CCMIN120401 - Laserfiche WebLink

Mr. Swift said as the buildings are constructed north, the elevations get lowered. The overall height when viewed across the courtyard is about the same. There was consideration of depressing the foundations even farther for the three-story buildings, but that would require a massive number of tracks hauling dirt offsite. Ken Mantoani, Senior Director of Global Site Services for Applied Biosystems, briefly reviewed the history of this project and then described the company. He referred interested persons to the website for Applied Biosystems for more detailed information. Rick Sage, Director of Site Development for Applied Biosystems, reviewed the proposed project and process to this point, including neighborhood meetings, workshops and Planning Commission hearings. David Gates, Gates Associates, described the land planning, building design, and landscaping for the proposed project. Bryan Croeni, MBT Architecture, described the architectural design and features of the buildings. Mr. Sage showed a final slide and indicated that if the project is approved grading would start for only two buildings (C and D) at this time of year. Occupancy is expected by Spring of 2003. Mr. Campbell asked about the trails on the western edge of the knoll area adjacent to 1- 680. Mr. Sage described the location of the current trail system. There are some existing trails on the campus that will remain, but will be for employees only and not public trails. The public trail is along Sunol Boulevard and along the north side of the property along Sycamore Creek with a continuation of the trail to the northwest comer of the property. There was a break at 9:00 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 9:10 p.m. Mayor Pico declared the public heating open. William Olson 301 Diamond Court, indicated that from offsite, the background of the new buildings will not be the sky but the hills. He said the old Kaiser building blended in well with its darker color. He presented some of his wife's comments. The southern entrance to Pleasanton was to be a gateway retaining a neighborly rural atmosphere with low built construction along Sunol Boulevard, to be unobtrusive to fit in with the current neighborhood. Another goal was to retain the campus-like quality of the old Kaiser property. The neighborhood group has worked hard to retain these goals, however the buildings have gotten higher. The citizens' idea of low and overall height is apparently different than the Planning staff. The rules Pleasanton City Council 7 12/04/01 Minutes