Follow Up Friday: EBI Pedestrian Path

EBI Path Traded Away, Nothing Gained

City Hall Promises Forsaken

Introducing a new Tattler feature: Follow Up Friday.  We look back on previous stories; what's happened after our spotlight shined on it?  If there was a problem identified, has it been solved?  Has there been no change and the amount of elapsed time made the issue newsworthy again by virtue of that fact?  Look to Follow Up Friday to wrap it all up or to highlight for us all how lame our city can be.

The City of Emeryville has reneged on its own requirement to spend $525,000 to build a replacement pedestrian amenity, money made in trade for removing a developer's requirement to build a bike path at a San Pablo Avenue construction project in 2016.  The EBI pedestrian path, a General Plan mandated pedestrian corridor would have connected 45th and 47th streets and helped pedestrians in the Triangle neighborhood make north/south connections in that notoriously disconnected neighborhood.

  

Last year at this time, we were informing readers about the folly of trading one pedestrian path that was to be built and paid for by a developer as part of a development agreement with the City with another much more expensive path close by that would cost the City more than $1 million more.  

The EBI Path was "in the can", all the details worked out and ready for construction.  Residents in the Triangle neighborhood would now be using the path except the City Council in April of 2016 voted to amend our General Plan to remove the path at the insistence of the Escuela Bilingue Internacional, a private school on San Pablo Avenue.

At the time, the City Council told Triangle residents they needed more exercise and the removal of the short-cut path would force them to walk more, a good thing.  Providing other reasons to remove the pedestrian amenity, the Council also stated the path would be a safety risk and asserted gang rapists would be lurking there.

Nonetheless, after giving away the path, the Council told Emeryville residents they would use the in-leau fees paid by EBI to instead make a replacement path connecting the same streets but further east.  The Tattler reported that switch would cost an additional million dollars at least but the City officially continued to work towards that goal.

Until recently.

The mid-block replacement connection nixed, City Hall has now also ruled out using the EBI money to open the long lost "Pickle Works" path connecting Doyle and 53rd streets, long a source of frustration for bikers and walkers seeking convenience in our town and once talked about as an alternate thing to spend the EBI money on.  High costs associated with seizing the property from a private land holder is cited as the reason.

Any replacement path would cost more than the $525,000 the City got from EBI and the budget being in turmoil at City Hall such that it is, it appears pedestrian needs, once traded away, will not be addressed by Emeryville. City Hall has no plans whatsoever to replace the lost EBI pedestrian path, the money remains unspent and pedestrian needs unmet.

EBI Pedestrian Path Now Requires Taxpayers Pony Up $1 Million

A 'Done Deal' Turns Into a 'Pie-In-The-Sky'

EBI Pedestrian Path Replacement to Cost More Than 
$1 Million 

News Analysis

On May 3rd the Emeryville City Council voted unanimously to amend our General Plan and Conditions of Approval for a private school to kill a needed pedestrian path in the Triangle neighborhood with promises to build a nearby and better replacement path sometime in the future.  A quick check into the costs associated with such a replacement (more than one million taxpayer dollars) however reveals a Council promise that will likely go unfulfilled.  And so the Emeryville City Council moved a much needed pedestrian infrastructure improvement from "in the bag" to "don't hold your breath".

Former Emeryville
Councilman
John Fricke
Identified the need
for better pedestrian
connections in the
Triangle Neighborhood.
He net us $525,000.

At their May 3rd meeting the Emeryville City Council finally made it official; at the request of Escuela Bilingue Internacional (EBI), a private school at 4550 San Pablo Avenue on the hook for building a public pedestrian path on their land behind their facility, the so called EBI pedestrian path between 45th and 47th streets is now gone, their Conditions of Approval and our General Plan having been amended by the Council to kill the path forever.  A finding of fact was inexplicably presented and entered into the record that the elimination of the path will "enhance the neighborhood".  
The Council, historically none too fond of pedestrian and bike paths, regardless, affirmed the need for a path connecting the two streets and they have assured the citizens they will build a new path further to the east to a more mid-block site, the problem with the EBI Path having been its location they tell us; too close to San Pablo Avenue.  What the City Council hasn’t told us however, is that whereas the EBI Path was a ‘gimme’, fully funded by EBI itself, the proposed mid-block path replacement will need to be funded by the taxpayers.  Further, the Council has not released a timeline on when they intend on building the new path.  The EBI Path, if it hadn’t been eliminated, would be here and being used by the community now.

