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next -door property, look at aerial photographs, and come up with a reasonable estimate of what the square footage is. Commissioner Olson stated that he has looked at the Historic Context Statement and it strikes him as opening things up dramatically and making the whole process less predictable for an individual who wants to either build a home on a vacant lot or refurbish an existing house or add on to it. Mr. Dolan explained that the Historic Context Statement does not even address new homes. Commissioner Olson inquired if it will be used by folks to throw rocks at a proposal, and there have been plenty of that going on in this area. Mr. Dolan explained that it is really only a document to help decide whether something is historic or not; it is just an analysis of history and how it relates to what ended up being built on the ground and what the components of the various types of things that were built are. He indicated that the information is then used to determine if something is historic; it does not include regulations. He stated that it actually closes gaps because it makes a consistent resource for all different analysis that might be presented. He pointed out that under the current situation, the City gets various consultants, and staff review their credentials to make sure they are qualified, but they are not necessarily all using the same material to come up with their conclusions on whether or not a home meets the criteria for registration on the California Register. Commissioner Olson inquired, should this be adopted, if it would be possible to build the Jon Harvey home on Neal Street. He indicated that he views that house as an addition to the eclectic nature of the area. Mr. Dolan replied that the house was always described as a craftsman home, and the issue was if it was a traditional enough craftsman. He indicated that he does not know what the conclusion of that analysis would be, but the process would be that the applicant would go look in the Context Statement and look at what the components are, the features, the physical characteristics of a craftsman, and if the proposal contains those features. He noted that if the answer is yes but it happened to be in a more modern interpretation of them, he would think that the answer would be yes. He added that that is as much as he can answer the question right now and that he is not going to say that that home would be approved exactly as it was proposed because he does not really know that and has not done that analysis. Chair Pearce asked Mr. Dolan if it is staffs opinion that, given some of the concerns seen in the Downtown Specific Plan Area with regard to homes over the past few years, those challenges would not have occurred or would not have been as problematic as they were with these modifications. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, November 13, 2013 Page 34 of 50