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Ms. Stern replied that the map shows the road meandering between the trees. She added that the angle also needs to be considered as a reasonable slope has to be maintained for any emergency vehicles to get up there. She indicated that there may be a way to adjust the road a little bit but there is not too much latitude to do so. Commissioner O'Connor inquired if there is an alternative that might remove one tree as opposed to three, four, five, or six trees. Mr. Dolan replied that there probably is an alternative that would change the number of trees to be removed, and the height on the hill versus the location of the road. He noted, however, that these are not the only two variables; the distance between the homes, the size of the homes, and the space they would take are also variables. He added that he is not sure calling that one home as being placed on the top of the hill is exactly accurate as it is farther up the hill. Commissioner Allen stated that when the Alternatives were created, it looks like the underlying assumption was a westerly road, which was common to all of the Alternatives. She noted that this raises the question of if there were two properties that were lower on the hill but had an easterly road similar to the proposed plan, whether that might potentially be an option that would minimize the damage to the trees and help save them. Ms. Stern replied that Exhibit B shows that down the hill a bit further are the tree outlines which are pretty much all over. She added that maybe some of those trees are smaller or less visible, and it might be possible to look into that. She noted that this is a Work Session, and these ideas can be considered. Chair Pearce agreed that because this is a Work Session, discussions can be less exacting than normal. She indicated that the Commission can go through the discussion points and ask questions of staff as they come and have a conversation about them. 1. Does the Planning Commission support the applicants' proposal for siting the homes, or is there a preference for Alternatives 1, 2 or 3? Commissioner Allen stated that, as a background, she visited the site twice and that this is the first time she has been exposed to the property. She noted that she walked the site from the perspective of a pedestrian and a bicyclist and a resident, and then walked the site with staff for about an hour and a half actually looking at each of the Alternatives. She indicated that given that, she does not support any one of the Alternatives purely but would support something that would be a blending of the proposal and a blending of Alternative 3. She stated that that would mean lowering the house that is right now located toward the top to be more in line with where the lower property is. She noted that she thinks that would have less visual impact to everyone and little more of a clustering, and assumes an easterly alignment of the road in a way that protects those heritage trees. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, July 24, 2013 Page 12 of 20