Background

A pedestrian path at the EBI location was first brought to the fore by newly elected Councilman John Fricke, looking for ways to increase connectivity in the neighborhood in 2005.  The public thought so highly of his idea that they put it in the new General Plan along with a bike/ped path alongside of the Center of ‘Community’ Life that the City Council later eliminated (citing concern over gang rapists that frequently lurk on bike/ped paths).  The staff worked up a condition whereby any business newly locating and conducting a major remodel on the 4550 San Pablo Avenue building in question would be on the hook for building the path as part of a condition of approval.  A few years later, EBI having shown an interest in the site, entered into an agreement with the City of Emeryville to locate their school there and build the public pedestrian path.  EBI was irritated by the requirement to build the path even though they signed on to providing it and they made their grievances known to City Hall.  The Council, feeling their pain, voted to get rid of the path in 2012, presumably striking a blow against gang rapists trolling our bike/ped paths.  But the Council in their wisdom, kept EBI on the hook for the money in lieu of the path, determined to be $525,000.  That money was finally released in May after the Council amended the Conditions of Approval eliminating the path forever on the EBI site.

$525,000 In Lieu Of The Path…Sounds Like A Lot
The $525,000 the Council secured in the EBI negotiation in May has been set aside for the mid-block replacement path.  However it will not cover the added costs the City will incur by relocating it.  A breakdown shows a $1 million deficit at least.  Two existing homes, one on 47th Street and on directly behind it on 45th Street will need to be acquired by the City via eminent domain, torn down and then the path constructed.  A check of prices of homes in the Triangle neighborhood show an average of $700,000 to $800,000 for a total of about $1.5 million.  Combined with demolition and construction costs, the total approaches $2 million leaving a balance of at least $1 million perhaps as much as $1.5 million after the $525,000 credit is factored in.

Red Ink
The numbers show how little the $525,000 the City received will go in building a replacement path. Comparable Triangle Neighborhood home prices are from Zillow and other expenses are approximate:

Revenue:
$525,000

Expenses:
Buy Houses $1.5 million 
Demolition $50,000
Construct Path $250,000
Total $1.8 million

Balance:
-$1,275,000

Residents would be advised to question the City Council about how the public is being served by letting a needed pedestrian connection for the Triangle Neighborhood completed now and funded by agreement with a private party turn into a deal that puts us in the hole to the tune of $1 million +, done by hostile eminent domain destruction of established historic single family homes and completed in the distant future, if at all.

Long Awaited Pickleworks Path May Finally Connect Neighborhoods in East Emeryville

Use EBI Money to Open Pickleworks Path

Opinion
The single most widely recognized barrier to walkability in Emeryville has long been seen as the ever anticipated but never arriving 'Pickleworks path' proposed to connect the Doyle/55th Street dogleg with 53rd Street.  If the path was open to the public, as backers are wont to say, a six block detour for north/south traveling bikers and pedestrians would be removed and Emeryville would move a click or two towards validation for its claim of being "a connected place".
The path, starting on the north end between two buildings at the Doyle/55th corner and opening out into a parking lot off 53rd Street connecting north Hollis area with the residences at EmeryBay Village, was formerly accessible but closed when a private developer acquired and rehabbed the 'Pickleworks' building in 1999.  At the time, the City neglected to require the developer to open the path as a condition of approval for the Pickleworks project bringing howls from residents after the popular cut through was closed and gated. The developer has since resisted all attempts by a chastened City Hall to buy the land and re-open the path.  Calls have been made from residents, including from the Tattler, for the City to acquire the land by eminent domain but where City Hall once entertained the idea years ago, the latest Emeryville Capital Improvement Program didn't even list Pickleworks as a consideration.

Looking south through the normally closed
Pickleworks gates.

This ped/bike neighborhood connection path at Pickleworks is even more important now.  With the building of the Center of 'Community' Life on 53rd Street and Emeryville children from the North Hollis residential area detouring east to busy San Pablo Avenue to get to school, the City of Emeryville, who's General Plan cover page refers to the town as "a connected place" must finally open this vital neighborhood connection.

