Housing policies fill the gap left by expired Measure G

By Oakley Brooks

City officials have begun forming new policies that they say will protect Saratoga's small percentage of retail and commercial land, following the March 15 expiration of a moratorium on housing construction in commercial zones.

Measure G, applied beginning March 15, 2000, and approved by city voters in November of that year, was initiated by the current city council at the request of then-mayor and current city Councilman Stan Bogosian.

Bogosian was concerned that new housing might crowd out retail and commercial space in the city and diminish the $1.2 million in sales tax revenue Saratoga typically receives each year. The 2000 Measure G moratorium followed a more expansive no-growth Measure G, passed into law by voters in 1996, which leaves any change in the density of Saratoga's residential or open space areas up to a vote of the entire city.

The city is taking a slightly different path now, as it walks the fine line between encouraging some high-density housing development--part of the state-mandated housing plan--while continuing to protect commerce. As part of the housing element, the city recently mapped out 26 different sites in commercial zones throughout the city where 48 new rental units could be built by 2006. The housing element is currently up for approval by the state housing office.

Complicating the balancing act between housing and the protection of commerce is council members' concern that neighborhoods might be hurt by the addition of new high-density housing in nearby commercial areas.

"I want to be clear that we aren't going to approve large-scale projects that impact existing neighborhoods," Councilman John Mehaffey said March 12.

The council recently directed the planning commission to develop new housing standards that would protect neighborhoods and commerce.

Under the outlines of the new laws approved by the council March 12, housing in commercial areas would have to be built behind or on top of commercial/retail buildings. The new residential units could also not comprise more than 50 percent of the total floor space on a particular site.

To protect neighbors, builders would have to stay below a 26-foot height restriction on residential or mixed-use buildings and use extensive landscaping and sound walls to separate the mixed-use zones from single-family homes.

The new ordinance could also limit second stories, window placements and setbacks where they infringed on neighbors' privacy.

While the laws will still go through many rounds of revision, the general policies agreed on by the council already give the Community Development Department and the planning commission substantial leverage to limit developers' projects.

However, Community Development Director Tom Sullivan warned March 12 that laws would have to be set in place soon to ground the policies firmly in place.

"We shouldn't hang our hat on this [policy] for any length of time," Sullivan said.

Sullivan said he expects the planning commission to send the city council a final draft of new mixed-use laws in June. It will then be up to the city council to enact the ordinances.

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