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Bay. Finally, the access gate proposed for Bayfront should have no aesthetic effect on <br />the general public. Again, the only area where this gate would even be visible would be <br />someone driving on Lewelling to the entry circle. The placement of this gate should offer <br />no reason for the City to deny the permit based on the general plan. The gates are <br />attractive and not visible to the public except in exceptional circumstances. In fact, it <br />should be noted that the City Staff raised no issues with the design and the look of the <br />gates from an aesthetic consideration. <br />When drafting the General Plan, Section 2. 10, the planners provided an exception to the <br />policy that should be controlling in the matter of this permit application. The language <br />states: "Unless overriding public safety considerations exist...". The HOA has clearly <br />presented a compelling case for the fact that public safety dictates that this permit should <br />be allowed. <br />Mr. Tepper's report in Exhibits 1 and 2 clearly demonstrates that the crime recently <br />reported in Heron Bay justifies the application of this exception. Even ignoring the hard <br />data crime statistics submitted as evidence, the public outrage regarding public safety <br />within Heron Bay as expressed at the June 19, 2014 hearing was overwhelming. <br />Seventeen Heron Bay homeowners addressed the Commission in favor of these gates. <br />Many of them were overcome by emotion while testifying. Several owners stated that <br />they did not want to be the next victim. Several owners testified that they have seen <br />persons who are not residents cruising the private streets of Heron Bay looking for cars to <br />break -into and persons to attack. Two residents saw persons park their cars, leave the <br />engines running and then break into resident's cars parked in front of their homes. One <br />resident spoke of confronting a burglar within his home. One owner described coming <br />home at night and having a car pull up behind him in order to rob him. One owner <br />described getting "beat up" by persons from a cruising car just three weeks ago. He <br />commented that he had no weapon to defend himself but that he was seriously <br />considering arming himself for any incidents in the future. Surely the City Council does <br />not want the residents of Heron Bay to resort to vigilante tactics when the presence of <br />entry gates could substantially eliminate the threat posed by criminals in cruising cars. <br />Another resident spoke of how his sister-in-law was the victim of a violent mugging <br />wherein her face was smashed into the car. He stated that his own relatives will no <br />longer visit him at Heron Bay because they perceive it to be too dangerous. Another <br />owner testified that the homicide victim was his neighbor and that he himself was the <br />victim of burglary in his home and garage. He also expressed an interest in arming <br />himself. Another resident testified that he has been the victim of crime within Heron Bay <br />on no less than four occasions. He opined that the root cause is the fact that criminals in <br />cars have easy escape routes from Heron Bay to major streets and highways. He clearly <br />felt that the presence of access gates would eliminate this threat in that cars would not be <br />allowed to roam the complex and that most criminals would not want to commit a crime <br />in an area that had a gated exit. Another owner expressed her concern that property <br />values would decrease in Heron Bay and in San Leandro as a whole as the result of an <br />"economy of fear." She stated that studies in the past ten years have clearly demonstrated <br />0 <br />