Saratoga News

Barry Swenson wants land-use designation on the June ballot

Developer can bypass city according to Measure G

Council may close loophole

By Sarah Lombardo

Two years to the month after the slow-growth initiative Measure G was passed by Saratoga voters, its implementation is again being debated by the Saratoga City Council and the measure's supporters after a San Jose developer has requested placement on the June 2 ballot of a proposed land-use designation change.

Councilmembers are scheduled to consider passing a resolution calling for the election at their meeting on Wednesday, March 4. But, instead, they may end up making changes to a 1996 resolution that gives applicants the choice of going to a ballot prior to going through the city's planning process.

At issue is a proposal by Barry Swenson Builders to build an assisted-living complex for senior citizens on its property at 13686 Quito Road, located at the southeast intersection of Quito Road and Highway 85. The company has made no formal project application to the city, but sent a letter with its ideas for the project's plans to the city earlier this year. Rough plans stated that the complex would include between 80 and 120 senior residential dwelling units on a 2.6-acre parcel and would be between 54,000 and 81,000 square feet.

Staffers informed the developers in February that the project would require a land-use designation change from "residential, medium density," to "quasi-public," and therefore would be subject to Measure G, which requires voter approval of general plan amendments that increase the land-use density or intensity of property. And according to a resolution passed--but hotly debated--by the City Council in May 1996 on the implementation of Measure G, Barry Swenson Builders has the option of sending its project through the city planning process and then--if approved--to the ballot, or going straight to a ballot measure.

Swenson opted to go to a ballot measure first and paid the city a deposit of $9,000 to cover the cost of the election, City Manager Larry Perlin said.

"We're hoping for the best," said Jean-Paul d'Elia, assistant project manager for the company.

The June 2 vote, according Perlin, would only determine if voters want to change the land-use designation. Voters would not be asked to approve a project. In fact, d'Elia said his company wants the ballot wording not to include specifics about the project--essentially, he said, because there are none.

"We don't have a detailed proposal right now," he said. "We're just waiting to see if people are open to having a place like this."

A vote for the change in land-use designation does not guarantee the project's approval, Perlin said, but it does change what can be proposed for the land in the future.

But now the Saratoga City Council is rethinking its 1996 decision to let developers go straight to a ballot. Because no formal plans for the senior complex have been given to the city, some councilmembers--and residents--fear that voters will not know what their vote would really mean. Or that the plans could be changed after the election and the city could be stuck with higher-density property and a project it doesn't want.

"There's nothing in the electoral process to commit the builder to the project he has proposed," Councilman Paul Jacobs told the council at a meeting Feb. 24.

Saratoga resident Jeff Schwartz, a strong supporter of Measure G, suggested to the councilmembers that they change the 1996 resolution so that all projects must go through the city process before going to a ballot to ensure that the city and residents know what their vote could be getting them.

"What on earth could be wrong with letting the voters know what a project looks like, feels like, smells like so they can vote intelligently?" Schwartz said.

But, echoing the 1996 resolution debate, other councilmembers said that putting the land-use designation to the voters first would give them the most say; either voters accept the intensified designation or they don't.

And changing the city's policy after Barry Swenson Builders has already followed it could lead to questions of unfairness.

"There is really no legal impediment to do that," Kit Faubion, assistant city attorney, said. "But there may be a fairness issue here."

Mayor Don Wolfe questioned if the city could be opening itself up to litigation if the council decided to change its resolution and force the developer to go through the planning process first.

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