22 ATTACHMENT 04 - Laserfiche WebLink

otherwise, one would only see the size of the hill and did not get a sense as to what was at the sides of it. He added that they also wanted to make sure they had both houses in each one of these. THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED. Commissioner O'Connor asked staff to comment on the location of one of those homes being put at the top of the hill and the grading of the hill and why staff would consider that to be their preferred spot. He stated that he thinks they are weighing trees versus locations and how far off the top of the hill is from the original "blob" on the map. He noted that this is a very large property and inquired if there were no other alternative to get a roadway that would not affect the trees while leaving the homes down where they originally were. Ms. Stern replied that the map shows the road meandering between the trees. She added that the angle also needs to be considered as a reasonable slope has to be maintained for any emergency vehicles to get up there. She indicated that there may be a way to adjust the road a little bit but there is not too much latitude to do so. Commissioner O'Connor inquired if there is an alternative that might remove one tree as opposed to three, four, five, or six trees. Mr. Dolan replied that there probably is an alternative that would change the number of trees to be removed, and the height on the hill versus the location of the road. He noted, however, that these are not the only two variables; the distance between the homes, the size of the homes, and the space they would take are also variables. He added that he is not sure calling that one home as being placed on the top of the hill is exactly accurate as it is farther up the hill. Commissioner Allen stated that when the Alternatives were created, it looks like the underlying assumption was a westerly road, which was common to all of the Alternatives. She noted that this raises the question of if there were two properties that were lower on the hill but had an easterly road similar to the proposed plan, whether that might potentially be an option that would minimize the damage to the trees and help save them. Ms. Stern replied that Exhibit B shows that down the hill a bit further are the tree outlines which are pretty much all over. She added that maybe some of those trees are smaller or less visible, and it might be possible to look into that. She noted that this is a Work Session, and these ideas can be considered. EXCERPT: PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, July 24, 2013 Page 6 of 10