CCMIN071905 - Laserfiche WebLink

Mr. Sullivan believed that the appellants were not necessarily opposed to the expansion of the Church but wanted to be allowed the opportunity to have more input into the process to address its concerns, which have not been sufficiently addressed. Mr. Pretzel concurred. If a facilitated process could be established with the goal of addressing all of the issues and arriving with a plan that would addres~ the needs of the Church and the neighborhood from an impact standpoint, Mr. Sullivan asked if this would be a process that the appellants and the Valley Trails neighborhood would be interested in pursuing? Mr. Pretzel said yes, keeping in mind the interpretation of the General Plan that protects the integrity and character of the Valley Trails neighborhood, which would meet everyone's needs. David Willmore, representing the applicant and Chairman of the St. Clare's New Building Program, mentioned that he gathered and collected feedback from church members in looking towards planning for the Church's long-term future in the next 25 years. Phase I is what the Church can afford while recognizing in the future there will be a need as the Church grows to expand for a second and third phase. The Phase II expansion is anticipated 10 to 15 years from now and Phase III five years after. Phase I would fulfill the need the Church has and to be able to provide better outreach to the community. He noted that St. Clare's offers a number of outreach features to the community, which currently can only be held in preschool classrooms, which are not conducive to proper meeting space. He clarified that in February 2004, the Church solicited and asked to attend the Valley Trails Homeowners Association meeting in advance of submitting its plan and an attempt to gather feedback from the neighborhood to be incorporated into the Church's plan. The Church believed it received positive feedback from this meeting while noting that it did not address all of the neighbor's concerns. St. Clara's invited local neighbors whose homes are adjacent to the Church to attend a meeting in April 2004 to share the expansion plans, with one family in attendance. St. Clare's believed it had made a good effort and proceeded with the plan and submitted it to the Planning Department. St. Clare's followed the City prescribed process and hosted two meetings where it gathered feedback from the neighbors and addressed the feedback received. When the second meeting was held, St. Clare's received more issues and concerns which the Church addressed as presented by the neighbors and resubmitted its plans. These revisions eliminated several features that church members desired to have, such as a courtyard. St. Clare's exceeds the zoning requirements for parking as stated by the City now and in the future. St. Clare's recognizes that once or twice a year during the holidays, thera will be situations where parking would need to be accommodated outside of the Church's property onto National Park Drive, which he believed was not an undue burden for the neighborhood. He noted that St. Clare's shares parking space with the Masons and when the Church first purchased the property in 1976, its membership was comprised of individuals who raised funds from its own pockets to be able to worship together. The Church having purchased the land was in no financial position to construct a building and the only way for this to be achieved was to sell a portion of the land so that it had sufficient funds to build a church. He did not believe this was relative to the process and since that time, St. Clare's has established a relationship with the Masons and shares parking and works together to ensure there are no issues relative to parking. He disagreed with the issue that there was no regard to feedback. St. Clare's recognizes that there comes a time where it is concerned that it is not able to meet its church members needs. The reason Phase II is located towards the street is based on a need the Church has to have more visibility to the community. Pleasanton City Council 9 07/19/05 Minutes