In another area of town, Emeryville fans of walkability lost another big battle a year ago.  That's when the City Council majority amended the City's General Plan to remove a required pedestrian path connecting 45th and 47th streets east of San Pablo Avenue, after a new private school, EBI on San Pablo Avenue, appealed to be let off the hook for building the required path as a negotiated part of their Planning Department approval process for their campus construction. At the time, EBI agreed to spend the money it would have spent on the 'EBI ped path' instead on some other unidentified pedestrian improvements along San Pablo Avenue.

We say EBI should instead pay for the connection at Pickleworks.  The City has a chance with this to correct a past mistake made by the City Council when they voted to reduce pedestrian connectivity by killing the EBI path and now move to greatly improve pedestrian and bike connection in our town at Pickleworks.  Let's finally bring this important neighborhood connection.

Emeryville Can't Have What Berkeley Has

Why Can't We Have What Berkeley Has?

Because We're Emeryville, 

We're Not as Good as Berkeley
Did You Forget?

Opinion

Greenway, Emeryville

At times, as an Emeryville resident, one can find oneself feeling a funny, unfamiliar feeling about one's city. You may have just breezed down the North-South Greenway and had a delightful chat with a neighbor. Or you passed by a piece of public art you've passed a thousand times before, but something new strikes you and you smile. You might stand out at the end of Point Emery and watch the sun set, enjoy a Community Services event at Doyle-Hollis Park, or hold a small get-together and the interesting people in attendance are not just friends from far away, but your neighbors.

This is civic pride. It can sneak up on you.

But don't start patting yourself on the back too quickly. If you start getting such feelings, there are those in town ready to set you right. Chief among them are our City Council members and our School District's Board of Trustees, who want you to remember that Emeryville simply can't have the things that our neighboring cities have. You shouldn't expect so much. We're just a commuter city. We should be satisfied that people from elsewhere are willing to slum it at our regional shopping centers.

The Embarcadero, San Francisco

San Francisco can install highly-visible green bike lanes on their Embarcadero, but Emeryville residents shouldn't get their hopes up. After all, what would CalTrans say if we did something crazy like that? And the repeated insistence of our Bike/Ped committee and our Planning Commission on getting a bike/ped path to break up a super block as part of the Emeryville Center of Community Life project, well that is really just too unreasonable. It's not like that path is in the General Plan or something---er, wait, it is--but still, next thing you know you'll be asking for a path to help get people off of San Pablo as they pass between 45th and 47th streets. That's certainly not possible, even if a private school were to be on the hook to pay for it. Simply impossible.

Harwood Creek - John Muir Elementary

If Emeryville residents got these sorts of things, then the next thing you know they would expect that they could have what Berkeley has. And we know that's not possible. Residents would get the idea that we could have a natural creek running through our school grounds where "children can be found working on art projects, participating in hands-on science experiments, writing in journals, or just playing a fun game of hide and seek."

Now you've completely moved into fantasy land. I mean, it's not like our little City has the power to redirect the path of natural waterways to suit its whimsy. Oh, wait, you mean to say that Temescal Creek already runs right through the Emery Secondary School site? The future site of the Emeryville Center of 'Community' Life? What?! So, we wouldn't have to move heaven and earth? Just bust up a little concrete and maybe try not to cram too many students onto the overcrowded site? Well, there you go again. Now you're thinking that we could have a separate, cute, school dedicated to just our elementary age students. I bet you'd want it tucked away in a residential neighborhood, away from the noxious fumes of San Pablo Avenue traffic, with a playing field, basketball courts, a play structure, and a garden. That's just crazy. Emeryville could never have that. If we did, we'd do whatever it took to shut it down.

Anna Yates Front Gate

Anna Yates Rear Gate

"Triangle Residents Need More Exercise"

Arrogance in the Council Chambers

EBI Pedestrian Path Dies  

Opinion
Emeryville residents watched with dismay April 2nd as four out of five city council members killed a required pedestrian path in the Triangle neighborhood against a ruling by the Bike/Pedestrian Committee and against the collective will of the people of Emeryville as reflected in their new General Plan.  The pedestrian connection, called the EBI Ped Path was appealed by exactly one person in our town of 10,000; a neighbor worried about safety.  After safety concerns were addressed and the council majority stood their ground, killing the EBI Path, many Emeryville residents were left unsure as to why the council deleted the path.

Nora Davis says: 
You people need to walk more 
and I'm here to help with that.

The council majority for their part did offer reasons, none of which were very cogent save one:  Citing the obesity epidemic and conjuring Marie Antoinette, Councilwoman Nora Davis opined, "Triangle residents need more exorcise"  given that with her vote, Ms Davis denies these residents the benefit of a pedestrian short cut through their neighborhood, forcing them to walk farther.


