17 ATTACHMENTS 1-2 - Laserfiche WebLink

Public Comments P20-0412; me nclnients to Pleasanton cl tunici/cul Code tor accessory c/i ellin,4J units From:Jocelyn Combs Sent:Tuesday,January 19, 2021 2:03 PM To:Mayor and City Council Subject: Item 17 the 1/19/21 Pleasanton City Council Agenda -ADU Ordinance Dear Mayor Brown and Councilmembers, As I mentioned at a previous council meeting, I am in the process of planning an ADU on my property. This ADU Ordinance is timely and also clarifies some questions I have had. I want to commend staff and the Planning Commission for sorting through and reviewing the recent legislation regarding ACUs and making it applicable to Pleasanton. Bravo! It continues to be a work in progress. Understanding that,there is one standard that was not reviewed by the Planning Commission that concerns me. It reads: "A solid fence at least six feet in height,and vegetative screenings/plantings of species with a mature height of at least 10 feet in height is required along property lines adjacent to the ADU if the ADU is less than 10 feet from the property lines." I understand the concern about screening any new ADU from the adjacent property. Nobody likes surprises,although the newly proposed courtesy notice(also not reviewed by the Planning Commission) would alleviate some of that. Since the vast majority of lots in Pleasanton are small to medium sized, most all potential ADUs in Pleasanton would be within 10'feet of property lines (some more than one)and qualify for this standard,so I think it is important to get it right. Because my one-story ADU will be very close to the 4'setback from my neighbor I was going to place a 7-8'foot trellis against my existing 6'fence and grow vegetation on it for an 8'screen.Then I'd still be able to use some of the setback for other landscaping.We have all seen around town 6'fences with a 12-18'trellis on top.This look was my vision. If the new standard is adopted this would not work. I couldn't find any 10'trellises on-line, and even if I had one built it would have to be engineered to stay upright. (Ten feet is two feet taller than the average ceiling!)So I would have to plant tall trees along the property line instead. Most trees that grow ten feet and taller have a leafed-out diameter of more than four feet(I would have only trees for landscaping)and could eventually create root problems for my ADU. My experience is that some well-watered trees don't know when to stop growing.They might not only screen my ADU from my neighbor but might also obscure their view of the ridge. I understand the problem but don't have any solutions. In the scheme of things this is not a big issue (those have been well-sorted out), but as they say,the devil is in the details.As written,this standard may not be workable. Perhaps just this standard could return to the Planning Commission for their and the public's thoughts. Also perhaps this standard could be sent to HCD to see if it meets the intent of the law and if other jurisdictions have solutions.