In an eagerly awaited decision, the Pleasanton City Council has unanimously approved the second and final phase of Hacienda Business Park, giving both the city and the park's developers greater ability to provide a well-planned, beneficial future for Pleasanton.

"The approval to use land in Phase II gives us the ability to complete the city's and our traffic circulation plans and to construct a new interchange at Hacienda Drive and Interstate 580," said Roger Gage, general manager of real estate operations for The Prudential Insurance Company of America. Prudential, along with Callahan-Pentz Properties, is developing the 713-acre (net) business park in north Pleasanton.

Gage pointed out that the future Hacienda Drive interchange, coupled with the Hopyard Road/I-580 improvements currently underway, will go a long way in helping to mitigate potential traffic problems throughout north Pleasanton.

Under current scheduling, the improved, dual-bridge Hopyard Road/I-580 intersection will be completed in the summer of next year. The construction of the new Hacienda Drive/I-580 interchange, located about halfway between Hopyard and Santa Rita roads, could begin sometime in early 1988.

Current plans also call for additional freeway access to be built at Stoneridge Drive and I-680. Like Hacienda Drive, this interchange could get underway in early 1988, giving north Pleasanton four points of access with the local interstate system.

The result of construction and improvements to the four intersections will be to give residents and workers in the north Pleasanton area almost instant access to the freeways. "Getting in and out of Hacienda Business Park will be extremely easy and accomplished with minimal impact on Pleasanton's existing surface streets," Gage noted.

Besides overall improvements to traffic flow and circulation, the approval of Phase II will bring other benefits to the City of Pleasanton and Hacienda.

Public Safety Center

This facility is designed to accommodate paramedical, fire safety and security equipment and personnel, lessening response time to north Pleasanton residents and providing enhanced protection to all of Pleasanton. A heliport on the center's roof will aid the transfer of the critically injured to medical facilities better able to handle their needs.

Child Care Center

Similar to the child care center currently under construction in Phase I, the center in Phase II will accommodate between 200-250 preschool-aged children of park employees and offer toy library and seminar privileges to all local residents.

Transit Center

Land will be set aside for a transit center that will soon be used for park-and-ride services, with the potential for the site to be further developed into a transportation station. The station would allow a convenient and logical location for Pleasanton residents to board the new valleywide bus system and BART/AC Transit buses, or perhaps a future light rail system along the old Southern Pacific right-of-way or an extension of the BART line.

Boost to City Revenues

Taxes and assessments against Phase II developments will help make Pleasanton one of the most financially secure cities in the nation. It will allow the city to be able to provide top-flight services and to improve and maintain infrastructure throughout the municipality's 15 square miles.

Maintain and Enhance Quality of Life

The vitality of a whole Hacienda Business Park will help to keep downtown businesses economically sound, allow for increased acquisition and improvements to the city's park system and ensure adequate funding of on-going mitigation efforts to combat potential problems in traffic, air quality and water supplies.

Provide Additional Local Jobs

Phase II will eventually be able to offer an additional 15,000 local jobs in senior management, middle management, clerical, data processing, entry level and professional positions. It will offer a greater opportunity to find rewarding employment in one's "backyard" negating, for many at least, the time consuming commute to employment centers in Silicon Valley, Oakland, Walnut Creek and San Francisco.

Consistency in Quality Developments

Phase II gives Hacienda the flexibility to build projects where they make the most sense within the 876 acres of the business park. The developers can steer taller, higher density office buildings toward the freeway and build non-imposing, low-impact projects near the business park's borders with off-tract housing and retail establishments.

Consistency in Quality Tenants

The improved flexibility, convenient freeway access and financial health of the area will put Hacienda in a strong position to attract only the very best corporate tenants. Hacienda will be able to continue to pursue tenants that are non-polluting, responsive to the local community, supportive of the city's Transportation Systems Management Ordinance and dedicated to preserving Pleasanton's high quality of life.

Environmental Controls

With a myriad of conditions of approval placed on each new building project, Hacienda has perhaps the state's most comprehensive environmental and quality control measures. In addition to meeting these conditions of approval, each proposed new building at Hacienda must be approved by: 1) Hacienda's internal Design Review Committee; 2) the Pleasanton Planning Commission and 3) the Pleasanton City Council.

Traffic Safeguards

As a further safeguard to maintain Pleasanton's high quality of life, traffic projections are required by the city for each proposed building at Hacienda. If projections indicate a building will tax any north Pleasanton intersection beyond a certain designed level of capacity, development can be halted until steps are taken to avoid the potential traffic congestion.

Development Tied to Freeway Intersections

Along with Hacienda and the city's existing building-by-building traffic and environmental controls, a further caveat has been placed on new development at the business park. While projects can now be proposed for development on Phase II land, total development between Hacienda's two phases cannot exceed the buildout level previously approved solely for Phase I (7 .3 million square feet) until work has begun on the new freeway intersections at Hacienda Drive/I-580 and Stoneridge Drive/I-680.

The developers of Hacienda, Prudential and Callahan-Pentz, are in agreement with the city's conditions and controls.

"We look at Phase II as an integral component in assuring Pleasanton a healthy, sensibly planned future. We feel confident that the flexibility we've gained with the city's approval of Phase II will help to make an already excellent community an even better place to live," Gage said.

Hacienda Business Park has received extensive national attention for its innovations in planning, landscaping, environmental controls and for its financial commitment to off-tract public improvements.

The cooperation between staff and decision makers at city hall and the business park's developers in the dynamics of the planning process and in the mandating of safeguards to protect the city's environment has made Pleasanton a study model for city planners across the U.S.

To see a reproduction of the original article and edition of Pleasanton Pathways, visit: March 24, 1986 Pathways.