Another reason offered by the council majority that can be discounted out of hand is their contention that the EBI Path is "too close to San Pablo Avenue".  This idea flies in the face of the General Plan and it's primary charge to increase connectivity for our town.  It also cancels these same council members later vote to move a different pedestrian path closer to San Pablo at the Center of Community Life (ECCL).  Most of these council members at the same meeting voted to move the ECCL Path as close to San Pablo as the EBI Path would have been, apparently incapable of seeing the glaring irony.

Councilwoman Davis' snip, filled with executive hubris about Triangle residents needing more exercise may have offered a humorous respite from the tiresome and prejudicial proceedings in the council chambers April 2nd but residents are still left wondering why, really, they're not going to get their pedestrian path.

  "The city council is not supposed 

to deny the vast majority 

of what the people want 

based on some personal 
capricious whim."

We're going to take seriously comments given as an aside at the April 2nd meeting about this; these arrogant council members just don't personally like this EBI Path for whatever unspoken reasons and so they're using their authority to deny their fellow residents this neighborhood connection.
This is not how local government is supposed to work.  The city council is not supposed to deny the vast majority of what the people want based on some personal capricious whim.  Barring some new evidence come to light since the writing of the General Plan that would reasonably call into question the wisdom of requiring this EBI Path, and none was offered by either the staff or the city council, we say these council members are not free to vote like this.

Our General Plan should not be so easy to upend.  We need this city council to stop acting with such arrogance and give proper weight to the people's General Plan.
We thank Councilwoman Jennifer West for her deference to the people's will on this and we cast shame on her four colleagues for this narrow and arrogant application of governmental power.  

Planning Commissioner Offers Solution to Pedestrian Path Problem

Plan Straightens Ped Path, Takes Away 

Safety Problems

Will Detractors be Appeased?

Emeryville Planning Commissioner Sean Moss has waded into the imbroglio over the City Council's idea to remove a pedestrian path slated for the Triangle neighborhood with a creative fix for the much publicized safety concerns that have threatened the path with removal.  The pedestrian thoroughfare, the Escuela Bilingue Internacional path (EBI) was required to be built as a condition of approval for the private Spanish immersion school on San Pablo Avenue but it received complaints from two would be neighbors and as a consequence, City Hall proposed amending the City's General Plan to permanently remove the path.  Mr Moss previously appealed to his colleagues on the Planning Commission and the City Council to disallow removal of the path saying the path  comports with the General Plan's guiding principles.  One of the original complainants joined with Mr Moss and has spoken out against removing the path.

Commissioner Moss' new idea involves moving the EBI parking lot to take advantage of the property line jog and remove the jog from the pedestrian path, the main reason neighbors cited for safety concerns.  The idea would seem to render impotent the crime issues some City Council members glommed onto at their last meeting.

The Council will make their final decision on Tuesday night and this idea from Sean Moss should help inform the Council members as they consider amending our new General Plan.

Here is the letter from Commissioner Moss to the City Council dated Friday March 29th:


Hello Councilmembers:

As you consider alternate options for a mid-block pedestrian pathway between 45th and 47th Streets, I write to you to ensure that all options are considered.  

There has been much discussion since the EBI project was first submitted regarding the safety of the proposed pathway.  At the time EBI was approved, some residents advocated for a straight pathway to enhance safety.  Due to the existing configuration of the property, EBI claimed that they were not able to accommodate a straight pathway and the City Council, in their approval of the project, agreed that this option was not feasible.  I find it somewhat paradoxical that the Council is now considering eliminating the pathway based on safety concerns that were, in part, created during the Council's approval of the project.      

I submit to you one alternative design which I sketched out in about 10 minutes.  It is by no means the only alternative available, but it is meant to demonstrate that plenty of alternatives exist.  The design I have sketched out could easily be refined to include additional landscaping and to further enhance the pedestrian experience within it.  We accept these types of pathways through commercial parking lots frequently as a way to provide pedestrian circulation through a auto-dominated environment.  Several commercial parking lots in and around Emeryville have similar pathways.
The parking lot shown in this sketch would be a replacement for the existing northern parking lot.  The existing northern parking lot and the remainder of the large, contiguous area next to the existing building would be available to EBI for future development.

