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The San Ramon Planning Commission is set to conduct its first public hearing on the CityWalk Master Plan and its draft environmental impact report on Tuesday evening.
While no final action on either the master plan or the draft EIR is being proposed at the meeting, it is an opportunity for the public and the members of the commission to provide comments on the proposed project.
Written comments on the draft EIR will be accepted through July 2, after which city staff will prepare materials responding to concerns posed by the public. A public hearing would follow on July 21.
The CityWalk Master Plan is the policy and regulatory document that would guide proposed development in Bishop Ranch by Sunset Development Company to unfold over 25 years.
The project includes “4,500 dwelling units, a 169-key hotel, 166,000 square feet of commercial space, three new parking structures and publicly accessible, privately owned and maintained park and public spaces,” city division manager Lauren Barr said in a staff report to the commission.
Barr noted that 15% of the housing units will be deed-restricted to make them affordable for low-income residents, in compliance with city guidelines. In addition, Barr stated that with 95% of units being two-bedroom or less, the CityWalk project would have a lower occupancy rate than typical single-family developments.
The CityWalk Master Plan has been endorsed by the Greenbelt Alliance. This organization, which aims to create communities with healthy and affordable living while protecting the environment from sprawl development, stated that “the Master Plan is the kind of climate-smart development that we need in the Bay Area to meet our housing goals, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and make sure that local residents are able to grow and thrive in their own communities as housing costs rise,” according to Barr’s report.
In compliance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA( guidelines, a draft EIR was prepared and released for public review on May 19. The report found that the proposed CityWalk Master Plan “would not result in any significant unavoidable impacts as proposed,” provided that there is mitigation to “reduce potentially significant impacts regarding air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, paleontological resources, greenhouse gas emissions, hazards and hazardous materials, water quality, noise, and transportation,” according to Barr.
The Planning Commission meeting, to be held via videoconferencing only due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related shelter order, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday (June 16). It can be viewed online via Zoom here.
To offer written public comment, an email must be submitted to planningcommission@sanramon.ca.gov by 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Attendees will also be able to participate in public comment through the “raise hand” feature on Zoom.
In other business
* The commission will also conduct a public hearing on the proposed Camp Bow Wow project.
Staff recommends that the commission deliberate on and then adopt Resolution No. 08-20 to approve the proposed development of a single-story building and parking lot at 2040 Faria Preserve Parkway for Camp Bow Wow, an animal services entity with various dog services.
* The commission will continue the public hearing on the draft Crow Canyon Specific Plan Update.
After public testimony is heard, the public hearing will be continued on July 7. The update pertains to expanding the plan area to include six additional acres of land.
