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Site Design Staff finds the site design is appropriate, locating the new unit behind the existing commercial building, which minimizes its visibility from the street. The view toward the property from Ray Street will remain largely unaltered. The current view is of the existing commercial building on-site, vegetation, and a two-story building in the background on the adjacent lot. Due to the siting of the new unit, the perceived massing is similar to what already exists. The site design includes minor adjustments to the existing site plan to accommodate the unit (i.e., relocating parking, removing one tree, and relocating the trash cans). Staff finds the minor adjustments to the site design are suitable to accommodate the unit, with parking discussed further below. A vehicle turnaround was discussed during the workshop for this item and the applicant has since worked with the City's Traffic Division including providing them with site dimensions and more information about how vehicles navigate the existing site. The Traffic Division has indicated support for the site design as proposed. The addition of new landscaping will enhance the streetscape as it locates a new tree along the Ray Street frontage, and another along the eastern property line where a gap in the landscaping exists. Parking The existing parking on-site includes 10 parking spaces, and the project increases the on-site parking by two spaces to include 12 total parking spaces. Three of the parking spaces are located in the carport attached to the new unit, two of which are within a parking lift. The two parking spaces in the parking lift are for residents of the new unit only with the surface parking spaces available on-site for the existing commercial building. Exhibit E provides an exhibit of the lift and added lift details; the lift is illustrated throughout the plans in Exhibit B. The lift operates similar to an elevator, where a car goes on the lift and is raised up, then a new car can be pulled into the space below; the lower car needs to be pulled out before the lift can come back down to the ground. A major concern of the Planning Commission during the workshop was lift operation since, in the prior proposal, the lift was not designated for the sole use of the residential unit. Further, the lift incorporated two upper spaces and two lower spaces, meaning that both lower vehicles had to be moved in order to stack vehicles on top. Another major concern was the aesthetics of the lift, as it was open to the air and not within a structure. In response to the Planning Commission's comments, the project was modified to reduce the quantity of lift spaces (it now only includes one lifted space), dedicate the lift spaces exclusively to the residential unit, and to locate the lift within the carport which screens it from view on three sides. To further screen the view on the front side, the applicant added in an architectural detail to the carport to reduce visibility of the lift from the street. This can be seen on Sheet A.3 of Exhibit B. The parking has two considerations as follows: • Pleasanton Municipal Code: Per the PMC, the project requires 12 parking spaces total for the existing commercial and proposed residential. The PMC notes that each parking space shall have unobstructed access to/from the street without moving another vehicle. Akin to tandem parking, an upper space of a lift would be obstructed by the lower car. P20-1053, 218 Ray Street 6of11 Planning Commission