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staff received a lot of input on the environmental review which staff did not have the benefit of prior to going to the Planning Commission. Most comments were about biological issues and concerns over the number of oak trees to be removed, the quality of the oak woodland that would have to be removed, as well as a condition of approval which requires them to move a drainage way that parallels Foothill Road and some riparian habitat to accommodate a bike lane. Staff reviewed and tried to address these issues, and the project was changed down to 4 units. They were able to dramatically reduce the number of oak trees and eliminated the relocation of the drainage way along Foothill Road which also saved trees and was a much more favorable solution to agencies reviewing the proposal. Mr. Dolan said one of the ways they were able to reduce impacts to trees was reduction in size of some of the building envelopes. The smallest one changed from .53 acres to .28 acres. The largest stayed the same at about 1 acre. The proposal allows for 8,500 square feet of building floor area including accessory structures, but excluding 700 square feet of garage area, which did not change when they reduced the project from 6 to 4 lots. As part of the conversation about the reduction in the total number of units from 6 to 4, the applicants asked staff to reconsider the way height is measured. It was originally proposed that this would be consistent with guidelines in the overlay district for Foothill which said that building height had to be measured from the lowest to the highest point, with a maximum of 30 feet. The applicants made a case that the restriction did not work well for the size of homes proposed and in the particular home sites and suggested another way that would allow them to better achieve square footages proposed on site and arrived at a different method for measuring height —that you would never exceed 30 feet at any one point in the structure, but that the highest point to the lowest point could extend up to 40 feet. He said this allows them to have a little more square feet, are likely to get closer to the maximum limit placed on the homes, but the advantage is that it allows them to spread the square footage out over the slope and would result in less grading. They were working on a graphic to display this, but were not able to complete it; however, the architect has brought some graphics to demonstrate this point. Mayor Hosterman said if the Council allowed a structure with a maximum height of 40 feet from the lowest and highest points of the structure, how does this compare and contrast with other existing homes in that area. Mr. Dolan said homes in Lemoine Ranch next door are allowed to go up to 32 feet, but it is a flat pad and they do not have the same issues where staff is encouraging a home designed to crawl up the hill and reduce a harsh, flat surface hanging off the cliff. They are proposing homes in concert with the contours of the land. It is more challenging architecturally, but more aesthetically pleasing from below. Councilmember Cook- Kallio acknowledged and confirmed that grading would be reduced typically, and Mr. Dolan said the graphics to be shown by the architect will demonstrate how this works. Mr. Dolan said the design guidelines are tailored to address the project site and hillside setting to minimize grading and tree removal, which stayed the same from the 6 to 4 lots. As mentioned previously, staff made a change in the bike lane. Originally, the requirement was that the bike lane be put in for the entire frontage, which required relocation of the drainage way; however, when staff started weighing the various biological and visual concerns for the reduced size project, without moving the creek, there is a 200 foot stretch that they were not able to provide the bike lane in with a normal designed street and a normally designed bike lane. He presented a graphic looking south on Foothill at the left turn lane into Muirwood which is the area of difficulty. He said Mike Tassano will provide the Council with more detailed considerations in the area and discuss possibilities to provide some facilities for bikes in the area. City Council Minutes Page 8 of 16 June1, 2010