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Potential Overriding Considerations <br /> <br /> Potential adverse environmental effects which cannot feasibly be <br /> avoided while allowing the project to proceed include the <br /> following: <br /> <br /> - risks associated with hillside development <br /> - risks associated with development outside standard, response <br /> time for emergency vehicles <br /> - substantial grading in an area of potentially unstable <br /> slopes/soils with high visibility and erosion potential <br /> - changed view of the lower Pleasanton Ridge <br /> - changed view and character along Foothill Road <br /> <br />Despite these effects, the benefits of the proposed project <br />outweigh the unavoidable adverse environmental effects, and, <br />thus, the adverse environmental effects are considered <br />"acceptable." The benefits of the proposed project which <br />outweigh its unavoidable adverse environmental effects are: <br /> <br />1. The project provides custom lot, upper-end housing <br /> opportunities as called for in the Housing Element of the <br /> General Plan while maintaining an acceptable risk to these <br /> future residents in accordance with Safety and SEismic Safety <br /> Element policies. <br /> <br />2. The project provides luxury, upper-end townhomes, meeting a <br /> housing need nowhere else provided, in accordance with <br /> Housing Element policies to provide housing for all economic <br /> segments and needs of the community. <br /> <br />3. The project preserves the historical Bernal adobe. <br /> <br />4. Long term, the revegetation of the hillside, elimination of <br /> cattle grazing, and modification/control of runoff may <br /> stabilize the hill, restoring, and potentially improving the <br /> existing views from the flatlands. <br /> <br />5. Storm drainage improvements will lessen flooding potential on <br /> existing residents along Foothill Road. <br /> <br />6. Improvements to Arroyo de la Laguna may lessen flooding <br /> potential upstream by lessening existing bottlenecks within <br /> the channel. <br /> <br />7. The upper portion of the site will be preserved as permanent <br /> open space, creating a de facto buffer to the City's <br /> wilderness park. <br /> <br />8. The project includes access to and use of a staging area <br /> providing community access to the adjacent Bernal Park, a <br /> park with presently inadequate access. <br /> <br /> - 4 - <br /> <br /> <br />