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broken glass. She noted that it is messy back there, and having a brightly -lit 7- Eleven will only make this dark area behind it worse. She expressed concern that many middle school and high school walk along that street with their headphones on or are texting, and cars coming out of the proposed parking lot on 7- Eleven onto Ray Street appears to be very dangerous and a recipe for disaster. Ms. Le returned to the podium and handed the Commission a list of 100 signatures of people who object to the proposal and live in the neighborhood. Cassandra Richmond stated that she lives off of Sunol Road and has a son in the Navy whose opinion she asked about the proposed 7- Eleven, and he was definitely opposed to it. She added that she also has a teenager who goes to Amador High and another child who goes at Hearst Elementary. She indicated that she is reaching out on behalf of the people she spoke with in the Spanish- speaking community, whose response is that they would not go to the 7- Eleven but would rather continue going to Cole's market. She added that if the Spanish- speaking community could be present, they would say the same thing as they are really opposed to it. She urged the Commission to make the right decision and deny the application. Acting Chair Blank thanked Ms. Richmond on behalf of everyone for her son's service to the country. Andy Piazza stated that he lives in the neighborhood, probably the one that is 125 feet from the proposed 7- Eleven. He indicated that they have lived there for 13 years and his property backs up to the Ironhorse Trail, which is adjacent to the proposed project. He observed that over the years, a lot of trash and litter that end up in the Ironhorse Trail is generated specifically from the existing 76 station. He added that the light generated from that 76 station forces him and his neighbors to have blackout lines across from there, and those lights have just been upgraded about 2,500 lumens in the last year and a half, such that at 3:00 a.m., it is like noon time in his bedroom. He indicated that he has personally called the 76 station at least three times and complained about the upkeep and maintenance of the existing business. He noted that if this is any example of what they are to expect with the new business, then it really does not speak highly of what is there. Mr. Piazza indicated that many times, more than half of the pumps for the last two and a half years have been out of order with plastic bags on them. He further indicated that he called Union 76 and complained because the operators of this gas station say that they do not know anything about it. He stated that this business is also noisy, and because it already generates a lot of trash and is an annoyance as it is, he cannot imagine a 24/7 convenience store there with the traffic that it will generate above the traffic level that is already there. Mr. Grayson expressed his appreciation for all the comments and admitted that they obviously did not do their due diligence on the neighborhood outreach. He stated that he expected the corridors would serve as buffers and did not expect to receive such a PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, December 12, 2012 Page 21 of 40