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ATTACHMENT 13 i®°"`` RUGGERI-JENSEN-AZAR ENGINEERS • PLANNERS • SURVEYORS September 14,2015 Mike Meyer Greenbriar Homes 43160 Osgood Road Fremont, CA 94539 RE: Allen Roberts Letter from PUD 25 Planning Commission Meeting Dear Mr. Meyer: Below are comments from an email provided by City staff on August 27. The comments were written by Mr. Allen Roberts regarding the man-made slopes within the development footprint. I have added responses to the comments in italics below each comment. 1. The area of man-made slopes is very clear on an aerial photo in the barn area. It extends about 40'upslope from the barn to the downslope side of the trees. It extends laterally about 150'. You can see this very clearly on Google earth. Response: Grading that occurred over 100 years ago can be difficult to see without comparing an aerial photo prior to grading to a current aerial photo. Four test pits were dug in the area and analyzed by Engeo, Inc. Engeo has provided a letter confirming that evidence of previous grading is present within and beyond the limits suggested by Mr. Roberts. 2. The area which the developer has claimed is man-made extends up into the trees another 50' (for a total of 100') and continues laterally for an additional 200'along the slope. Response: Same response as 1, above. 3. The original slope as claimed by the developer extends all the way to southerly side of the creek bed. That is very difficult to believe. This is a very large amount of dirt that had to be excavated. Where did it all go?The slope as proposed would have left no creek bed,where did the creek flow? Response: A significant amount of dirt was used to build the dam for the pond The test pits also showed evidence offll above the steeper slopes just north of the barns and corral. 4. I'm not sure when this man-made slope was created, but the large oaks near the base of the slope certainly pre-date it(oaks in the background of the photo in staff report with the barn). The slope modification the developer claims could not have occurred because the base of oaks would have had 15' of dirt removed exposing the roots (or actually completely excavating the tree). My guess is what appears to be an olive orchard also predated this grading. Response: Al Spotorno, whose family owned the land since the 1870s, stated that the barns were built about 1900 and the olives were planted before 1906. According to the archeology report for the project, all of the existing improvements were in place by about 1906 Most of the frees in the area are estimated to be less than 100 years old which means that they started growing after grading occurred Tree #300 from the arborist's report is the only free in the area that may have pre-dated the grading operation; however, the estimated original grades on the sections prepared by RJA show that the area around tree #300 could have been graded during 4890 CHABOT DRIVE,SUITE 200,PLEASANTON,CA 94588 T:(925)227-91001 F:(925)227-93001 www.rja-gps.com