Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Measure G gives voters the right to reject housing developments like Greenbriar, which will put 94 houses on 24 acres.

Voters approve Measure G

Opposing camp is surprised by a vote that SONIC calls a 'huge victory'

By Clarence Cromwell

After months of heated, sometimes bitter debate, the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative passed a public vote on the March 26 ballot.

The initiative, known as Measure G, won the approval of 4,984 among 9,122 voters, capturing 54.6 percent of the vote. It needed a simple majority to pass.

Supporters of the measure called its approval "a huge victory."

"The message here is it was a very good idea, and it wasn't going to be defeated by a bunch of bureaucrats lying to the population," said Jeff Schwartz, a member of the Save Our Neighborhoods Initiative Committee. "It's a huge victory after being outspent three or four to one, and having every organization in the area that's part of the establishment go against us."

The vote took opponents by surprise.

"I'm very surprised. I'm shocked," said Mike Fox Sr., chairman of No on G. He attributed the measure's success to a last-minute newspaper ad campaign by SONIC.

"We didn't have [Steven] DeCinzo," Fox said, referring to a series of political cartoons by the Metro Newspaper cartoonist that were reproduced in an insert to the San Jose Mercury News. "There was nothing of a campaign other than direct mail."

Schwartz disagreed. "No one political piece won this race," he said. "It certainly didn't determine the election. ... They had enough money to wrap a political piece around each voter. Who are they kidding?

"He is right on one thing," Schwartz added. "They certainly didn't run a very smart campaign."

After the measure takes effect, voters will decide whether approval should be given for any changes to the city's general plan that replace a parcel's designation with one more intense or more dense. A vote will also be required to change parkland to a commercial or residential designation.

City Attorney Michael Riback said the initiative could require a citywide vote on expansion of the Odd Fellows Home of California, a retirement complex on Fruitvale Avenue. The Odd Fellows needed a general plan change to increase housing density on a 10-acre portion of their property where they want to build 11 duplex cottages.

The Odd Fellows obtained the general plan change and a contract from the city on Feb. 21, granting rights to develop the property for 10 years. But an initiative clause reaching back to Nov. 2 could nullify both the approvals and the contract.

The Nelson Gardens subdivision on Saratoga Hills Road, granted a general plan change on Feb. 7, might also be reassessed.

If both of those projects escape the effects of Measure G, its first test may be on one of three proposed projects requiring conditional-use permits. Community Development Director Paul Curtis said any project calling for a conditional-use permit could be subject to the initiative.

Our Lady of Fatima Villa, a Saratoga-Los Gatos road retirement complex that recently proposed an expansion, would apparently require a vote. Villa CEO Preston Wisner said he wants to construct a facility that will accommodate about 139 seniors, something that would require a new conditional-use permit on the property the Villa now owns. Wisner said he is also considering two other unnamed sites in the city for the development.

A plan to add seating to Villa Montalvo's garden will require a conditional-use permit, according to Curtis.

The proposed expansion of the Saratoga Library would also need a permit. The Saratoga Library Commission is currently laying down plans to double the size of the building.

"I'm not convinced that turning over planning decisions to the voters is a sensible way to do planning," Mayor Paul Jacobs said. He said putting general plan changes on the ballot is likely to result in rhetorical contests rather than a serious discussion of an issue. He said he believes the measure would put neighbors of large developments at the mercy of voters citywide, reducing rather than expanding their power.

Jim Shaw, Christine Favero and Kathleen Amezcua founded the Save Our Neighborhoods Initiative Committee in August.

The group handed Saratoga's Deputy City Clerk their initiative and 3,853 signatures on Nov. 2. The City Council on Dec. 20 voted unanimously to let voters decide whether the initiative should be enacted as an ordinance that night, the only other option under the state elections code.

City officials now face the task of interpreting the initiative, including whether it will result in unwanted effects, as its opponents said.

No on G, the committee opposing the measure, said it would stop home-improvement projects and result in $60,000 stand-alone elections.

SONIC spokesman Jim Shaw said the measure shouldn't apply to work done by individual homeowners. He added that developers should pay for the elections, not the city.