3A Public Hearing 2009 0302 - Laserfiche WebLink

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TRANSF®RNI ~ ~~ WORLD-CLASS PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. WALKABLE COMMUNITIES. Monday, December 22, 2008 Mayor Tony Santos, San Leandro City Councilmembers, And Planning Commissioners 835 East 14th Street San Leandro, CA 94577 RE: San Leandro Crossings Project Dear Mayor ,Santos, Councilmembers, and Planning Commissioners: TransForm would like to express its support of the San Leandro Crossings development proposal. This proposal will create for the community necessary walkable, affordable housing options near the San Leandro BART Station. TransForm (formerly TALC, the Transportation and Land Use Coalition) works to create world- class public transportation and walkable communities in the Bay Area and beyond. For the past 11 years, we have built diverse coalitions, influenced policy, and developed innovative programs to improve the lives of all people and protect the environment. Through our participation in the Great Communities Collaborative, TransForm is committed to shaping a Bay Area of vibrant neighborhoods with affordable housing, jobs and services within a safe and convenient walking distance to transit. TransForm supports The Crossings development proposal as a project that will help to realize this vision for San Leandro. As part of our work in the Great Communities Collaborative, TransForm conducted traffic analysis of Phase I of the project using the URBEMIS traffic modeling system. We found that this project would result in 48.7% fewer driving trips and 49.3% less C02 emissions compared to a same-sized development farther from transit. These high reductions in driving and C02 emissions can be attributed to The Crossings' proximity to public transit and local serving retail, pedestrian and bicycle friendliness, and provision of affordable homes. People who live in transit-oriented communities own fewer cars and are more likely to use transit. By placing homes near transit, the city can grow to meet the housing need while reducing car usage and the corresponding congestion, air pollution and greenhouse gases. By approving this proposal, the City would also be taking an important step towards the goals of California's landmark climate change legislations, AB 32 and SB 375. When the City approved the Downtown Station Area Plan in Fall 2007, TransForm spoke in favor of the plan as a way to both provide homes for working class families near transit. TransForm also wrote a letter to the California Department of Housing & Community Development to encourage distribution of Proposition 1 C Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Housing Program grant funding to the City of San Leandro. Now as the City is moving into the development phase, TransForm continues its support and has confidence that developers Westlake and BRIDGE Housing have come up with a vision to provide high-quality homes for San Leandro residents of a wide range of income levels. The Crossings project will especially ,, _ _ ' ~ '~`=+ j d'"T r r •. i l.' I r~1' ~ 7 '~~~., d `~1`~ - ~ ~-'i} ~.,~1'. ~.~ r T y +^ I, ~ ~ ~, ' - ",;~~aC~'~1~~S~nf: ~T~-~al~ ~la~ f F ~'_ J ~Z~ -- -~~~ ~-~ ~ ~~k_l~~_~~~ _ ,~:_~~r~_ 9~tr~i'. __'.4__~..