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Vice-Mayor Brown asked Mr. Huff about his thoughts on how a City could protect against someone <br /> stuccoing over wood cladding on a house that is not considered a resource. She said obviously some <br /> of the examples do not show people are true to maintaining historic features per se. <br /> Mr. Huff said he thinks the example is one where any architect or staff would step in and not let it <br /> happen. To get to the point where the City is indicating a certain type of window must be used or for a <br /> realtor to relay to a potential buyer they cannot add onto the house or must have shudders, it is a bit <br /> irritating. He said in some situations people should be rewarded for maintaining historic character and <br /> materials, but he thinks the situation is one of over-governance of what people can and cannot do. <br /> Jon Harvey said what he sees happening is mission creep. He thought what the City was setting out to <br /> do was to create a list of homes that met historical criteria and apply new rules to those homes which <br /> could be simple. He suggested getting back to what they set out to do which is if a person is on the list <br /> the rules apply. If they are not on the list, they do not. If there is wiggle room with homes built before <br /> 1942 but are not on this list, he asked how this could be conveyed to perspective buyers or realtors. He <br /> also thinks that expanding design review to all first story additions or modifications just makes it worse <br /> than it already is and he does not think it is a broad issue in the community. <br /> Mayor Thorne closed the public hearing. <br /> Councilmember Pentin said he thinks the survey is great and identifies the houses that qualify which <br /> gives the City an opportunity to help those and future homeowners of what they can and cannot do with <br /> their homes. He supported acceptance of the study and said he found it fascinating to read. He also <br /> supported the draft amendment for historic homes. <br /> To extend this, Councilmember Pentin thinks it is somewhat onerous, as staff has mentioned in the <br /> report that "there is a concern subjecting non-historical homes to heightened design review which could <br /> discourage homeowners from undertaking improvements and result in over-prescriptive and uncertain <br /> design outcomes." He said if the 106 homes that are pre-1942 have bad windows, doors, balconies <br /> and cladding, he thinks the way they will return is to allow homeowners to make decisions in the future. <br /> He did not support Item 4 therefore. If it is the decision of the Council to pursue staff obtaining <br /> information, he welcomes that, but he thinks this gets into mission creep and over-regulation. <br /> Vice-Mayor Brown clarified that Councilmember Pentin was referred to the staff recommendations <br /> when voicing his comments. <br /> Vice-Mayor Brown said there are many beautiful historic homes in Pleasanton and whether doing her <br /> job as a real estate agent or bringing guests or visitors to town, going to those historic homes is a big <br /> part of what makes Pleasanton special and a resource. She thanked those homeowners with historic <br /> homes and said her home is 20 years old and she said she absolutely supports the proposal being <br /> exempt from CEQA. She supports the historic resource survey and said she learned a lot about historic <br /> designs and the 12 styles. She supports Option 2 and said did not believe the City needs to regulate <br /> every detail. She suggested staff look at porches, windows, roofs and make sure the modifications do <br /> fit the home and the style that is there. <br /> Regarding Item 4 which is to discuss extending it beyond the 91 homes, Vice-Mayor Brown said she <br /> does not think it should be as strict for the pre-1942 homes but would support some discussion to block <br /> the idea of allowing someone to put stucco over a wood clad house or major modifications to a Queen <br /> Anne home. She thinks staff is just asking as to whether the Council would support the idea of talking <br /> about the issue further and seeing what it would look like. She would like to protect what Pleasanton <br /> has and she suggested some guidance be provided by staff at the counter but not regulating it like a <br /> pre-1942 home would be controlled. <br /> City Council Minutes Page 12 of 16 November 3, 2015 <br />