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Additional comments made by the Council as well as public comments are located in the attached meeting minutes (Exhibit F). II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION Based on the direction it received from the City Council check-in and public feedback received at the various public meetings, the Task Force developed and is recommending amendments to the General Plan, Downtown Specific Plan, Downtown Design Guidelines, and Pleasanton Municipal Code to modify the existing Downtown historic preservation policies and design guidelines, implement story pole requirements, and address demolition by neglect for single- family homes. All of the amendments would be limited to the Downtown Specific Plan Area. Highlights of the proposed amendments are described below. Downtown Specific Plan Amendments Local Standards of Significance One of the key decisions the Task Force had to make was selecting the criteria to use to determine whether a residential structure is considered a historic resource and subject to additional protection from demolition. The current Specific Plan policies only protect historic properties from demolition if the structures are eligible for the California Register of Historic Resources, a relatively high bar. The Task Force felt that the existing policies allow or could potentially allow too many older homes to be demolished. The Historic Context Statement prepared for the Task Force identifies primary themes in the history of Pleasanton and connects those themes to the built environment by identifying property types associated with each theme. The Task Force recommends requiring and using the Context Statement as a resource when determining whether a structure is eligible for listing in the California Register. Using the Context Statement would essentially provide protection from demolition any structure that provided sufficient components of one of the property types identified in the Context Statement (e.g., Craftsman, Queen Anne, etc.), provided that it retained its historical integrity (i.e., it had not been altered such that its character-defining features have been removed or destroyed). Important to any decision on local standards is the time frame through which individual properties are determined to be historic resources. While the State standards use a rolling 50- years or older time period, the Task Force wanted to set a specific date before which buildings would be considered a historic resource if they matched one of the property types identified in the Context Statement and retained their integrity. The Task Force selected 1942 as it felt that no structures of historical or architectural significance were built in Pleasanton during or after the US involvement in World War II. Since peoples' perception of architectural significance can change over time, the Task Force included a clause that the 1942 date be revisited every 10 years to see if a change is warranted. P13-2446/P13-4447/P13-4448 Page - 5- November 13, 2013