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Commissioner O'Connor requested confirmation that the rest of the oak trees in the area will not necessarily grow ten feet in ten years because of irrigation patterns. Mr. Collins said yes. Commissioner Narum inquired if the replacement trees required in the conditions of approved were included in the simulation. Mr. Collins replied that he was not aware of the condition. Mr. Otto explained that the condition was added by staff at the writing of the staff report and were not included in the simulation. Mr. Collins noted that he was very comfortable with the quality of the photo simulations and noted that they were very accurate from the perspective of photo simulations in the industry. Chairperson Fox noted that the roof height to the top of the cupola was 35 feet, and the mature Blue Oak trees were 35 feet but the trees look way higher than the roofline. Mr. Collins explained that the vantage point of where the photos were taken is slightly lower. He stated that the tree is closer to the viewer than the house, and from down lower, there would be a higher angle for the top of the tree than if the tree were farther away from the viewer. Daniel Stewart, landscape architect, noted that they had worked hard to develop a plan that blended with the existing oaks and topography. They tried to use mostly native and drought- tolerant planting; six of the seven trees called out on the plan palette were non-native trees, but 90 percent of the overall trees used were the native Coast Live Oaks. The proposed landscape includes 438 new, 381 or 90 percent of which are native oaks. The additional 57 trees, such as the peppers, olives, and cedars, were mainly used as accents. In response to Commissioner Narum's inquiry regarding the condition that the sick trees should not be removed unless they are a safety hazard, Mr. Stewart replied that the removal of trees that are not healthy depends a lot on their proximity to the proposed development. He noted that trees that are really close to the wall or the house or the driveway would be more stressed than if they were standing on their own about 200 feet away. The trees close to the development would have to be removed as opposed to those standing on their own, whose decline in health rate would be less. Commissioner Narum inquired if the trees with poor health now would ever get better. Mr. Stewart replied that they would usually decline, and the rate would depend on the prevailing conditions such as stress from drought. He added that there would be no value in not removing a dead tree, which could be a fire hazard or a source of disease; it would be better to replace it with a younger vigorous tree. Mary Roberts noted that she lived next door to the Sariches and had been very concerned when she heard third-hand that the applicants may have planned to use the well for the vineyard. She noted that was a sensitive subject and appreciated staff's collection of historical documents. She respectfully disagreed with the applicants and with staff that this project was consistent with the Vineyard Avenue Corridor Specific Plan; she did not believe that finding could be made because of a number of issues. She disagreed with Mr. Pico that this project was compatible with the land use objectives in the Specific Plan. She noted that the Specific Plan provides that EXCERPTS: PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, November 14, 2007 Page 9 of 19