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piece of paper that she just happened upon that said there was going to be a meeting <br />within 48 hours at 4:30 in the afternoon. She noted that she is a working woman and <br />cannot be at a meeting at 4:30 in the afternoon with a 48 -hour notice. She concluded <br />that this whole thing does not feel like it is being done in good faith, and she is very <br />disappointed that the character of this community is not being upheld and the people <br />who live here are not being served. <br />Sean Sowell stated that he has lived in Pleasanton since 2000, and his ex -wife and <br />sons live on Vineyard Avenue between First Street and Bernal Avenue, a ten - minute <br />walk from the proposed site. He indicated that he is generally opposed to this proposal. <br />He inquired if this is going to be a Chevron station or a Conoco Phillips station, to which <br />Chair Blank responded that the Commission will refer the question to the applicant <br />when he comes back at the end of the public hearing period. Mr. Sowell continued that <br />regardless of which it is, both are a national countrywide chain and not a local station <br />like the one in the Downtown. <br />Mr. Sowell noted that at the Arco service station on Valley Avenue across from Temple <br />Beth Emek, the fuel pumps have TV monitors above them that play as long as the <br />station is open and that he, for one, finds it very annoying when he pulls up to pump gas <br />to have this thing blaring into his ear and into his face with advertisements. He stated <br />that he hopes this proposed station does not have that because it goes on all hours of <br />the day and night as long as people are pumping gas. <br />Mr. Sowell stated that his other concern is the parcel next door which used to have a <br />railroad track running along there. He indicated that he did not know it was where kids <br />go to fight, and this is not being addressed in terms of what is happening to that parcel <br />with this new development coming in. He echoed Mr. McFarlane and inquired what the <br />nature of the wall will be. He expressed concern that, in all candor, this tends to frankly <br />"ghetto -ize" the area from First Street north of Neal Street up to First Street at Ray <br />Street, with a liquor store, a gas station on each corner with "packaged" convenience <br />stores that sell no health food, nothing that can be bought at a farmer's market. He <br />stated that some speakers had mentioned that there are a lot of kids walking to and <br />from the three schools in the area and that soft drinks are no longer available on school <br />campuses; he inquired if there could be some kind of condition as to what types of <br />foods the convenience market can sell. He noted that the neighborhood does not need <br />that kind of a repeating market that does not really add anything new and that he <br />prefers to go to Meadowlark Dairy because it has been there for years and to the new <br />New Leaf Market that is opening in May. He indicated that he just does not see how <br />this is going to add any value to the community and will certainly tend to concentrate <br />and solidify the character of that particular part of the City as being somewhat of a <br />"ghetto -ize" part of Pleasanton. He stated that he does not have a problem about <br />places with food and such that are sold at low and reasonable prices for low- and <br />moderate - income people, but they should not all be concentrated in one part of the City. <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, March 27, 2013 Page 13 of 48 <br />