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believes the application is premature. She stated that she may have been in support of <br />this if the applicants had come back with a plan for the house as opposed to a simple <br />bifurcation and see what can be done. She noted that the house was a big topic of <br />conversation at the Work Session, and while she wants to support this project, she has <br />to say that without an actual plan for the house, she cannot do so, regrettably. <br />Commissioner Ritter stated that he sort of agrees in the sense that this house was built <br />in 1912; the applicants have already done tons of expenses to figure out it is <br />unmovable, and nothing in the criteria shows that the house is historic for Pleasanton. <br />He added that he doubts the remodels done in 1960 were permitted, so it is unsafe and <br />seismically not sound. He noted that he is with Chair Pearce that there is this great <br />company that can develop a beautiful entrance to this whole property, but is not <br />including that first corner lot as part of this project. He emphasized that something has <br />to be done there, and in his opinion, he does not know if it can just be put off to the side <br />and have some developer say they are going to do something later without knowing <br />what is going to go there. <br />Chair Pearce stated that Commissioner Ritter brought up a good point about the <br />integration of the lot within the site. She noted that when the Commission first looked at <br />it, it had talked about the site as a whole; but bifurcating that point does something to <br />the overall feel of the site. <br />Commissioner Allen agreed. She stated that she thinks the Commission is at the point <br />where there is a benefit. She noted that this is not a subdivided property in terms of that <br />house right now being bifurcated. She added that the City has a unique opportunity to <br />keep this house and have the site developed in the right way; so it poses a problem of <br />having an old house that is not even going to be painted or have a new roof line or <br />anything. She indicated that she would be open and be much more amendable to <br />supporting this project if she saw a plan where at least the house was upgraded with a <br />new roof and was looking acceptable, even if the inside was left old. She added that it <br />is more about the visual exterior than its structural integrity. <br />Commissioner O'Connor stated that the Commission discussed at the Work Session <br />that if something were done with that home, it might be an amenity to the rest of the <br />development and could be an added draw for this development. He added that the <br />Commission also talked about density, what it should be if the house would not be <br />restored and what it could be if the house were restored. He noted that the Commission <br />started with the proposed 14 homes, went up from there, and came back down to about <br />a 14 -unit density and about the same amount of open space between the homes. He <br />added that when he was listening to Ms. Hardy go through some of the conditions that <br />Ponderosa did not like, he did not find too many of them that he would absolutely say <br />the Commission cannot do anything with. He indicated that he thinks he could buy into <br />that laundry list if something could be done with the house. <br />Chair Pearce agreed. <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, July 10, 2013 Page 18 of 21 <br />