By Clarence Cromwell
With the last of their demands met, Friends of Nelson Gardens plan to drop their lawsuit against the city of Saratoga. But that doesn't signal the end of their fight against development of the Nelson property at 20851 Saratoga Hills Road.
The suit, filed July 31, 1995, in Santa Clara County Superior Court, asked the court to order an environmental impact report (EIR) and challenged the Saratoga City Council's unanimous November 1994 decision to release the property from a no-build agreement, signed under the state's Williamson Act. The suit alleged that the city violated the Williamson Act by allowing development on the property.
In a recent victory for the Friends, the council voted unanimously to temporarily reinstate the no-build contract a former owner of the property signed under the Williamson Act. The move was part of a deal attorneys began hammering out in an Oct. 5 settlement meeting.
Friends attorney Robin Kennedy said she'd have the case dismissed by the end of this week.
The Friends got the EIR they wanted in an earlier victory. Jeff Wyatt of Trinity Development told the Saratoga Planning Commission Sept. 20 that his company would pay for the EIR after members of Friends of Nelson Gardens appealed approval of the project, complaining that it had not gone through the usual steps, including an EIR. The Planning Commission began reviewing the completed EIR on Dec. 5 and continued the public hearing to Jan. 2.
"Given that we got everything we asked for, we're going to dismiss the lawsuit," Kennedy said.
But settling the suit neither halted the development, nor ended opposition to it.
Rick Jarvis, associate attorney for the city of Saratoga, said the city can cancel the Williamson Act a second time, using new evidence from the EIR to make its case. "In going through the process again, the city can make absolutely sure there is sufficient evidence in the record to support the findings."
"I have no doubt in my mind that the City Council plans to vote in favor of a cancellation of the Williamson Act," Kennedy said. "The reason is that the city wants this project, and canceling the Williamson Act contract is an ingredient in moving the project forward."
But the Friends hope the city will come to a different conclusion when it considers rescinding the contract for the second time, Kennedy said.
"My clients believe that if they do it right, [the City Council] won't be able to make the requisite findings," Kennedy said.
Among other things, the council will have to find that the Nelson property is the only land available for the project. Kennedy said the Friends plan to show the council that other sites could be used.
The City Council also will have to find that the benefits of canceling the Williamson Act contract are worth the loss of open space, something the Friends will dispute.
If the Friends somehow convince the city to not cancel the no-development contract, development would be delayed only until the contract's expiration in 2000.
Ann Waltonsmith, founder of the Friends, said she still hopes the land will not be developed at all.
She has touted the idea of converting the land to an educational orchard, where schoolchildren can learn how fruits and vegetables are produced. The Friends are willing to raise money and buy the land to create such a park, Waltonsmith said. But she doesn't think her group should be expected to offer as much as the developer is paying for the site, something Planning Commission members have suggested.
"They got it for free," she said. "Anything would be a profit."
Frank Nelson, the former owner of the property, sealed the no-build contract in 1971. Nelson promised to leave the parcel undeveloped until the year 2000. He signed the contract under authority of the California Land Conservation Act, also known as the Williamson Act.
After Nelson died, willing part of his property to nonprofit interests, the parcel fell into the hands of the Community Foundation
The foundation decided to sell the land to Trinity Development Co., a builder that proposes nine houses on the 5.1-acre parcel.
The foundation defeated the land preservation contract by offering to pay the city of Saratoga between $585,000 and $640,000, depending on the number of lots approved, to dissolve the contract.
The City Council voted last May to nullify the contract.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, Wednesday, January 3, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.