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Chairperson Fox suggested addressing the questions separately: <br /> <br />1. Is the revised positioning of the buildings acceptable? <br /> <br />Commissioner O’Connor noted that he was happy to see what the applicant brought back <br />to the Commission and believed the higher building to attain more usable open space was <br />well-done. He believed the facilities were fine and liked the new location of the tot lot; <br />he liked the location of the pool as well. He indicated that closing off the upper floors for <br />noise mitigation was a good idea. <br /> <br />Commissioner Blank agreed with Commissioner O’Connor’s comments and believed the <br />revised positioning of the building worked well. He appreciated the increase in the net <br />square footage of the open space and believed the increased height of the buildings was <br />well placed. He inquired what the sports court was intended for. Mr. Heffner replied that <br />the purpose had not yet been specified and noted that in the second iteration, it had been <br />removed from its location near the parking lot. He noted that would create a logistical <br />problem with balls flying onto the parking lot; he noted that it should be more of a <br />passive space. Commissioner Blank inquired whether there were any Polychlorinated <br />biphenyls (PCBs) or other environmental impacts present from the transformer; he would <br />like examination of other environmental contaminants in addition to electromagnetic <br />issues. <br /> <br />Commissioner Olson noted that he was delighted to see the new iterations and believed <br />that architecturally, the applicant did a very good job. He noted that the applicant had a <br />tough assignment in defining the “look of Pleasanton” and believed that there was no <br />single look of Pleasanton. He noted that Ruby Hill, the Downtown, and Hacienda <br />Business Park all have different looks and believed that assignment did a disservice to <br />this project. He was extremely pleased with the architecture of this proposed project and <br />believed it fit well with its surroundings. He commended the applicant for increasing the <br />open space, doing so at the expense of their rentable space. He noted that this was a <br />transit-oriented development and that it was very likely that some residents would not <br />own an automobile. He did not object to the proposed parking ratio. <br /> <br />Chairperson Fox noted that ideally, she would like to lop off the north part of the building <br />closest to the freeway in favor of open space and have the buildings farther back from the <br />freeway so people did not live overlooking the freeway. <br /> <br />2. Are the revised layout and size of the common open space/recreation area <br />acceptable? <br /> <br />Chairperson Fox expressed concern about the issue of the site being sandwiched in the <br />commercial area. She believed it would be difficult to define the demographics of the <br />project because the City has not had a similar project to date; for instance, the student <br />generation rate of such a project was unknown. She requested more information on the <br />impact on existing infrastructure in terms of the school district and the City as a whole <br />because this project was not near a residential area. <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES August 22, 2007 Page 9 of 20 <br /> <br /> <br />