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DRAFT <br />oil spills and other messes. Hap's will participate in the deferred maintenance in <br />anticipation that their garbage trucks will damage the parking lot; and <br />2. The 12-foot-wide alleyway between Hap's and the Gale Building was part of the <br />agreement and part of a publicly noticed hearing ordinance for the egress to Neal Street. <br />He did not believe that either the Planning Commission or the City Manager had the legal <br />right to change the legal emergency access as agreed. He noted that it should be <br />maintained and enforced. <br />Gary Torretta noted that he was a member of the Pereira Partnership and supported his partners. <br />He acknowledged that this had been along-running and emotionally-charged ordeal and that no <br />one wanted this situation to become any more unpleasant. <br />Mike Madden distributed the actual-size plan submitted by the Pereira Partnership for the wall, <br />which was approximately the size of the business card. He agreed with Mr. O'Callaghan's <br />statement that it was embarrassing to bring this issue before the Planning Commission and that <br />he did not believe it was appropriate to build a wall based on a plan on a small strip of paper. He <br />noted that once the wall had been built, a series of meetings commenced to craft a compromise. <br />He had met with staff and Mr. Pereira, including a meeting with Mr. Pereira and his contractor, <br />and another meeting with Mr. Pereira and his attorney. Mr. Pereira's in-town partner had <br />attended a meeting, as did his out-of--town partner. He noted that he had attended many meetings <br />and that on one occasion, he had received a belligerent message on his cell phone which had <br />been left at 1:30 a.m. from Mr. Pereira. At that time, he had stopped attending meetings. He <br />believed this issue originated from a mistake, which staff acknowledged in the report. He noted <br />that at every meeting, he had tried to craft a compromise and that staff admitted that the wall had <br />not been improved properly. He added that staff had asked him to find a way to go forward. <br />Mr. Madden noted that he had met in good faith but that nothing productive had occurred as a <br />result. He noted that he was not happy about the need to compromise but would be willing to do <br />so in order to reach closure on this matter. He noted that the 1999 approval of Hap's conditioned <br />his tenant to build two trash enclosures on their property, indicating cooperation between the two <br />parties in the past. He added that the Hap's building underwent an extensive remodel in 1999 <br />and that it was brought up to seismic standards of the day at that time. It also received many <br />enhancements, including a full set of fire sprinklers. He expected to have his building returned <br />to the same level of safety as it had before the wall was installed. He recalled that the Building <br />Official had told him that in the Downtown District, current safety codes could not be <br />unilaterally applied for financial reasons. He added that the official told him that the City tried to <br />improve the situation as it pertained to safety. He believed this wall did not offer any safety <br />improvements and could not accept that his building may be more dangerous than it was two <br />years before. He would be willing to accept staff's recommendations in the staff report for <br />closure but would like clarification on why a compromise was necessary. He noted that in <br />Pleasanton, it was not always necessary to compromise with respect to schools, open space, or <br />aesthetics. He believed that the wall should be taken down and added that the properties had <br />co-existed for 40 years without a wall. <br />DRAFT EXCERPTS: PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, 2-13-08 Page 7 of 13 <br />