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maturity to get a better impression of what the finished project will actually look like after a <br />number of yeazs have passed. <br />Ms. Mundie then showed overhead slides of the southern edge of Pleasanton Ridge taken <br />from Grey Eagle Court. She first described the existing view; followed by one right after <br />construction with landscaping at zero yeazs and a few houses; then one after five years where <br />there has been some screening as the vegetation is in place and is beginning to grow; and <br />finally one after 15 years where there is a substantial amount of vegetation and most of the <br />houses are screened. She noted that a house is visible where the vegetation ends, and this <br />might be a place where maybe more mitigation trees might be needed. <br />Ms. Mundie pointed out that these visual simulations are of assistance in a number of <br />different ways, the most important of which are to give decision-makers an idea of what the <br />completed project will look like, and then to give the EIR team one measure of determining <br />whether there are significant aesthetic impacts associated with the project. She added that, in <br />fact, Chapter 4, Part A did find significant impacts associated with the aesthetics and visual <br />resources: In Impact A-1, public uses and facilities, including new roads, need to be <br />integrated into the surrounding landscape, primarily by landscape and plantings. It is <br />recommended that the mandatory design guidelines be revised to put more lots into the <br />category of "high visibility," which would have the effect of placing more restrictive <br />setbacks and landscape requirements on all the lots that would be added to this group. <br />Ms. Mundie then noted that no adverse impacts were found in the case of agriculture. She <br />added that in the case of air quality, the methodology, the information, and the analysis are <br />determined by regional agencies and that the regional criteria established by the Bay Area <br />Air Management Quality Agency were observed. Because the project was too small for the <br />other impacts, only one impact was found related to those criteria to reach those thresholds: <br />that on dust generation primarily during construction. An impact mitigation program was <br />recommended to deal with that. <br />Ms. Mundie continued that Section D, the second lazge section of Chapter 4, is biology. It <br />includes a series of graphics showing biological resources associated with the site, among <br />them ponds, wetlands, plant communities, and substantial wooded azeas on the site. There <br />aze approximately 12,000 trees on this site at the present time, and about 950 trees would be <br />removed of which about 90 would be trees that meet Pleasanton's heritage tree standards. <br />She noted that the ponds aze potential breeding habitats for the California Red-Legged Frog, <br />which, together with the Califomia Tiger Salamander, has been found on the site in <br />association with these ponds. In addition, a certain plant called the Johnny Jump-up, or the <br />viola cornuta, grows in the azea. This plant serves as the host plant for the Callippe <br />Silverspot butterfly in its larval stage, so these plant azeas aze a very important part of the life <br />cycle of that endangered species and an important biological resource of the site. <br />Ms. Mundie noted that the biological section found ten biological resources and proposed <br />extensive mitigations for all of them, which aze reported in the Draft EIR. <br />Chairperson Arkin inquired how the biological assessment was done and if the consultants did <br />the assessment themselves or hired someone to do it. <br />12 <br />