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upscale home. She indicated that Mr. Schmitt has recently visited her home to view the story poles, and while they may not agree on the extent of the impact of the proposed remodel on her home, they can agree that it is difficult to find a solution that works. She noted that the Schmitts have been good neighbors and that she hopes they can arrive at a mutually satisfactory solution. She pointed out that staff recommends two options for the Commission's consideration and that she supports either option. She then sincerely thanked the Commissioners for their time and attention. Daniella Karo stated that she has been a resident of Pleasanton since 1968. She indicated that she and her husband worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory then, and they decided that Pleasanton would be a good place for them. She noted that they were among the first two or three people who came to Rose Point and that they liked the area specifically compared with the valley for the fact that all of these homes were supposed to be one -story homes on relatively large lots, which guaranteed that they would have privacy in building there. She added that they did have some CC &Rs which may have expired at some point, and she does not understand why they were allowed to expire. Ms. Karo stated that she personally experienced the same thing that Ms. Bengtson is going through. She indicated that she lives in a cul -de -sac, and in the early 2000's, her next -door neighbors decided to build a second -story addition, which they did not agree with. She stated that she went around the neighborhood asking neighbors how they felt about it, and they gathered a lot of signatures from those who were completely against the second -story addition. She noted that what ultimately happened was that her wonderful next -door neighbor was very sensitive to the way the neighborhood felt about the addition and how their quality of life and the value of their homes were going to be impacted, and decided to withdraw the application for a second story and built a very lovely extension on one -story level surrounding the swimming pool area, which they are very happy about. Ms. Karo stated that she also suffered the effects of a second -story addition that went up right behind her lot and which went up literally overnight during the summer when most of the neighbors were vacationing. She indicated that they were not given any advanced notice that this was going to happen, and the second story was already up there when she came back from vacation. She noted that this created a great uproar in the neighborhood. She added that the house, as it is built right now, does not fit in the neighborhood, and she is still fighting to keep privacy from the impact of that second story. She urged the Commission to maintain the quality and ambience of Rose Point, which is primarily a single -story neighborhood. She indicated that she knows, with an aging population, that there is a great need for second stories, but that whatever increasing value that goes to the next -door neighbor's addition of a second story will negatively impact the value of the houses neighboring that change. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, August 13, 2014 Page 7 of 32