PC 071112 - Laserfiche WebLink

the buildings, and allowing a low wall to encroach upon that would form some kind of semi - private open space. Ms. Stern indicated that the City recently adopted the Bay - Friendly Basics as a standard for development review for landscaping, and, therefore, staff added that as a development standard rather than as a guideline. Ms. Stern continued that under Site Circulation, there was a comment about ensuring that pedestrians within these developments are aware of the crosswalks, walkways, and other such areas, for example, the walkway to the community center. She noted that this came up in the BRE project as well, and paving or some other material was recommended to ensure where pedestrians are directed to go; this has been added as A -1 -C. Ms. Stern stated that staff has had quite a few discussions about internal streets and drives with those developers who are getting ready to submit proposal, noting that head -in parking and restricting that to only one side of the street is a challenge for some of the sites, particularly those with a separate retail area. She indicated that it seemed to make sense to allow an internal street or driveway with parking on both sides where there was a separate retail area. She added that that an exception was added as A -4 -3. Ms. Stern indicated that in response to another matter that came up at the Joint Workshop pertaining to a minimum depth for a porch to avoid having very narrow porches that would not even accommodate a chair, staff had added a minimum depth of six feet. Ms. Stern stated that there were also some comments relating to the Vision Statement encouraging mixed -uses on sites where the zoning allowed such activities, that design features should complement the adjacent neighborhoods as well as adjacent properties, and that the development should adhere to the City's green building ordinance and be economically viable and environmentally sustainable. She noted that those phrases have been added to the Vision Statement. Ms. Stern noted that the City has the Pleasanton Municipal Code (PMC) and other design guidelines, such as those for Hacienda Business Park, and clarified that where a topic is addressed specifically in these guidelines, they would pertain; and where a topic is not addressed, then it would be subject to the Hacienda guidelines if the property is in the Hacienda area or to the PMC or whatever guidelines pertain to that particular site. Ms. Stern stated that staff received some correspondence from the neighbor of the CM Capital Project site regarding the design standards related to that site, and staff has addressed their concerns by restricting development within the first 50 feet on the western edge and require stories above the second story on that elevation to be stepped back. She added that to address the concerns about people crossing through PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, July 11, 2012 Page 6 of 16