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Design and Beautification Policy 21. Prevent the use of industrial or commercial building elements and materials in residential areas. Some residents felt that the use of metal roofs and large windows made this new home on Neal Street have a commercial character. Downtown Design Guidelines Floor area of new homes and additions to existing homes are to be compatible with surrounding houses. Oftentimes, surrounding homes have FARs less than allowed by zoning regulations. This begs the question as to whether the zoning regulations apply, or if there is a different metric that should be used when adjacent or nearby homes are smaller. Windows There are several Downtown Design Guidelines that suggest that wooden windows should be required in the remodeling of historic homes and in the construction of new homes in historic neighborhoods. This can create added expense and increased maintenance requirements. Some residents believe that policies on windows may need to be more specific as to when or if wooden windows are required. 5. Clarity of Process. The current process to get a project approved when historic preservation is an issue involves the intermingling of Local, Slate and Federal regulations, standards, and processes. The intermingling of these standards and processes can make the application process confusing and time-consuming for project applicants, leaving them with the impression that there is no fixed process and that outcomes are uncertain. While the end result of discretionary review can never be entirely predictable, the Task Force believes that the overall process can be improved through addressing some of the problems described above to provide more clarity within the local Pleasanton part of the equation, but also through provision of a comprehensive flow chart of the overall process to help inform applicants what various steps and decision points will be involved. No such documentation of the process currently exists. Page 7 of 10