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would he recommend. He told me the best care of all was definitely that provided by Mercy Care in Oakland. My mother called Mercy Care her home for the last 18 months of her life. Through frequent contact with the staff, I saw her while she was cared for. In contrast, I learned through prior experience how poorly run many nursing home facilities frequently are. My brother, who lived in the East, visited several times, and he was most impressed with everything done for our mother at Mercy Care. When I learned of plans to develop a Mercy Care facility here in Pleasanton, using the vacant land owned by St. Augustine's Church, I thought, how fortunate for our community that our loved ones no longer able to live alone could find so fine a home near us. Now it seems that a few neighbors are challenging the proposed development. This is an all-too-frequent reaction to any change in the status quo. I am reminded that when plans were announced ten years ago for a new two-story high multipurpose auditorium at the elementary school opposite our house, some neighbors (including us) immediately opposed this development because it was out of scale with the existing homes. However, when constructed, the auditorium was well-screened by a number of evergreen trees. The initial opposition to this improvement now seems both quaint and misguided. Traffic in the neighborhood has become a problem, although it didn't result from the new auditorium. Enrollment at the school has greatly increased. This, coupled with the parents' need to drive the kids to school, is the cause. We now have virtual gridlock at 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. But guess what - the traffic completely dissipates. We've learned how to live with this problem, and for the vast majority of the day and night, our neighborhood is pretty much the way it was when we moved in 24 years ago. I think that the proposed Mercy Care facility would be a great boon to Pleasanton. I know from personal experience it would be a first-class facility, and would provide a critically needed resource for families in our city who must find a good home for their ailing parents or loved ones. The opposition to the project will be understandable as a typical response to anything new, but it must not be blown out of proportion. The simple fact is that this community needs Mercy Care. The proposed plans have been carefully drawn; the facility won't generate the kind of traffic at all hours that a hospital would, and the impact on the neighborhood foreseen by the opponents most likely will be much less than envisioned. The greater good resulting from this proposal to the entire community of Pleasanton exceeds any minimal inconvenience, and as we have in our neighborhood, I hope the neighbors can learn to live with it." PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES December 11,2002 Page 15