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"Develop a ridgeline preservation ordinance and scenic hillside design guidelines to improve safety and reduce the potential negative visual impacts of development in hilly areas." Central to this policy is the improvement of safety and the negative visual impacts of development. Nowhere in this policy is there any stated exclusion for roadways. Furthermore, there is no policy in either the 1996 Circulation Element or Public Safety Element that indicates building roadways on geologically unstable slopes, landslide areas, or terrain with slopes greater than 25% enhances safety in any way, shape, or form. Policy on Prohibiting Development or Construction on Slopes of 25% of Greater In 2005, the Pleasanton Planning Commission discussed safety hazards and collapsing hillsides and directed staff to have policies put in place to "prohibit major grading where existing slopes are 25% or greater" and that "development should not be encouraged on 25 percent slopes or areas prone to landslides."4 This corresponds to PARC positions on slopes and safety discussed at the City Council meeting 40 years ago: 5 "Develop only geologically stable lands of moderate slope (under 25% slope). This is the proposal which is closest to the Pleasanton Planning Staff and our Citizens Advisory Committee. It is also the alternative recommended by the County Planning Department. " PARC in a 2006 Joint City Council-Planning Commission meeting reiterated its position: "These policies did not allow development on hillsides of 25% slope or greater.... General Plan land use decisions made on a case-by-case basis for such a major area of the City, visually important to all residents, seems unwise. Case-by-case decisions lead to unreasonable speculation on land. PARC urges Council to go back to the previous General Plan designation, which does not allow development on slopes of 25% or greater and excludes these slopes from calculation." 6 100 Vertical Feet from a Ridgeline PARC objects to the revised definitions of ridgeline. It also objects to the revised language concerning distance from the top of the structure to the ridgeline. The distance from the ridgeline to the structure must be 100 vertical, not from the ridgeline to the the bottom of the grading for the actual lot; otherwise, the structure will protrude over the natural terrain of the ridgeline (see diagram below). 4 Planning Commission Minutes/Pleasanton-7/25'2005 5 City Council Minutes/Pleasanton-10/08/1973 City Council-Planning Commission Minutes/Pleasanton-4/25/2006 5