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8.A. - Page 342 )une 17, Zo12 R o �sea in erAv n D e o n - r arn tt�r re F 1R C'.H�2nQ8I I21 f�Prepared byr City of 12ecitii•cx��Ciry.lwre 2Q12 �ear Commissioner Bogens, and l�el�ow Planning Commissioners, Our famiiy maved ta Redwood City, and specifically to Finger Avenue, in August oF 2009, because of the quality vf life so very evident th�r�.We're a hausehold with two woz-king parents.We re[y heavily on affartiable housing and were rent�n�various small apartments on the Peainsula for the l�st ten years-not easy with yaung children.11Ve're nat anti-�evelQpment,or'NIMF3Ys', and clearly see khe need for in-fill and efforts to grow the community and hel�struggling families ansi provide work. With this in mind,we were over-the-moon to find z9 Finger Avenue as a place�o put dowr� raots. Despite the stat.e of our�umbl�-down cottage,we felt we'd landed in ciover. Finger Avenue has warmth and eclectic charm in abundance,with a sidewalk on bvth sides of the street where we can walk with our children and greet aur neighbors. It's an unc�rnmonly open, friendly and supportive neighborhood.W�c�l�brate birthdays and Oktober Fest together,And as if that weren't luck�nough,it is-above al1 -a street whose�omes are sheltered and made discreet 6y a generous and unusual abundance of trees and v�getat�on. !t's an ideal spot ta bring in new hornes and new famities. Having sa€d that, I �rust that no ane would believe in an overarching need to degrade the neighbarhaod in the process. We sgecifically maved ta Redwaod City ta avaid locations on the Peninsula where homes,buiZt in wise proportion to their lots, were being razed and replaced with goliaths,bordered by rninimal strips oFland which would ne�er see th�s�rn. This process was turning neighborhoods into parking lots. ]f you h�ve�ver been at a social even�,and had two ar three people standing too close ta you far comfart,you'll understand �erfectty the neighborhood equivalent; excessive rnass and scale wedged on hummingbiz-d-sized]ots-like tov many people in an��evator. 1t means we all end up with cami�al�y ugly scenarias,and we a]] las e. It's the same as finagling a Pew of those big red ��te�s on Vermor�t Avenue-if you recalt the madest b�ue Manapaly board property. The MeGowan nine-lot de�relopment is a particular�y egregfaus ��carx�pie. It's bearing dawn like a Nfack truck on our neigh�orhood�a disCreet riparian haven. The prnject promises tv cram nine disproportiona�ely h�ge ham�s with hi�h roof tines on lots bar�Iy wide enough ta accommodate tltern,bulge intrasively wherever it needs into the cvmmun�ty�s protected creek setback,and to canvert land that s1�QUld be a walki�g pat� inta roadway marginaily w�de enough far a fire rrucl�to pass-as long as the deve�aper and city ignare fire codes that the rest of us hav�to a�ide by.VVritfng in layers of exemptians doesn't make it right or sane.