Trail Users and City to Appeal County Approval of Winery Permit
Bogosian claims some key issues were not addressed
Action surprises winery
By Kara Chalmers
Mountain Winery officials celebrated what they thought was a victory on March 2. But, while they celebrated an end to their year-long quest for a conditional-use permit from the county Planning Commission, Saratoga city officials and members of the Saratoga Trail Enthusiasts were drafting separate appeals of the Planning Commission's decision.
The Santa Clara County Planning Commission gave permit and architectural and site approval on March 2, that would allow events at the historic Paul Masson Winery off Pierce Road in Saratoga to continue. Previous owners never obtained a permit for events such as the summer concert series, which began in 1958. The use permit does not provide for new uses of the winery.
City officials, however, say that conditions the commission attached to the use permit were not adequate. These conditions mainly limit the number of concerts and other events, and the number of attendants and parking spaces at the site.
Community development director James Walgren, who will draft the city's letter of appeal with city attorney Richard Taylor, said he was surprised by the conditions. Mayor Stan Bogosian, who publicly aired his concerns at the March 2 hearing, said, "We don't believe that traffic, noise, trails and parking concerns were dealt with. In their approval, the Planning Commission didn't include the city's concerns."
At a special meeting on March 6, the council voted to challenge the commission's decision. Appeals of commission decisions are presented to the county Board of Supervisors, and they will make a final decision at a public hearing, according to Mike Lopez in the county's planning department. The board could deny the project, add to, or change the conditions.
The trail enthusiasts focus on the trails issue. They want the county to compel the winery to grant trail easements throughout the property to connect trail segments in unincorporated county and city land. The trail segments could form a complete loop, to allow hikers, bikers and equestrians use of the trails without the need to cross Saratoga's busy Pierce Road, which is the access road to the winery.
The easements the enthusiasts are asking for are part of the city's master plan developed in 1991 for trails. The commission's response was that there was no nexus, no legal reason, for them to compel the winery to put in any trail easements.
In addition, Bogosian and trail enthusiasts claim that the environmental impact report (EIR), which was prepared by a consulting firm selected by the county and paid for by the applicant, is inadequate and flawed, and the Planning Commission should not have certified it on March 2.
While Walgren initiated an informal meeting with owner Bill Hirschman last fall, winery and city officials have not met to work out these problems. Nancy Bussani, president of the Mountain Winery was surprised and disappointed to learn about the city's appeal from the Saratoga News.
"They've never reached out to the winery to discuss any of these issues," Bussani said. "No council member has contacted us. We're definitely disappointed that the city wasn't more supportive through the whole process."
Bussani said the trail enthusiasts have not approached winery officials. She knows about their desires only from the county's public hearings.
While this year's concert series will not be affected by the appeal, Bussani said that since the winery is not yet in the clear, expansion plans are temporarily halted. The use-permit application included a proposed increase in the number of seats in the concert bowl from 1,750 to 2,500, and a 1,500-square-foot expansion of the winery building.
According to Bogosian, the city is appealing the commission's decision on the grounds that the use permit should not include expansion at all, but should be amended until more studies are done to show the expansion's impact on traffic, noise and parking. Also, the city supports a trail nexus, and believes that granting trail easements is one way to mitigate winery-associated traffic on Pierce Road. This should have been incorporated into the conditions, Bogosian said.
According to Teri Baron, who heads the unincorporated 100-member Saratoga Trail Enthusiasts, and her husband, James, who is also a member, the county can compel trails on winery property through the permit process. Once the process is completed, the enthusiasts may have to give up hope of trails at the winery that people and horses have used for years.
"This thing is on a very fast track," James Baron said. "It's very obvious to me that the county just wants to get through this and has not been critical enough in the process."
Baron said the EIR's most glaring error was that it did not include statistics for car accidents on Pierce Road in its traffic report. "Here's a consultant that's paid to do a job and they had a traffic study that ignored the traffic statistics," Baron said. He claims the EIR was not objective, but biased towards the winery's interests.
Bussani said she and the owners are disappointed that the city and trail enthusiasts are not happy that winery officials are in discussions now with the county Parks and Recreation Department about voluntarily dedicating one of the trail segments that is on county land.
"We're halfway there, and there doesn't seem to be any recognition of that," she said.
Bussani added that the time to discuss the trail easement on city property has not come yet and that she cannot say whether there is a possibility of an easement.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
