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Cindy McGovern has been following this project and it has worried her. They keep talking about whether a road is a structure and whether the Council can approve it as "not" a structure on a case by case basis. To her recollection, all of the current Councilmembers have voted that a road is a structure at one time. She showed a picture used to get signatures for Measure PP which illustrated that the whole idea was a road that was going to be built a mile long in Oak Grove and 40 feet off the top of a ridge. That is why people said that they wanted nothing within 100 feet of a ridgeline. It was also a concern to her how the negotiations for the Bonde Ranch project took place. It was a negotiation done with Council in another community, without the public being fully aware of those negotiations. The 1986 General Plan had a statement about 25% slopes not being in developable acres. The road in this development was put on a 25% slope. She is not sure it was the right thing to do as the 25% slope restriction was important. We have a beautiful community and ridges. We do not have to go to Yosemite, we can go to Pleasanton Ridge. Please rescind and go back and do it the right way. Do not just negotiate with one neighborhood. Stand up for PP and put it into an Ordinance to make it clear that Measure PP and our ridgelines. are important. Mayor Thorne closed public comments. He suggested that the Council consider all of the items related to this matter separately. The first item under consideration would be whether or not to accept the City Clerk's certification. MOTION: It was m/s by Brown /Olson to accept the City Clerk's certification of the referendum petition for Ordinance No. 2133 regarding the Lund Ranch project. Motion passed by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmembers Brown, Olson, Narum, Mayor Thorne Noes: None Absent: Councilmember Pentin The next matter under consideration would be whether or not to repeal the Ordinance to send the matter to the voters. Councilmember Brown commented that it is an expensive ballot measure no matter what the dates are. She suggested that Council consider hiring a professional mediator to develop a plan that both neighborhoods and the developer could agree upon. She agrees with public speaker Cindy McGovern, there should be nothing done behind closed doors. She wishes for a project that creates peace again and if the referendum does not go to an election, it could save the City hundreds of thousands of dollars. She strongly suggested a professional mediator and see if we can craft something as lay people are not the right people to do this. This would preserve the developer's right to build, consider the HOA property, make it Measure PP compliant, and only works if all the neighborhoods agree. Discussion ensued between Councilmembers Brown and Olson regarding the HOA solution and whether or not it had been property vetted. City Manager Fialho stated that they heard testimony from the HOA and had received a letter from their attorney. The circumstances were to determine which road could go across their open space and they had to prove no harm would be done to any resident. This test seemed insurmountable. Councilmember Narum stated she was not willing to rescind her vote. She looked at the website of the proponent of referendum and their weekly ads to which their message was very clear, "Sign a petition so you, the voters, can decide if this is a good project for Pleasanton." She quoted from a January 29, 2016, Pleasanton Weekly editorial, "We also see no reason not to put the Council's action to a vote." She has a lot of concern that there was false and misleading information put out during the gathering of the signatures. She described her personal experience with paid signature gatherers who said things such as, "Sign here, stop all construction in Pleasanton," and "Stop building houses in the hills" while pointing at the western ridge. The referendum does not do that. She stated that a common theme among her neighbors is to please allow them to vote and they wish they could remove their signatures City Council Minutes Page 7 of 10 March 1, 2016