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meets the standards, but Energy Star that are at or above the current medium Energy <br />Star rating. <br />With respect to parking, Mr. Sowell inquired if the large parking garage will be built all at <br />once or if it will be phased somehow or if it will be delayed until after the residential <br />portion goes in. He indicated that if it is designed for the offices that have yet to be built, <br />it would seem that it should come a little later. <br />Mr. Sowell stated that he like the overall colors and wondered if the developer /applicant <br />would be open to using the same color palette but with a little less uniformity so that a <br />given building can at least somewhat stand out, such that that one building is <br />predominantly one color and another is predominantly another color, thereby making it <br />easier for newcomers and visitors to the apartment or condo to find a building. He <br />noted that every building in Archstone Apartments off of Owens Drive looks the same, <br />and some of the apartments even have the same number, so it is easy to get lost. <br />Mr. Sowell then raised several questions: Where would shoppers at the retail on the <br />corner of Rosewood Drive and Owens Drive park, and has parking been considered so <br />the shoppers do not take up the residential parking or do not drive up that middle <br />driveway and discover that there is only residential parking or none at all? Are there <br />any affordable condominiums going into this development so there is a market for new <br />homeowners of modest means not just to rent, but to buy? Is the applicant willing to <br />accept some owner - occupied homes that are built at the 50 percent to 80 percent PMI <br />portion of the market, and if so, under what conditions? What percentage of the <br />rooftops will have solar panels, and is the applicant willing to increase the proportion <br />over time? If solar panels were to be required, under what conditions would the <br />applicant agree to that? He once again thanked the developer and staff for their good <br />intentions, especially with regard to affordable housing. <br />Becky Dennis stated that she was here on behalf of Citizens for a Caring <br />Community (CCC). She indicated that she would like to talk about the affordability issue <br />and just how this point was reached in a beautifully designed project in a great location <br />where there is very little affordability compared to the projects around it. She noted that <br />in Pleasanton, the process basically includes reaching out to stakeholders, and this <br />project had none of that. She added that the Housing Commission did not have a <br />workshop that housing advocates could have attended; it was all the developer <br />negotiating and the staff and the developer wanting to fast -track this project with the <br />level of affordability they would determine based on the fact that the City is temporarily <br />without an ordinance. She noted that it is especially ironic because were it not for <br />housing advocates, the developers would not have had the opportunity to develop this <br />site. She pointed out that the City re -zoned these sites at 30+ units to the acre <br />specifically to provide affordability, more opportunity for affordability than there have <br />been in the past, such as the 25 percent affordability at less density in Hacienda. <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, March 27, 2013 Page 38 of 48 <br />