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is really excited to be part of the City and value the opportunity to provide a range of ministries and service. He stated that the Church has a rich history, noting that it was the first church established in Pleasanton in 1876 and has been here since. He added that the Church, as a congregation, has been an active part of the community through its 140 -year history and has been involved in a multitude of ways, including Boy Scouts and other local community groups, to try and do their part in serving and making a difference here. Pastor Barris stated that this application really represents their Church's next step into its future, a very significant and important step to moving ahead and continuing to be a vital part of this City. He indicated that when they began work on this project in April of 2014, they considered two options on how to move ahead with the land use: either develop some of the land for residential homes and complete the neighborhood while leaving the pre - school facility in place, or sell to another religious organization who would continue to build out their Church as currently planned. He stated that they intentionally chose the first option and asked Ponderosa Homes to partner with them in creating an attractive residential plan that would complement the existing residential units. He noted that compared to the Church's current 81,000- square -foot Master Plan at build -out, this plan actually reduces the total amount of square footage that will be built on -site, and would consequently reduce church - related traffic. Pastor Barris stated that he considers a preschool within walking neighborhood distance as a great amenity to have in the community. He noted that people from the neighborhood literally walk their kids or have them ride in wagons to school, and he believes it is a great part of the neighborhood that will be there and will be retained. Pastor Barris stated that it has been a long process and that they are glad to finally be before the Commission tonight. He indicated that they have a couple of time pressures with respect to moving forward on this project, and they have to make decisions very soon about a specific property for their new Church's home, which will require financial commitments on their part. He further indicated that they have a possible buyer for their temporary sprung structure, who wants to know how quickly the Church can deconstruct and deliver it to them. He added that their congregation is obviously desirous of finding out where their Church is going to land and how they are going to move forward. Pastor Barris addressed the Commission that its action would help keep this project moving forward and would allow the Church to put other aspects in place so they can move off of the site quickly and work toward a beautiful neighborhood here. He stated that they are grateful for the work done by the staff to help them with their portion of the application to get to this point tonight, and indicated that they support the Conditions of Approval relating to the preschool, including the recommended changes before the Commission tonight. He requested the Commission, on behalf of their Church family, to recommend approval of the project. Ms. Hardy stated that she had a brief discussion with staff preceding this hearing tonight, and given the issues that staff had raised in the staff report, she would like to PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, August 12, 2015 Page 5 of 34