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Commissioner Balch: I just have to say though that if you're the applicant that has gone through that process, it's not going to feel good, so to my comment, I appreciate all the work that staff does, but as we know the communication, probably to them, should be as soon as possible. Beaudin: Commissioner Balch, I'll reiterate. I did sit down with these folks personally to talk about the importance of the character aspects of this neighborhood and we did talk about the front porch and front yard design as an important aspect. Commissioner Balch: But the applicant contends that the front porch element in their mind is covered with the kind of recessed.... Beaudin: ...and I think that's the nuance here and people can try to thread the needle, but that's a departure from the architectural character of the neighborhood. Commissioner O'Connor: I understand everything that's been said. I also just wanted to note that the three pictures we have in front of us now show these front porches which I don't think are in the same style as these homes. This is a true Craftsman, we have Victorian and more modern-looking, but I can support having the porch because I think it will either improve or it won't worsen the look of the house. I think it will be a better flow with the rest of the neighborhood. I just, again, wish it had been started earlier in the process, but I think it's the right thing to do. Commissioner Allen: And I too wish it had started earlier in the process because this is never how any of us want something to come down. I agree with what all of you have said, I think a porch is an important part of the character of this community, and it's part of the development standards that we have for the community which is identified here. So for that reason, I think it's important. I'm also open to Commissioner Balch's idea about a picket fence. I would be open to that potentially because I think as this came up late; I would be willing to have some flexibility. With that said, Gerry, I appreciate your comment that if a neighbor came here and brought an issue to us today that we need to address, that's our job now. We are in the planning stage. We're not in the building stage, so this is the time when something important like this comes up where we need to ensure consistency to support the character of the neighborhood and we need to deal with it. And we do it and I think it's appropriate to do it in this case. Commissioner Balch: Can I just mention though a point of clarification, we haven't actually addressed the last speaker's question about height, but just to circle for me, the height element wasn't an issue for me and I'll just say that in looking at the design standards around the area, this house fit all of our height requirements so I just want to acknowledge that was brought up tonight in talking about this, but it is well within the envelope provided for the guidelines we have for downtown infill projects. Commissioner O'Connor: It's the shortest of all the neighboring houses. Commissioner Allen: I agree. DRAFT EXCERPT: PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, April 13, 2016 Page 9 of 10