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Chair Allen stated that she would go first tonight because her decision has changed <br /> based on the new information that the Commissioners all received, but her <br /> decision-making criteria which she shared with the other Commissioners at the last <br /> meeting has absolutely not changed. She indicated that at the last meeting, she voted <br /> for Option 1 of the staff report, which was to provide all traffic through Lund Ranch <br /> Road, and the reason for that was because she assumed that the Sunset Creek Lane <br /> connection would require a retaining wall on a slope over 25 percent, which she felt was <br /> a violation of Measure PP, and since Measure PP trumps the General Plan, she could <br /> not support building the Sunset Creek Lane connection. She indicated that new <br /> information tonight on the road connection that, in fact, because the preferred road <br /> design is a narrow road that does not have a retaining wall, her concern regarding the <br /> retaining wall is now moot. <br /> Chair Allen stated that she wanted to share her perspective about the road as she did <br /> not comment at the last meeting about whether she thought a road was an issue or not <br /> and inconsistent with Measure PP. She noted that the question she asked Mr. Dolan <br /> earlier about precedent was only for the Lund Ranch project. She indicated that if she <br /> were sitting on the Planning Commission a couple of years ago and needed to vote on <br /> this, and the answer applied to every single project in Pleasanton, her answer to a road <br /> could be different, and she would look at every project uniquely as instructed by the City <br /> Council. She stated that she does not believe building a road for the Lund Ranch <br /> project, assuming there were no retaining walls, violates Measure PP for three reasons: <br /> 1. Measure PP does not specify whether a road is defined as a structure or not, and <br /> one can argue that if they were to be included, they should have been specified; <br /> hence, the Commission has the flexibility to do what it thinks is the right decision. <br /> 2. Roads are not consistently defined anywhere as a structure or not, and some of <br /> even the best engineers will define them as a structure, some will define them as <br /> infrastructure, and some as neither one of those terms. Therefore, since there is <br /> no definition, then the Commission's job is to look at the intent of Measure PP, <br /> which, as written, was to project the ridges and hillsides generally for the <br /> residents of Pleasanton to see the beauty of the hillsides, and then try to answer <br /> whether this road violates the intent of Measure PP. <br /> 3. The road is not in conflict with the intent of Measure PP for four other reasons: <br /> a. The general public cannot see the road in most cases; <br /> b. the primary people who can see the road are, in fact, the people that want the <br /> road, and those are the folks who spoke tonight in the Ventana Hills and <br /> Middleton Place area who are in support of the road and are the most <br /> impacted in terms of views; and <br /> c. at least two of the folks that were involved in writing Measure PP have said a <br /> road was never in; and <br /> EXCERPT: PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, August 26, 2015 Page 21 of 26 <br />