PC 012313 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commissioner O'Connor stated that he is not sure if that is legally required but in Pleasanton, the City goes out of its way to get extra public input. Commissioner Pearce proposed that the Commission go one by one through the five things that Council discussed and see what the Commissioners are in agreement on and then have a discussion on the rest to see if the Commission can get a majority opinion. Chair Blank noted that was a good idea. 1.a. Methodology for Determining 25- Percent Slope 1.b. Methodology for Defining Contour Intervals Commissioners Narum, Olson, Pearce, O'Connor, and Blank indicated that they were fine with both methodologies. 2. Definition or Ridge and Ridgeline and the 100 -Foot Setback Commissioner Narum stated that the Commission needs to clarify if it is the foundation or the entire house or some part of the house that should be below the 100 -foot setback. She noted that she thinks the intent here was to protect the ridgelines and to not see the houses. She gave, as an example, if the 100 -foot setback is at an elevation of 1,000 feet and the foundation is at 999.9 feet, the house would now have potentially gone 30 feet up the hill. Commissioner Olson commented that was a good point and noted that the house would be about three or four stories up. Commissioner O'Connor commented that a house coming up the side of a hill that is under a 25- percent slope would have a fairly flat area to grade for a foundation. He continued that considering 100 feet below the top of the ridge, a three -story house would be 35 to 40 feet, which would be still 60 feet under the ridge. He stated that the only reason he is bringing this up is, and staff alluded to this, is that if there were a line that was 100 feet below whatever is defined as the ridgeline, it would be a continuous line that could be followed for development. He added that if the Commission has to look at every single application for every home that is 20 feet, 30 feet, or 40 feet high at different elevations, the Commission would have to almost have to look at every single lot individually, which would be very problematic. Commissioner Narum commented that part of the Oak Grove development application was that every single house would have to come before the Commission. Commissioner O'Connor noted that the Oak Grove houses were going to be individually built, as opposed to being built by a developer, so they would have come to the Commission individually anyway, as that is the process for every one -house developer. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, January 23, 2013 Page 19 of 44