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Dee Church stated that she has worked for Mr. Roesbery for over 25 years and at this business for about 15 years. She indicated that she has a lot of customers who want 7 - Eleven because it provides a lot of fresh food and a lot of other products that can be carried in the store. She added that they need a bigger store and is looking forward to having a 7- Eleven store at this location. Tamara Battista stated that she has lived in Pleasanton for 16 years and has worked for Mr. Roesbery's for three years now at the Valero station. She indicated that a 7- Eleven store will not only help the community but also the shopping center that is sometimes half empty due to the lack of pedestrian traffic coming through there so that businesses such as Boswell and Girasole have not been able to make it. She added that she thinks 7- Eleven would be a good change for Valero; it would help the neighborhood in and of itself, and the children who come through all the time would also love to have a Slurpee. Weldon Theobald stated that he spent the last 28 years in the gas, convenience, and car wash industry, and has run as many as 40 gas stations at one time as a company. He indicated that for the last 15 years exclusively, he dealt mainly with Shell and has closely hovered over the building or revamping of 15 gas stations, one of which is at the Bernal Corners on Bernal and Valley Avenues. He added that he has searched the Circle K's, the Extra Miles, the On The Go, and all of them had a program, but none of them was as complete as what he has experienced with 7- Eleven when he joined Mr. Roesbery about two years ago. He noted that what 7- Eleven brings to the plate truly makes a difference in an operation. Mr. Theobald stated that they worked very hard with City staff concerning the noise, and this was not an instant type situation, as having faced the same music at Bernal Corners, they wanted to minimize it to a point that there would be no problems. Tiffany Driscoll stated that she would like to begin tonight by saying that this meeting is not about 7- Eleven, not about whether 7- Eleven is a great company, or what it has done in other neighborhoods, but about whether a 24 -hour convenience store selling alcohol is compatible with the site and the surroundings. He pointed out that the only support she has heard in any of these meetings, including the neighborhood meeting, has come only from 7- Eleven corporate people and employees of the current gas station. She referred to the discussion on the neighborhood meeting on page 3 of the staff report and noted that all these things were covered but not really appropriately. She indicated that with respect to hours of operation for the convenience store and drive -thru car wash, they were told at the neighborhood meeting that the owners would be temporarily willing to be open for now from 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. and that this would not be a permanent situation. She stated that the neighborhood fully understands that if the zoning change is granted, neither they nor the public will no longer have any input on whether or not they would be allowed to go to a 24 -hour store. She noted that a zoning change is something that has been tried before, and as a resident of the area, she has been through all the litigation with the two original shopping centers being built, including putting in a delivery driveway in an alley that would have backed up to her PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, August 27, 2014 Page 16 of 44