By Sarah Lombardo
Renovation plans for the Argonaut Shopping Center have received a green light from the Saratoga Planning Commission, but there is still a chance the project may hit a snag. Although the commissioners instructed the staff to draw up a resolution accepting the latest proposal, which they are expected to sign Feb. 12, there is talk that the City Council may call the issue up for review.
City Manager Harry Peacock said that under the municipal code, the City Council does have the ability to call up and review permits approved by the Planning Commission if at least two council members make the request at a regular or adjourned meeting within 15 days of the commissioners' action. According to Peacock, the next opportunity council members would have to make such a request would be Feb. 19.
Saratoga associate planner James Walgren said there is a chance the matter will be called up by the council.
"We haven't heard anything in the office, but...that is a possibility," he said.
If the council does not decide to review the project, it will go before the Planning Commission Feb. 12 for final approval.
The renovation of the center, originally built in the 1970s, was presented to the commission three times and sent back for changes each time before finally gaining approval Wednesday night. Commissioners said they wanted to see design plans that made the center, Saratoga's largest, look unique, but fit in with Saratoga's more rural appearance.
Planning Commission Chairwoman Marcia Kaplan said she was sorry that the project had to go back to the drawing board so many times, but the outcome was a project with which she was satisfied. "I think this is a far better looking project than we've seen before," she said.
The changes made to the original proposal included the use of earthtones, the addition of landscaping to medians along Blauer Avenue and the addition of pedestrian crosswalks within the center.
One of the most important changes was on the roof of the center's three towers. The original plans called for green metal roofing on the towers, but commissioner Mark Pierce told architect Alex DeLeon, of S.J. Sung and Associates, that he didn't like the metal the last time they viewed the project, and suggested DeLeon try to get a slate or shake look for the roof.
DeLeon said that suggestion made all the difference. He was able to find a cost-effective grey slate roofing material to replace the green metal. "We really think it did something to change the look of the center," DeLeon said.
Apparently, the commissioners did, too.
"I think the roof makes all the difference," commissioner Margaret Patrick said.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, January 29, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.