San Bruno B.A.R.T.

  LIVERMORE--The public will have a chance on Monday to comment in-depth about the update to the General Plan and its various components, including the downtown specific plan.

  The plans have been the subject of at least 11 Planning Commission hearings since July. The General Plan is the city's blueprint for growth until the year 2025. The last major update took place in 1976.

  The downtown specific plan is a new document aimed at revitalizing the downtown and bringing in additional businesses and housing.

  The downtown plan would make the so-called core business district twice as large as it is today, with buildings in the middle allowed to go up to four stories high. This maximum would decrease in areas where residential housing is located.

  The plan encourages building housing units and offices on the second and higher stories of downtown buildings. The plan would allow building up to 2,000 housing units in the downtown over the next decade.

  Specifically, the council will be asked to approve the environmental documents for the plans. If the council follows city staff members' recommendations, the plans would then come back to the council at a future meeting for formal adoption.

  The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the City Council chambers, 3575 Pacific Ave., Livermore.

  The environmental impact report that will be considered by the council says the city's preferred alternative for developing the city over the next 25 years is the "environmentally superior alternative."

  The environmental report analyzed in-depth the city's proposed alternative for growth as well as other develop- ment plans. The draft General Plan would allow up to nearly 12,000 new housing units, for a total of more than 40,000 units.

  The additional units are projected for the future Greenville BART station, in existing residential areas, and on land currently zoned for commercial and industrial uses. In addition, up to 2,000 units would be located in the downtown over the next 10 years.

  The City Council's preferred alternative would add a projected 28,377 residents and 46,460 new jobs by 2025.

  The actual number of new people and jobs would probably be much lower, as these figures are dependent on factors that might not materialize. For instance, the housing around the Greenville BART station would only be built if BART were extended to Livermore, which is uncertain.

  The General Plan update is costing the city an estimated $2 million, a figure that also includes the cost of preparing the downtown specific plan.