 Having previously worked as a consultant, I am keenly aware of the needs of property owners.  I have a good eye for master plans, and I worked very hard to develop an alternative which provides plenty of future expansion opportunity for EBI.  I am simply trying to demonstrate that an alternative exists with a straight pathway which makes sense for EBI.  EBI will most likely resist this alternative.  When I suggested it to John Horsch many months ago, he replied that "there was significant concern that it would impact future development opportunities."  I'll remind the Council that the "future development opportunities" which Mr. Horsch refers to have not been approved by the Planning Commission or City Council or analyzed under CEQA and thus should not garner any consideration from the City at this time.  
EBI may have begun preparation of an internal long-term master plan, but again, this master plan has not been approved or vetted by the City in any way.  The City Council's role is not to speculate about future development at EBI, but to make decisions that best serve the citizens of Emeryville based on current information and current entitlements. 

The Council is in an extremely good negotiating position at this point in time.  Any changes to EBI's current approval require approval of the City Council.  The City Council will not find itself in a better negotiating position regarding this pathway.  It would be irresponsible public policy to now eliminate all the public benefits of the project which the Council negotiated.  

Lastly, if the Council decides not to require EBI to build a pathway, I implore you to at least leave in place the Irrevocable Offer of Dedication (IOD) which has been recorded for the pathway.  IODs are commonly used instruments which allow a City or other entity to dedicate property at any point in the future.  Leaving the IOD in place would allow EBI use of their property, while still allowing the City to improve the pathway at any point in the future.  

There almost no downside to leaving the IOD in place.  EBI could use the portion of the property within the IOD for a variety of uses and in 30 or 50 or 75 years or any point in the future, the City could determine that it made sense to improve the pathway an would be free to do so.  We all know this is the only way a pathway will ever be developed on this block.  Moving the pathway in the General Plan makes the provision of the pathway almost certainly unfeasible.  
We have the opportunity now to provide the City with a resource which can serve the citizens of Emeryville when the conditions are right.  It would be incredibly short-sighted to eliminate this opportunity forever. At a minimum, please leave the IOD in place.  

I regret that I cannot attend the Council meeting on Tuesday since I have to attend the El Cerrito City Council meeting as staff of that city.  I ask that you please consider my comments and I would be happy to discuss them further with any of you.  

Thank you so much for your time,

Sean Moss

This rendering by Sean Moss shows the trajectory of the proposed EBI pedestrian path.
San Pablo Avenue is on the left and the path connects 47th Street (on the top)
and 45th Street (bottom).The new parking lot is at the bottom and the path traverses thorough the lot, shown by "zebra stripes". Parking slips are seen on the sides of the proposed lot.  The northern trajectory of the path can be seen with proposed tree plantings.

Planning Commissioner Calls On Colleagues to Save Pedestrian Path

Planning Commissioner Sean Moss is challenging his colleagues to disregard a city council move to amend Emeryville's General Plan in order to eliminate a proposed pedestrian path in the Triangle neighborhood.  The challenge comes in the form of a letter where Mr Moss calls on the rest of the Planning Commission to protect the General Plan's Guiding Principles, among which are the requirements to make Emeryville "a connected place" and a "walkable, fine grained city, emphasizing pedestrians."

The city council voted unanimously to eliminate the pedestrian route informally called the EBI Path on December 22, 2012 in an infamous decision reported by the Tattler.  The council received two complaints from adjoining neighbors to the proposed path, pitting them against the rest of Emeryville.  Emeryville's Bike/Pedestrian Committee, an advisory body, voted to save the path in a split vote on February 4th.

The city council will have one last vote to amend the General Plan and eliminate this path after the Planning Commission vote tonight.*  The vote will take place at City Hall at 6:30 PM.

Here is the letter from Sean Moss:

.                         .                         .                         .

Fellow Commissioners:

I regret that I cannot be present at the February 28, 2013 Planning Commission meeting.  However, I have several comments which I would like to relay to you.  This email will focus on my comments on Item V-A (Escuela Bilingue Internacional Pedestrian Path.)  I will hopefully follow this email with comments on other items.  I wanted to make sure that I had an opportunity to voice my comments on this item since I view it as the most important issue facing the Triangle Neighborhood. 

I want to iterate one point at the outset of my comments.  I will return to this point.  However, it is important enough to restate.  The City Council has the ability to require gates on this pathway.  The conditions of approval preclude the Council from requiring gates at the time of construction.  However, once the path is open, the Council can immediately make the case that a security concern exists and therefore require gates. 

