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Chapter 5 Alternatives to the Project 2. Comparison of Alternatives 1 and 2 a. Aesthetic and Visual Resources Chapter 4, Part A, describes the visual character ofthe Phase II Specific Plan site and context and considers the effects of the project in relation to significance criteria for aesthetic impacts. With respect to three of the four criteria (scenic resource, scenic quality ofthe site, and light and glare effects), the impact analysis concluded that there would be no adverse impact. The same conclusions reached in Chapter 4 apply to Specific Plan Alternatives 1 and 2, for the same reasons cited in Chapter 4. In the case of the final criterion, effect on scenic vistas, an analysis similar to that conducted in Chapter 4 has also been undertaken for the alternatives. As pointed out in Chapter 4, design policies of the Specific Plan call for structures to blend into the landscape setting. The single intentional exception noted is to be the potential cultural arts center (CAC): the "visual focal point of the Bernal Property. .." The CAC is potentially to be the only arch i- tecturallandmark. In the Specific Plan project and in Alternative 1, the CAC is proposed to be located in sub- area 1, at the northeast corner of the Central Area closest to downtown Pleasanton. Alternative 2 would place it in sub-area 6, south of Valley Avenue near 1-680, closer to the center of the site. Using the same visual simulation technique that was used for the preparation of the exhibits in Chapter 4, this different location for the CAC was examined. Note that, as in the analysis presented in Chapter 4, the simulated setting does not incorporate expected future topographic and tree cover at the site. Figure 26 shows the orientation points for the simulations and Figures 27A, 27B, 27C, 27D, and 27E present simulated representations of the CAC at the Alternative 2 location. Reviewing the visual prominence of the CAC in its Alternative 2 location: . Viewpoint 1 This viewpoint is from 1-680 at the southern end of the Plan area south of the UPRR crossing, where the freeway is elevated (a vista identified in one of the Plan's visual resources guidelines, p. 52). The CAC blends into the western view, with vegetation beyond it serving as near-range backdrop and the Dublin Hills in the distance. . Viewpoint 2 At closer range than in viewpoint 1, along Laguna Creek Lane just east of 1-680, from this viewpoint a strong sense emerges of the CAC as a complex rather than a monolithic structure, making it possibly less visually imposing than would be the case with a single large shape. The clustered forms would give the complex architectural interest as well as communicate the variety of activities the CAC would 167