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has progressed very, very nicely. He added that they are looking forward to a favorable review when the final application comes in. Diane Birchell, resident at the Verona Townhouses since 1995, stated that their principal concerns that affect the Verona residents directly are traffic and parking. She noted that their development is smaller than the proposed project but has more parking per unit than these apartments will have. She indicated that they have always had a parking problem, and this will become worse and would impact the residents because when people are looking for some place to park, they will go wherever they can find it. Ms. Birchell stated that the quality of life for all the Verona residents will be impacted by the 300 trips coming out of the community center /child care center proposed directly across the Arroyo from Verona, because those coming out of that development have no choice but to come toward them. She added that having the Nearon development with their only entrance and exit directly across from Verona's main entrance will create massive traffic hazards. She noted that about half of Verona's residents are retired and do not have to get to work on time, which is not the case with the Nearon residents. She indicated that with 168 units, traffic is going to be a problem even if only one car per unit leaves every day. She added that there will be left turns out of there and the traffic problems will just be huge with no way to avoid it. Ms. Birchell stated that she understands the City's position between a rock and a hard place as far as approving high- density housing. She noted that while the City just does not have many options, it can mitigate the effects of these high- density housing on the surrounding neighbors, particularly those in the Verona development because they are right across the street from Nearon. She indicated that, if it is possible, there should be a traffic light rather than a stop sign, at the very least, one that could be triggered only when traffic requires it, to prevent accidents. Ms. Birchell stated that the new development will have a more serious parking problem than Verona, which has always had inadequate parking. She noted that given that the bulk of that development is going to be two- bedroom units and mostly market rate, there are going to be more vehicles coming out of there than 168. She indicated that she knows change is inevitable; that is the way California is, but there are things the City could do with this project that would make it much less of a threat to the quality of life of the residents that are already here. THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED. Acting Chair Blank ask Mike Tassano to give the Commission an overview of and his perspective on the traffic circulation and the pro's and con's of the concept of a traffic light. Mike Tassano stated that the original plan for the site was an office building, which would have slightly higher trips. He noted that with the 168 units, there would be 85 peak -hour trips in and out in the morning and 100 trips in the afternoon. He added PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, November 14, 2012 Page 22 of 31