As I sat down to review this item, I began with a review of the General Plan in order to asses the consistency of this amendment with the General Plan’s Guiding Principles.  I could not find even one Guiding Principle that this amendment is consistent with.  I encourage the Commission to review these Principles in considering this request.  The Guiding Principles call for “a connected place,” an “enhanced and connected open space network and green streets,” “a walkable, fine grained city, emphasizing pedestrians,” “a diversity of transportation modes and choices,” “a vibrant urban community,” and “a balance of regional and local amenities,” among other things.  The proposed pedestrian pathway will improve all of these areas.  Eliminating the pathway will negatively affect all of these Principles and the overall vision of the General Plan.  The inconsistencies with the Guiding Principles are so blatant, that I would hope that if this General Plan Amendment had been proposed by EBI, that the City staff would have never brought it forward with a recommendation for approval.  In examining the Guiding Principles, I cannot find a way that the Planning Commission can make findings for approval in good faith.  The findings contained in the draft resolution are obviously weak.  Since I could not in good faith make findings for approval I have drafted an alternate draft resolution that makes clear findings of denial based on the Guding Principles of the General Plan.  I have attached the resolution to this email.  Should a majority of the Commission present at the meeting come to similar findings, I hope that you will use this alternative resolution as a model for adoption. 

In addition to contradicting the Guiding Principles of the General Plan, I have the following concerns regarding the proposed amendment.  First, the General Plan was the result of a lengthy public process.  The Steering Committee worked countless hours developing the plan.  Many members of the community provided input.  The result is that we have a General Plan which represents the desired of many diverse stakeholders.  The General Plan enjoys wide support in our community. This support stems from the vision presented in the Plan’s Guiding Principles.  These principles establish the type of environment that our community wants Emeryville to be.  The proposed amendment does not satisfy, and in fact harms, that vision. 

The proposed pedestrian pathway provides an important, and currently non-existent, connection through the Triangle Neighborhood.  In fact, the pathway is the only thing preventing someone from walking from Ana Yates Elementary School to Berkeley without walking on a major street.  With Anna Yates in its current location, the proposed pathway will provide a safer route to school for children who live on 47^th and 48^th streets.  Currently, this route to school would take children onto San Pablo Avenue, an unsafe route for small children.  The pathway will also provide better access to Temescal Creek Park, which is currently being renovated.  I walk through the Triangle Neighborhood almost everyday and currently I rarely walk on 47^th Street because there is no connection within the neighborhood.  I enjoy Temescal Creek Park, but find it unpleasant to walk there on San Pablo Avenue and thus when I reach the end of Salem Street on 45^th, I turn around rather than walking on San Pablo Avenue, which is an unpleasant walking experience due to noise, pollution, litter, etc. 

Returning to the issue of the safety of the pathway, it is important to remember that crime is a temporal issue.  Crime rates ebb and flow over time.  However, connectivity and walkability are fixed and perpetual issues.  We will always need to physically move from one destination to another.  Human beings will always prefer the most direct route to their destination.  In this case that route is through a block.  It is not sound public policy to forever preclude the building of this pathway due to concerns over safety in the present time.  Concerns over safety may someday look quaint, and at that time we will hopefully not have forever eliminated an amenity for the community due to safety concerns today.  In addition, safety concerns can be mitigated through good design.  As I said at the outset, the City Council can require gates on this pathway.  The Council was wise in their crafting of the relevant condition of approval.  In order to appease the applicant, who wished to not build gates, the Council allowed for gates to be required in the future if safety became a concern.  This was a prudent action.  It would be a shame to now eliminate this pathway because the Council and/or the Commission feels that the pathway is unsafe before any evidence can be presented to show this.  This pathway is the only physical public benefit of the EBI project.  It will benefit the community and implement the General Plan.  This amendment will weaken the General Plan and prevent implementation of the Guiding Principles.  I doubt if any alterative public benefit could be identified which would so perfectly implement the Guiding Principles of the General Plan.  It for this reason that I cannot make the findings of approval for this General Plan Amendment. 

Sincerely,

Sean Moss

*NOTE TO READERS- the asterisk denotes a correction to a previous sentence that falsely claimed that the Planning Commission vote would be the final say in amending the General Plan.  The council will have the final say. -ED