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what he will see when he looks out of his window and if the panels would be glaring back at his <br />house when the sun rises in the east. <br />Commissioner Fox asked Mr. Allen how he arrived at the 25,000 square feet of cubic volume. <br />Mr. Allen explained that the tennis court, asingle-floor, 8,475-square-foot structure, added to the <br />house with an 8,400-square-foot pad, would be equivalent to approximately 16,000 square feet; <br />however, adding the cubic volume of the floor space of the tennis court to the cubic volume of <br />the floor space of the main house plus the ground-floor coverage with the building pad size, <br />depending on how much of the top floor is open to the bottom floor, would result in a range from <br />the low 20,000 square feet to the high 20,000 square feet in terms of the cubic volume equivalent <br />of a two-story house of a similar size. <br />Becky Randall thanked the staff and the neighbors for the time they have put into this prof ect. <br />She read a letter she had written describing her residential history in Pleasanton. She indicated <br />that she bought her home in 1987 and had recently remodeled both the interior of the house and <br />the exterior property. She handed the Commissioners some photos of what her property looks <br />like taken from her perspective, noting that she was careful not to infringe on other people's <br />property. She then related how she had purchased another property in the area during the <br />remodel of her current house, and the next-door 3,200-square-foot house was sold and <br />demolished and then replaced with a 7,000-square-foot house a few feet away from property <br />fence and infringing on their privacy. She handed the Commissioners some pictures of this <br />house. She noted that the proposed Adams home is beautifully designed but too large for the <br />size and shape of the site and that it would be the largest home in their neighborhood. She <br />indicated that the Adams are great neighbors and, given the concessions, she is now happy with <br />their house; however, she is torn because it is a large house which may look fine once it is <br />screened, but she loves her house and her property and does not want to see the tennis court. She <br />expressed concern about the drainage issues and others issues that come with a large house <br />located just above her own. <br />Mr. Adams stated that he will work with the neighbors with respect to the landscaping, irrigation, <br />and fence issues. He noted that with respect to the largeness of the house, it will not have a <br />gravitational impact on the neighbors and the only impact would be the view they would be <br />looking at from their properties. He pointed out that the mass is not the issue and because the lot <br />is long, each neighbor will see only one part of the building; no one neighbor will see the entire <br />structure. He indicated that from the Allens' house, the view impact is not the blocking of the <br />alley, as the view that is being blocked by the building is the Adams' own backyard; he noted <br />that they do have a right to privacy in their own backyard. He added that the Allens' house is <br />perched above their own home and that it would be impossible to have any kind of private use in <br />the back half of their own property because of the way the Allens' windows are set; the roof of <br />tennis building, however, would block the Allens' view of their own swimming pool and <br />backyard and would provide some privacy. With respect to the impacts from the Randalls' <br />house, he stated that the house had been moved away from the Randalls' house and that he <br />believed that while the visual impact cannot be totally obliterated, the landscaping would solve <br />about 90 percent of the problem. He noted that when one moves into a house next to a very large <br />vacant lot, there is a risk that development will take place at that lot, and that development may <br />not be the neighbors' first choice. He added that the risk of that development should not be <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, January 9, 2008 Page 18 of 28 <br />