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Peter Milliken, a Valley Trails resident, mentioned that his home is approximately 50 <br />yards from St. Clare's. He asked Council to make amendments to what has already been done <br />and noted that he had not been invited to attend any of the neighborhood meetings. He asked <br />Council to consider the removal of the wooden fence, as he did not want to look at a wooden <br />fence filled with graffiti. He noted that St. Clare's has been a good neighbor; however, he <br />objected to the expansion of the existing parking lot and the driveway coming in from National <br />Park Drive and urged Council to address these issues. He was not opposed to the cyclone <br />fence, a~ the noise i~ not a problem. <br /> <br /> Ted Crowton, a Pleasanton resident, took exception to the closing statement made by a <br />representative from St. Clare's at the May 11, 2005 meeting where it was mentioned that a <br />study was done that indicated adjacent housing values would not be impacted by the expansion <br />and additional parking spaces. He believed the study was arbitrary without factual merit, <br />structure and documentation and is of no value in this matter. He noted that St. Clare's sold <br />44,580 square feet of its property to the Masonic Lodge which included 207 feet equaling 67 <br />percent of its prime frontage on Hopyard Road that would have provided it with exposure to <br />Hopyard Road. St. Clare's also entered into a shared parking agreement with the Masonic <br />Lodge. The additional parking lot should not be allowed in the northern portion of St. Clare's <br />property fronting onto National Park Road for three reasonS: (1) it is too inviting to mandate or <br />ask to be granted a variance for a driveway onto National Park Road; (2) the parking lot is <br />located next to Valley Trails Park and the project subverts the purpose of existence of the <br />parkland for its own use at the expense of the citizenry; and (3) the Masonic Lodge holds <br />meetings and social events or rents out its facility for special events with open bar and St. <br />Clare's parking lot then becomes a bar parking lot and should not be fronted on a residential <br />street. All future parking should be located on the Masonic property as close to the Masonic <br />Hall as possible for easy access and safety of the Mason members, its guests and the Valley <br />Trails neighbors. The Masonic Lodge property can accommodate more than the additional 42 <br />parking spaces for the total of 104 that St. Clare's proposed. The Pleasanton Fire Department <br />would still have the same access and firefighting capabilities that it currently has with the <br />additional parking being located next to the Masonic Lodge. St. Clare's and the Masonic Lodge <br />chose to locate its businesses together and in doing so, initiated how it could expand its <br />customer base. He believed the build out of St. Clare's would be detrimental to the Valley Trails <br />residents' quality of life and property values. <br /> <br /> Dave Pastor, a Pleasanton resident, noted that he attended the February 8, 2005 Valley <br /> Trails Homeowners Association meeting. He opposed the expansion of the existing parking lot <br /> and wondered if the expansion not only benefited St. Clare's, but also added parking spaces for <br /> the Masonic Lodge. He agreed that St. Clare's needed to expand, but wondered if the plans <br /> have allowed for over-expansion. The expansion of the existing parking lot would not benefit <br /> the Valley Trails neighborhood. <br /> <br /> William Hecht, a Valley Treils resident, did not have any problems with St. Clare's <br /> expanding, if Council chose to approve Option 3 as referenced in the staff report, he would like <br /> included in this option that there is absolutely no chance of having a driveway onto National <br /> Park Drive due to the traffic. He asked if the seating capacity for the Masonic Lodge property <br /> had been considered? He believed adequate parking needed to accommodate both buildings <br /> as they share a parking lot. <br /> <br /> Connie Cox, President of the Valley Treils Homeowners Association, summarized the <br /> key points. She noted that no one is opposed to St. Clare's expanding; however, the Valley <br /> Trails neighbors want to be heard and the issues need to be addressed. She did not believe <br /> that the two meetings sponsored by the City were adequate enough for this type of project. She <br /> <br /> Pleasanton City Council 12 07/19/05 <br /> Minutes <br /> <br /> <br />