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provided a summarization of the February 8, 2005 Valley Trails Homeowners Association where St. Clare's was invited to present its plans. Brent and Julie Curtis, members of St. Clare's Church, presented written communication to Council indicating that they supported the proposed master expansion plan for St. Clare's. David Willmore, representing the applicant and Chairman of the St. Clare's New Building Program, provided rebuttal comments. He addressed the comment related to real estate prices and submitted a letter to Council wherein Allied Brokers Real Estates was asked to provide information as to what effect the construction of St. Elizabeth's Seaton Church has had on the surrounding neighborhoods. In comparing the appreciation rate of Pleasanton Village and Mohr Park neighborhoods that are adjacent to St. Elizabeth's, Allied Brokers Real Estate found no difference. St. Clare's realized this was not a detailed study but felt it would help to address the concerns of the Valley Trails neighborhood. He noted that St. Clare's looked at purchasing the property from the Masonic Lodge as part of its process and recognized that it had some challenges given the L-shape of its property. Given the cost of real estate in the community, an agreement was not reached that could satisfy both parties. The Masonic Lodge could not find a suitable place to relocate and St. Clare's decided not to pursue this option. He pointed out that the north side of the area where Phase Ill is proposed is open green space and is not a park. St. Clare's recognizes that neighbors look at this area as a park and children play on it, but ultimately it is the Church's property. He noted that the reason parking is located in this area is to meet the City's zoning requirements and if parking could be reduced in this area and it accommodates the City's requirements, it might be an option. If this were to occur, it would mean that there would be fewer parking spaces on the Chumh property. He noted that St. Clare's has a reciprocal agreement with the Masonic Lodge for parking and one of the advantages of shared parking is that they compliment each other well. St. Clare's recognizes there may be situations where St. Clare's and the Masonic Lodge will hold events simultaneously and St. Clare's will do what it can to make sure there is no issue. St. Clare's has discussed with Harvest Park Church that if there are situations where additional parking is needed, they are willing to accommodate St. Clare's. He noted that the February 2004 neighborhood meeting was St. Clare's first effort to gather and collect feedback and the Church has been trying since that time to move forward. Tim Mattheis, project architect, mentioned that there was no expansion parking plans for Phase I because the primary use of the facility is still the worship space, which governs the parking size. The adjacent fellowship classroom space is currently not used and the worship space is used for assembly so the worship space still governs. He did not believe this facility was overbuilt and too large for its site. The master expansion plan meets all of the zoning requirements for the property based on City guidelines and staff has reviewed these plans and St. Clare's is in compliance with all of the requirements. Staff concurs that this is an applicable and just development for this property. He clarified that the meeting held in February 2004 by St. Clare's was held prior to the application to the Planning Commission for the conditional use permit. The intent of the February 2004 meeting was specifically to receive comment from the Valley Trails Homeowners Association about the plan and to solicit input about issues and concerns and make revisions as needed. He noted that there were no comments made at this meeting and St. Clare's proceeded to submit the plan in the way in which it had it. He noted that the northern portion of this site from where the parking lot is proposed to the nearest neighbor's property line is 60 feet with an extension of a park trail that goes through that area. Carl Pretzel, appellant, stated that he attended the majority of the neighborhood meetings and did not hear any personal insults that were made on behalf of the Valley Trails neighbors. He noted that both sides were equally upset. He provided an aerial photograph, which illustrated St. Clare's and the Masonic Lodge's properties as well as the existing parking Pleasanton City Council 13 07/19/05 Minutes