Pleasanton City Council Approves MOU to Approve Access to Pleasanton Ridge

PLEASANTON, CA — The Pleasanton City Council voted in June in favor of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) designed to add a new trail to the Pleasanton Ridge.

“We are pleased to be moving forward with this project to improve public access to our open space on the Pleasanton Ridge,” said Brian Dolan, Assistant City Manager for Pleasanton, adding “and we have worked to address all of the concerns raised by the impacted parties.”

In 2014, the EBPRD acquired the 231-acre Castleridge Property as a way to increase the size of public open space on the Pleasanton Ridge and provide an additional access point to the Ridge and its existing trails system. Since that time, City staff has been working with EBRPD to negotiate the terms of an MOU to address the variety of issues related creating a new access point.

After making its way through the City of Pleasanton/EBRPD Liaison Committee and the Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Trails Committee, both of which voted unanimously in support of the MOU, the Parks and Recreation Commission voted against the MOU, expressing consternation with respect to the aesthetics of restrooms, concerns about potential impacts to the Alviso Adobe activities, and the location of the proposed new access point.

In addition to giving EBRPD license to access the trail, the MOU proposes new parking, a restroom and a water fountain to accommodate more visitors to this expanded public open space; specifically, the MOU proposes to convert Old Foothill road to a southbound, single-lane, one-way street and use the existing “extra lane” to provide 45 – 50 parallel parking spaces; creates a new access point to the Ridge immediately west of the Alviso Adobe Community Park; and a commitment from EBRPD to construct an additional trailhead , known as the Garms Staging Area, located approximately one mile to the north, within five years.

In approving the MOU, the Council made it clear that they considered the proposed improvements to be “interim” and directed staff to continue to work with EBRPD to find an alternative location for trail parking off of Old Foothill Road.

The Council vote was unanimous.

Announcement submitted by Bay City News

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