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done. He indicated that if the Commission is not going to change any of this, he does not think it is going to help matters much and that he is not going to vote "yes" for this the way it is. He reiterated that he is a "no" vote. Commissioner Allen stated that she has not followed this closely in the past but believes the Task Force really did a thorough job here. She noted that the Task Force was a diverse team with members of the business community, homeowners, and staff, and they made a lot of compromises early on, which resulted in the proposal before the Commission tonight. She indicated that when she learned it was a unanimous vote of the Task Force from all members of the business community, residents and staff, it said a lot to her, knowing the kind of contention there could have been. Commissioner Allen indicated that she supports this proposal and just wanted to mention a couple things. She stated that she looked at three questions as she made her decision on this: (1) Does this adequately protect our historic resources? (2) Does this provide a simpler process for all homeowners, for builders, and minimize some of the frustrations due to the lack of clarity that exists today? (3) Does it provide enough flexibility to homeowners to help them make solid decisions? She stated that she really looked at the rights of property owners versus protecting historic resources, and she looked at both of those areas. She stated that she felt the process did the best job it could in balancing those and provided protection for really an important part of Pleasanton that is not well protected today in terms of our residences in historic areas. She indicated that she thinks the process provides more clarity. Commissioner Allen stated that she struggled with the FAR issue in the discussion the Commission had tonight, and where she lands on the FAR and why she can support it is twofold: (1) It is a standard today for the Downtown district, which says things need to be scaled in a similar way, and that exists today in the Downtown district even though it does not exist in the rest of the City. She noted that the principle is not being changed; all it does is add some clarity to make it easier for people to make decisions and have that information. (2) She does recognize that the historic district does have a big variance in lot size, and she is guessing that is probably why this principle was put in place a long time ago. She questioned if, frankly, the City should do this for the rest of the City. She noted that if it needs to be done here, then let it start there. She noted that she thinks this goes a long way in protecting this great resource that is the Downtown. She expressed her appreciation for the work of the Task Force to provide clarity that will hopefully make it easier for everyone over time to know what they are getting themselves into as they look into buying a house or enhancing the house they have today. Chair Pearce stated that she wanted to circle back around to Commissioner Olson one more time. She indicated that she would obviously love to have his support on this. She asked Commissioner Olson if it is simply the FAR that would allow him to have a "yes" or if he wanted all of Mr. MacDonald's suggestions incorporated in the motion as the only way to get his to a "yes" vote. Commissioner Olson replied that that is the only way to get him to a "yes" vote. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, November 13, 2013 Page 38 of 50