11 ATTACHMENT 7 - Laserfiche WebLink

The principal vehicle for evaluating the impacts of the project on aesthetics and visual resources is the representation of future visual conditions provided by the computer simulations that have been provided. These simulations represent what would be seen from within the site as well as from outside the site. These simulations represent views that can be created as realistically as possible. A 28-mm lens was used because such lens enabled a larger area to be photographed at one time, similar to what the human eye would experience. The issue of the use of a 28-mm lens versus a 50-mm lens has had significant discussion related to how realistic the representation is. From the testimony, it appears the overarching criticism is that the visual representations provide a simulation that makes the homes appear smaller at the viewpoint locations than they will actually be. The purpose of the simulations is to provide the decision-makers a tool that defines whether or not the homes may be seen, to what degree, and how the visual impacts can be mitigated if the developed sites are visible. The proposed homesites would be located primarily at the uppermost interface of the ridges that extend the development from the existing Kottinger Ranch development easterly into the Oak Grove site. These fingers and extensions of the Kottinger Ranch development will echo the same visual character and impacts as that project did. Staff notes that many developments that have taken place within the City are initially visible, but, over time, as vegetation takes hold and matures, those visual impacts are significantly or sometimes wholly mitigated. The Grey Eagle Estates development is but one example of homes sites located closer to the tops of ridges. These areas have been identified as the most stable areas for construction and reducing potentially significant impact to wetlands and valleys associated with homesites located on downslopes. Accordingly, the use of a 50-mm lens would have produced the same images; however, the end product would have been a patchwork of photographs breaking the view rather than the seamless photographs provided in the EIR in order to perceive the scale and appearance of the project within the panorama of the largest landscape setting. The questions to be answered by the visual analysis is: • Will home sites be visible? The answer is yes. The next question to be asked is, • Is there a reduction in the number of home sites that are now visible due to a reduction in the number of homes proposed from 98 to 51? The answer also is yes. • Can the visibility of the home sites be reduced with the use of landscaping materials? The answer again is yes, and, to that end, the visual simulations provided views of the site at construction, at five years and at ten years. PUD-33, Oak Grove Planned Unit Development Planning Commission Page 9