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look as a place that everyone here appreciates and welcomes and is devoted to. He <br />added that making a community, as the Commissioners well know because they live it <br />more than the rest, is an accumulation of a thousand different little decisions the <br />Commission has to make, and this happens to be an important one. <br />Mr. Nagler stated that one point he would like to drive home is this question on crime. <br />He pointed out that as stated in the staff report, the other two 7- Elevens here in town <br />who presumably are operating under this new strategy represented earlier that 7- Eleven <br />is apparently employing about how to reduce recent incidents at 7- Elevens, have an <br />average number of police events of 27 between the two locations, and the existing <br />Union 76 station has had six calls over the same period. He noted that based on that, it <br />would not be unreasonable to expect, by virtue of it being a 24 -hour convenience store <br />under the 7- Eleven banner, attracting the attention that it does from the folks who <br />decide to generate a police call, that there could be 21 additional police incidents a year <br />at this location, or basically, one every couple of weeks on average. He stated that, <br />therefore, it matters to the neighbors and neighborhood, and mostly raises the question <br />of not whether this might be a successful business but if it is the right business for this <br />location. With respect to the suggestion made that somehow a 24 -hour convenience <br />store diminishes the instance of crime rather than enhancing it, he stated that a <br />U.S. Department of Justice study on this very point which suggests that the largest <br />contributing factor to increased crime at convenience stores is 24 hours of operation. <br />Ryan Cruz stated that he was nine years old and lives in the neighborhood. He <br />indicated that not a lot of people want a 7- Eleven in their neighborhood because it is not <br />good for this historic Downtown city and it is too light and modern. He added that he <br />would rather it not be open 24 hours because this means random people might park on <br />their street, it might be loud while he is trying to sleep, and people who shop there might <br />peek on their yards. He stated that he would rather support another shopping place like <br />Cole's Market or the Meadowlark Dairy. <br />Gary Prince stated that he lives in the area and is concerned about safety with kids <br />walking to schools. He indicated that he walks his dog along that street where most of <br />the traffic and folks go by in the morning. He expressed concern about the commuting <br />traffic on First Street and does not understand how having less driveways improves the <br />traffic flow. He added that he also has problems with the parking. He indicated that he <br />has been in sales for many years with a lot of driving and stops at a lot of convenient <br />stores. He added that in a private parking lot, one way does not mean anything <br />because people will go out the way that is most convenient for them to keep going. He <br />added that the City will have more litter issues between First Street and the high <br />schools with more things to throw away because the convenience store sell very <br />disposable things with lots of wrapping. With respect to the matter of crime, he <br />questioned why a police center would be put inside a store if there is no crime issue. <br />He indicated that he does know of any florists or pet food stores that have those kinds <br />of things available. He noted that it seems like there are a few issues that make it not <br />the right thing for Pleasanton. <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, December 12, 2012 Page 18 of 40 <br />