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Moratorium on business growth to expire
By Oakley Brooks
The Measure G moratorium, put into place two years ago to protect commercial space in Saratoga, will expire in the middle of March, with city council members unsure as to whether they will push to extend protections.
Mayor Nick Streit says the measure has achieved what it was designed to do--prevent any erosion of retail space through added housing, while allowing the city to craft policy that would protect commercial areas over the long term.
But before those policy discussions finish and strict laws to govern building in commercial areas are put in place, Councilman Stan Bogosian says some protection may need to be put in place.
The same city council sitting today enacted the moratorium on March 15, 2000, disallowing any new housing in Saratoga's commercial zones. Many close to city politics believed the move was a reaction to the added housing in the Gateway region proposed as part of the Azule Crossing project. The council eventually approved Azule Crossing in February 2000, but only after the number of housing units was reduced and commercial square footage added.
Despite adamant support from then-Mayor Stan Bogosian and three other council members, the moratorium received only tepid support from the public in the run-up to the November 2000 election--when voters were given the option of extending the moratorium until March 15, 2002.
Missing was the grassroots fervor that had accompanied the original Measure G, passed in 1996, which effectively prevented the change in density or use of residential and open space regions in the city by requiring that such changes be put to a vote of the citizens.
Nearly a third of voters who showed up at the polls in November 2000 couldn't decide either way on the moratorium and didn't vote on it at all. It did get extended, with 73 percent of the remaining voters favoring it.
Mayor Nick Streit--who opposed the moratorium--says that discussions over the last 15 months have led to a reaffirmation among he and other city officials that they will continue to work for a zero-net loss of retail space in the city. That will also mean a protection of the city's small take of sales tax revenue in Saratoga's shops.
"The moratorium did its job," Mayor Streit says. "It may run out a few months before we finish our process [on standards for growth in commercial districts] but I don't think you're going to see anything crazy going up."
Councilman Bogosian and Community Development Director Tom Sullivan agree that it was unlikely that a housing proposal would arrive at the city in the next several months--"It's not like people are out there talking it up," says Sullivan. Indeed, in the last 12 years only six mixed-use projects have been built in the city's commercial zones. One--Stan Gamble's plan for townhouses and a redesigned commercial building along Big Basin Way--has yet to be built.
Councilman Bogosian added that the slowing economy has lowered demand for townhouses in Saratoga. Still, he wants to put some sort of protective ordinance in place that would control a potential high-density housing development if it should be proposed.
"I don't want to take that risk," Councilman Bogosian says. "We definitely need something."
Sullivan downplays the possibility of developers getting a high-density housing development approved before standards are set. He says that even if builders file a proposal on the first day after the moratorium ends, they would still have to wait a month while his department works on the proposal. Then, the developer would have to appear before the planning commission, which Sullivan says would be in June, at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the city will continue to shape standards for mixed-use projects as part of the state-mandated housing plan for Saratoga. Under the plan city officials are trying to create an opportunity for 48 units to be built as part of mixed-use projects in commercial areas of the city.
Following a cue from the moratorium, Sullivan has proposed that housing in commercial zones be located behind or above commercial buildings and that housing not comprise more than 50 percent of a development's total floor space. A host of other stipulations might govern the appearance of the condominiums or townhouses.
Councilman Bogosian says that as part of the discussion on standards for mixed-use projects, he might suggest that a greater proportion of space be devoted to retail operations.
"We've got a lot of residential area in this city," he says. "We need more businesses that serve Saratogans--not the big box stores, but things that Saratogans need."
Saratoga Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kristin Davis says that the business community may be concerned more about visibility and access for their stores, than about housing units being built around them. Davis, whose family sold the Azule Crossing land into development, says many businesses in the Gateway region have a difficult time attracting customers because city laws limit the size of commercial signs.
"There is also a need for housing in Saratoga that is more affordable," she says. "I don't think that residential units behind or above are going to hurt the viablility of businesses in the community. They could even be valuable because those new people are going to need the goods and services of Saratoga businesses."
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
