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Commissioner Pearce stated that she also read the City Council meeting Minutes and it <br />appeared that the City Council was satisfied with Option 3, which included this <br />condition. She asked Mr. Dolan if he recalled whether there was any discussion at that <br />City Council meeting regarding the skylight condition that was not reflected in the <br />Minutes. <br />Mr. Dolan replied that at the last minute, there was some question about whether it was <br />necessary to include the skylight condition, and ultimately, it was left in. <br />Commissioner Pearce inquired if that was a "yes or no" question and not a discussion of <br />the language or the intent of the condition or anything similar. <br />Mr. Dolan said that was correct. <br />THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPENED. <br />Rodney Lopez, Applicant , stated that the City Council staff report that came out after <br />mediation had added the skylight and some other options done during mediation but <br />that nowhere in the 140 -page report does it mention the use of the funds for anything <br />other than the installation of a skylight. He noted that Mayor Hosterman had stated <br />during the meeting that they could work out the details later on, and this is what they are <br />doing right now. <br />Mr. Lopez stated that they are not attorneys but that they noticed later that this option, <br />as written, had a loophole in that they were to pay the Perrys up to $2,500 for a skylight; <br />however. there was no language to make sure the Perrys actually installed a skylight. <br />He indicated that the option was written with the intent that the Perrys would install a <br />skylight because of the issues they had brought up. He noted that when the time came, <br />they questioned the ethics and how the option's language was intended, that they were <br />hopeful it was not merely monetary with no intent to ever mitigate this issue. He added <br />that they did not want this money to be seen as a bribe or buyout, so they went to the <br />City to try and work it out. He stated that they felt this was not a good precedent to set <br />for the City of Pleasanton and its Community of Character, that any neighbor could hold <br />up a building process just to get a payment without mitigating the issue of concern. <br />Mr. Lopez pointed out that in the staff report, they have offered an amendment to that <br />option, which they prefer to Option 1, which is also reasonable. He stated that both <br />options have language stating that they will pay the funds for the installation of the <br />skylight once it is installed. He noted, however, that they would like to add tonight two <br />statements which were missing from both options: (1) that after 180 days, if the skylight <br />has not been installed, the funds would be returned to the Lopez family; and (2) that the <br />funds offered is up to $2,500 based upon some bids, but that it also be based on the <br />actual cost of the actual skylight installed to prevent any bait or switching, in case the <br />Perrys decide to install a skylight other than one of those on the bids, resulting in the <br />Lopezes paying more than what the actual cost of the skylight is. <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, January 25, 2012 Page 6 of 19 <br />