By Clarence Cromwell
A five-jurisdiction plan to preserve views of hillside areas moved a step closer to completion Jan. 17, when the Saratoga City Council unanimously accepted the plan's outline.
When the plan--known as the Hillside Preservation Strategy--is finished, it will serve as an agreement on what development the county will allow on pristine hillsides visible from the valley floor. It also will give Saratoga and other cities situated on the valley floor (Cupertino, Monte Sereno and Los Gatos) a part in land-use decisions pertaining to unincorporated hill areas within the county's jurisdiction. How they will get their say in the process must still be decided.
"Historically, cities have been in disagreement with the county about hillside development," Saratoga Planner George White said. "Now the county has opened the door."
The cities asked county planners to change their process about two years ago, the last time the county reviewed its general plan. They wanted to prevent urban areas from creeping up the pristine slopes, and they wanted the county to add a policy to the general plan to stop landowners from erecting imposing structures in the scenic hills.
"We don't have jurisdiction up in the hillsides, but it's our viewshed," White said.
Saratoga was the last jurisdiction to adopt the outline. All the others did so in December or early January.
Representatives of the cities and the county are now using the outline to write the hillside plan, which will be ready in two to three months. Saratogans will get a chance to comment on the plan at a public hearing some time next summer before the City Council adopts the final version.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, January 31, 1996.
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