SR 06:245 - Laserfiche WebLink

. 'ECEIVED MAR 2 8 2006 Statement of Barbara Georgatos 790 E. Angela St. PleasantoD, CA 94566 CITY OF PLEASANTON PLANNING DEPT. RE: Knight remodel project, 779 Mirador Dr., Pleasanton I do not believe we would be at this point if the Knights' and their architect had shown concern and consideration for the surrounding neighbors' view and privacy in their plans and at our initial meeting. Mr. Schutts stated several times that the master bedroom window would be looking into the fence, not over it and into our backyard, family room and kitchen and two of our bedrooms. Approving that would amount to an invasion of our privacy. We bought our house in 1994 for the location, sense of privacy and view from the family room/kitchen area and back bedrooms, never thinking that would be something that could be taken away. From all those vantage points, we can see for miles, including a view of Mt. Diablo. Most importantly, we are afforded these views without intruding upon the rights of our neighbors, because the terracing of the homes in the area protects the vantage points for most of the homes, including ours. At our initial meeting, Mr. Shutts stated that the Knight's project would increase our property value but that is false. If you take something away from a home _ our privacy and views in this case _ it's a negative impact. In our first meeting, the Knights' also stated they're within the rules and could build their house to 30 feet if they wanted. There was no consideration for the neighbors' visibility or the visibility of their structure. It's like taking our home of 1652 square foot and putting it on top of theirs. It felt like they and their architect we're saying, 'Get with the program, this is the growth of Pleasant on. Get used to it because that's the way it's going to be.' My family came to Pleasanton in 1968 and my husband and I both went to Amador in the 1970s. We still have many friends and also family members living in Pleasanton and we know about the continuous growth. I have worked at the hospital in Pleasanton for the past IS years. ValleyCare Medical Center has a mission statement that we look to for guidance in the care of our patients. Working in surgery, we are the patient advocate and I hope that city planners are the neighborhood advocates. We moved from a townhouse with surrounding structures overlooking backyard and no view to our East Angela Street home for the open view, privacy and the sense of seclusion offered by a single family residence. The Knights' project would put us back into a townhome environment. If that happens, every real estate agent selling a home in Pleasanton should be required to state that those precious elements _ view, privacy, property value _ can be taken away from your home in the future, with the endorsement EX I-WS rT to