His hasty departure was sparked by a suggestion made by Chairman Mohammad Garakani that Galeb could continue to work with the planning department to revise his plans or he could let the commission vote and then appeal a negative decision to the city council.

Galeb did not wait to hear their decision. But before leaving, he rushed to the podium at the Civic Theater where planning commission meetings are held and yelled at the chairman: "You all should be ashamed of yourselves. I am led to believe that you are prejudiced against me. And that is a because I am a Christian and you are a Muslim."

As confusion reigned, Galeb's father, Slobodan Galeb, tried to approach the podium but Chairman Garakani asked him to stop speaking as the time for public input was over.

Soon afterwards, the commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of a denial. Only Commissioner Schallop voted to approve the proposed design.

Galeb said later that he first approached the planning department more than a year ago to request design review approval to construct a two-story single family residence on Seagull Way. The project included the demolition of an existing two-story residence where Galeb currently lives. "The home I am living in is 63 years old and is falling apart," he said.

Over the next few months, Galeb's sister Lepa worked closely with the planning department. She said that the department had suggested changes to the plan several times including changes to the design of the garage. The department also suggested screening to the east of the house so that the neighbors could have more privacy.

She is a project manager with a construction company called Galeb Development and said that she is familiar with the city's building codes. "I have worked to build many custom houses in Saratoga. We were involved in the first phase of the building of the Saratoga Library."

Lepa Galeb said that the plan for her brother's house met all the city codes. "All the suggested changes were incorporated. We did not even apply for variances," she said.

At the meeting, Planning Commissioners Susie Nagpal, Linda Rodgers, Michael Schallop, Ruchi Zutshi and Chairman Mohammad Garakani deliberated at length about the application.

Garakani objected to the bulk of the house and said that it would look out of place in the neighborhood.

"Three homes have been newly built in the area and all have been single story homes. But the two-story factor is not an issue. It is the mass and the bulk of the house," he said.

Zutshi and Rodgers also said that they opposed the proposed size of the house.

When the discussion was thrown open to the public, David Simmons, a Saratoga resident who did not know Galeb decided to speak in support of the project, accusing the commissioners of relying too much on personal opinion in their evaluation of the project.

Garkini retorted that the role of the commission is to go beyond the code and to look at the surroundings as well."

Later, Simmons told the Saratoga News: "I was flabbergasted that they were trying to deny the application for a building plan that proposed to replace a two-story house with another two-story house."

Garkini also said in reponse to Simmons' accusation about using too much presonal opinion that the footprint of the proposed house was larger than the one that currently stands on the lot. The total floor area of the proposed residence and garage is 3,540 square feet. A 1,752 square feet basement is also proposed. The lot size is 11,250 square feet.

Tomo Galeb later said that he was dumbfounded by what he heard at the meeting. "There were no technical questions. It was all opinion."

He said that he had always taken his neighbors into consideration when it came to the design of his house.

"The commissioners could not even agree if the color of the tile was consistent with the neighborhood. I cannot believe that I might have to go back to the drawing board again."

Galeb said that he plans to appeal to the city council and will also get an attorney involved.

"I was only doing my job. But some people have problems with our decisions and take it personally," said Garakani.

He said that the planning department deals with applications and sometimes it can be a long process. "And then they come before us and whatever we say sometimes triggers anger. Unfortunately the gentleman was upset with us. But we would like to work with him," said Garakani.

Galeb said that the decision was a gross violation of his pursuit of his happiness. "We are talking about our lives here."