Prometheus Decides To Remove Rooftop A/V Equipment

The following letter was sent to Mountain View Patch by a resident of Old Mountain View who received it from Jonathan Moss, the executive vice president and partner of Prometheus Real Estate Group.

Subject: A message from Prometheus's Jon Moss on the Madera rooftop deck

I am writing to provide you with an update to my email dated 4/25/12 sent prior to our Zoning Administrator (“ZA”) meeting on that same day. We listened carefully to everyone’s comments during the ZA meeting.

We were struck by the depth of sincerity and emotion with which the neighbors shared their thoughts and feelings about the rooftop open space at Madera and the potential for it to adversely impact the neighborhood. I believe we now have a better understanding of the concerns and especially empathize with most people’s feelings about the manner in which the process has unfolded. While we may not share the same opinions on all of the issues that were raised during the ZA meeting, we understand that reasonable people can disagree and frequently do.

One of the primary concerns that we heard at the meeting was related to the potential for noise related disturbances that could originate from the use of the televisions, audio equipment and associated audio speakers that are planned for the rooftop open space. As was suggested by several of the neighbors at the meeting, instead of “managing” through the potential complaints that could arise from our residents and from the neighborhood residents, we are choosing to “eliminate” the source of the potential problem. Therefore, we will remove the television, audio equipment and audio speakers that were previously planned for the rooftop open space area.

We understand and acknowledge that this modification to the use of the roof deck will not cause all of the people who voiced concerns at the ZA meeting to now be satisfied. However, the issue of noise generated by audio sources (televisions, amplifiers and speakers) seemed to be one of the most significant concerns shared by the majority of neighbors.

We hope that we can work more closely and successfully with the City and neighborhood in improving on communications and planning moving forward. Thank you for your understanding related to this important matter.

JON MOSS, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & PARTNER PROMETHEUS REAL ESTATE GROUP