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continue to generate revenue far the City over time and benefit the community. He indicated that he was in favor of the proposed Home Depot and that traffic is an important issue that needs to be addressed. He requested staff to look into the possibility of building a bike path or some kind of tail path from the end of Nevada Court along that edge of the property to Shadow Cliffs so children can get to the recreational facilities without having to pass through the parking lot at Home Depot. Mr. Pavan replied that fi•om the design standpoint, the staff discourages the public use of service areas behind large retail developments because those areas are not safe for pedestrians or bikers as they have no storefronts or activities, delivery tucks use that area, and there is no ongoing public mouitorulg that parking lots would have. He indicated that it would be preferable to place the bike or trail path through the parking lot at the front of the stores. Chairperson Arkin recommended that staff work with the applicant to address the issue and come back with their design. Commissioner Fox stated that the project is a high-intensity use and should be located by the freeway. She noted fliat traffic would be atri•acted to this area and that while she could support a Longs Drugs since this is a neighborhood use, she could not envision a big box superstore with eight to ten lanes three miles fi-om the fi•eeway. She indicated her agree~r~ent with the comments made regarding the pedestrian and biker situation on Kolln Street alid Valley Avenue and recommended that they be referred to the Traffic Committee. She added that with the Iron Horse Trail coming to Valley Avenue from Santa Rita Road and children crossing Stanley Boulevard to go to the Shadow Cliffs location, she would like to see an elevated pedestrian bridge to carry biking and pedestrians traffic across the widened Stanley Boulevard rather than having them cross a major arterial. In terms of the architecture, she stated that the Home Depot store still looks like a big box compared to the rest of the center and agreed with Chairperson Arkin that the arched doors need to be removed and the huge blank mass iu front broken up to make the store look more attractive. She indicated that staff needs to look into mitigation measures to address the traffic along the Valley Avenue and Santa Rita Road area such as taking out the gain overcrossing to widen the underpass on Valley Avenue. Commissioner O'Connor indicated lvs agreement with the recommendations made by the other Commissioners with respect to a safe passage for children and the architectural elements. He stated that he would also like to see proposals on how to limit some of the intense units which can increase traffic to the area as well as result iu parking shortages. I-Ie requested staff to look into traffic-calming measures for Valley Avenue, whether it be to widen the bridge or adopt some of the suggestions made by the commtimity such as installing elevated speed limit signs and speed dots and moving stop signs back fi•om crosswall<s. He further recommended that staff look into what can be done to direct 18 wheelers away from Sunol Boulevard and First Street and limit delivery tl-ucks for this project to major arterials such as Isabel Avenue and Stanley Boulevard and away from Valley Avenue and residential streets. Commissioner Blank commended the good relationship existing between Home Depot and the synagogue and requested that delivery tuck schedules be sensitive to the synagogue's activities, particularly the Friday night services and Sunday school. He expressed agreement with Commissioner Olson's comments but indicated that he is not prepared at this time to endorse the project until he sees the final design of the project. He noted that the architecture is def nitely EXCERPT: PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES, May 24, 2006 Page ] 0 of 1 1