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entry, and having a four -story and then an opening and then a three story would feel lopsided. Mr. Steinberg then touched a little bit on the character they are trying to achieve with the buildings and the massing. He stated that their goal is really to reflect the character seen in the other buildings here in Pleasanton: using the Craftsman, using wood, using detail; porches, enhancing the pedestrian experience with individual markers and a sense of individual entry to the units; brick in the richer material where people are close to it, and then expressing how the buildings meet the sky; having some ups and downs instead of just keeping it even so it is visually interesting. He indicated that one pod is of a different style than the other pods, which was done very deliberately for the same reason that there are some two- stories, some three's, some one's, and some four's, so that it feels like a village; and there is a hierarchy in the sense of character to each of the villages. Mr. Steinberg stated that the Guidelines call for garage doors to be recessed two feet back from the plane of the building, and pointed out where they have garage doors flushed with the edge of the building. He indicated that there are a number of different strategies for de- emphasizing garage doors: one of them is to bring a low roof or a trellis to bring the scale down or bring your eye to a horizontal; and another is to change materials and accent and have different elements as part of the composition. He stated that it is his preference to take that sort of strategy to play down the garage doors rather than to push and take two feet out of the living space. He noted that the impact to the quality of life for the residents will be better going in this direction. He added that they will use the same kinds of high - quality materials on the residential to tie the commercial so it feels like a village knitted together: brick, metal, and wood, materials that have shadow and texture to them that are going to wear well over a long period of time. Commissioner O'Connor asked Mr. Steinberg to highlight the plan on the various roofs of the different villages. Mr. Steinberg replied that all of the villages will have a heavy fiberglass shingle roof with texture that will have color differentiation between them. He added that the common building that ties in on that plaza and knits together the retail will have a standing seam metal roof similar to the commercial so that all the buildings and the clusters will have a common thread — whether it is the brick or roofing materials, or some of the wood or siding, but at the same time, have a differentiation between them. Mr. Steinberg concluded by stating that he believes they we have a really outstanding and fabulous land plan. He indicated that they have worked with staff to craft the open spaces and the gardens to have a very unusual environment, and they have knitted these buildings together to have a really extraordinary residential mixed -use, sustainable community to add to the City. Commissioner Pearce disclosed that she is a member of Beth Emek Synagogue and that she and Mr. Bob Russman met and engaged in discussions about this project. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, December 12, 2012 Page 27 of 40