looks. That should be beneath even the rudest anonymous commenters on this blog! Besides, if anyone is going to get blasted for looking unpleasant and haggard, I suspect it will be me. So back off!
Tim Hall
Dublin, CA
tiger650@comcast.net
10:01 PM on January 9th, 2009
Hi Tim – after putting in a 14+ hour work-day today, I’d say that I’m the one that could be blasted for looking haggard. ;-p
Thx, JZ
11:05 PM on January 9th, 2009
Like I’ve said before, we need to keep the personal stuff out as really it does nobody any good. Stick to the topics and issues at hand, we’ll have better dialogue and productive conversations. Your complaints/gripes/concerns will be taken more seriously.
11:34 PM on January 9th, 2009
Amen… To that
5:24 PM on January 10th, 2009
You’d have to wonder what did the Silvera residents ever do to Kasie Hildenbrand to make her vote in favor of condos, condos, and more condos directly across those nice single-family homes up in the North.
11:12 AM on January 11th, 2009
Anyone with common sense in terms of Community building/City Building knows that anything other than low density single family has no business being way back there far away from the Freeway and any Mass Transit. Tassajara will be nightmare 15 years from now.
BTW: It is conceivable you will see BART to Livermore before we see anything or realize any revenues from Wallis. 15 years is absurb. Well the bright side is Residents along Tassajara and at Silveira Ranch gets a longer reprieve before their neighborhood, street and quality of life tanks due to Wallis Ranch. Maybe we should have granted them 30 years instead. I’d rather see dirt there with no revenue then even the possibility of medium high residential ever being built. Still no revenue with a measly $1mm that is Trump change for the developer compared to what they will make 15 years from now with the condo dominated project. Their profits will be at the expense of current Condo owners/residents (over saturated market for similiar products) of Dublin who will never see any direct benefits from the $1mm. Remember that this is not all, look at Sorrento East, Grafton Plaza, DiManto Property, The Groves Phase II, Fallon Village, Camp Parks. Condos, Condos and Apartments and Apartments. One trick pony we are when it comes to residential mix.
12:36 PM on January 15th, 2009
NOTICE OF SCHOOL BOARD MEETING TONIGHT AT 6:30 PM.
I know some folks are interested in the Kolb Elem. discussion. It is on the agenda for tonight, but as the last item. If people show up, I may be able to get it moved up on the agenda so you aren’t waiting until 10 PM. Send me an email if you want that. Thanks.
John L.
LedahlJohn@dublin.k12.ca.us