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they met the neighbors more than halfway. He stated that he felt the most critical issues were the height and massing of the building from 47 feet high and four stories to 32 feet high and two stories; the orientation of the building, moving the front door from Pleasant Hill Road to Stoneridge Drive; and traffic and vehicular access, moving the egress onto Foothill Road and relocating the service area farther away from the neighbors to the other side of the building with access onto Foothill Road. He noted that the setback from Pleasant Hill Road was increased by more than 15 percent. He added that he believed that articulating the building with quality materials, roofing, and other elements demonstrated ahigh-quality project that enhances the neighborhood. David Gates, project landscape architect, stated that there are differences between the previous scheme and the proposed design. He noted that there is now a riparian corridor with vegetation that is 50 to 80 feet tall, and what was an activity front facing the neighbors became a 50-percent reduction in parking and more than a football field of landscaping, set back farther and lower so that the activity indrop-off and service was split and relocated away from the neighbors. He noted that the landscaping is soft, and the building is designed so that the closer elements are small and then recedes to towers, which provides articulation. He added that there is a grade difference between the project site and Foothill Road so that Foothill Road sits five feet above the site, and the parking, which was one large lot that wrapped around, is now broken into two sections. With respect to architecture, Mr. Gates stated that there are roof rafters and braces and a fair amount of stone, which will break the scale with the shingles and provide a (Bernard) Maybeck historical character that works with the vegetation. He noted that the building has a lot more light than what the graphics actually show. Mr. Rockwood concluded by stating that Sunrise is the best senior housing that is yet to be invented and that they are always looking for ways to do better. He indicated that he believes this project will be the nicest they have ever done. With respect to Commissioner Fox's inquiring regarding provisions forAlzheimer patients, Mr. Rockwood stated that there would be about 29 units or approximately 1/3 of the total number of units. Commissioner O'Connor stated that he liked the architecture and felt the revised plan is a huge improvement and is impressive and goes well with the surrounding area. Chair Blank stated that diagrams L.1.4 through L.1.6 were nicely done and that he liked L.1.5's lighter roof as an element. He noted that the roof material looked to be very dark in material and did not look like a Pleasanton residential roof, which was typically of a lighter color. Commissioner O'Connor noted that the roof of the Lemoine Ranch homes was asphalt. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, December 10, 2008 Page 27 of 35