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o Mitigate visual concerns by painting the tank a natural earthtone color. After discussion, the Commission chose not to require painting the tank a different color as they felt color choice was subjective. The issue of maintenance was also considered as these types of tanks are meant to be low maintenance and applying paint would result in ongoing maintenance issues. The applicant was not opposed to painting the tank. o Installing lattice work or a structure around the tank. The Commission noted that screening with fencing, lattice, or other structures sometimes makes something more visible. Screening the tank in this way was also something that the appellant did not support as they felt it would still be a large structure in their front yard. The Planning Commission noted that this was an agriculturally zoned area and with such zoning it is expected that things such as animals, odor, and agricultural equipment, such as water tanks, may be part of the landscape. It was noted that the tank could have been better screened if some of the existing vegetation and fence had not been removed by the appellants. The Commission was also sympathetic to the need to upgrade and replace outdated agricultural equipment and noted that Ms. Rocha had consulted with a contractor, relied on the contractor to inform her of the best location for the operation of the system, and relied on their expertise to inform her of the any City requirements. The Commission acknowledged that the applicant was willing to mitigate the neighbor's concerns. They also noted that the mitigation measures discussed were not desired by the Segundo's. Summary There are a number of concerns that have been relayed by the Segundo's in describing their opposition to the tank. There appear, however, to be three primary issues: o Whether the replacement water tank is considered sufficiently offensive to the City Council requiring its relocation, o Whether the location of the tank is critical to the operation of the system, and o Whether there are other mitigation measures that have not yet been considered by staff, the neighbors, and the Planning Commission. The issue of whether the tank is visually offensive is subjective. It is smaller than the older tank but it is not currently as well screened by vegetation due to the removal of existing mature landscaping on both the south and west sides of the appellant's property. Conflicting information has been provided regarding the necessity of the tank location closer to the pump. It is likely that the system would operate better if the pump and tank were close together, although it also seems likely that an adequate system could be Page 6 of 8