By Mark Kregel
Marcia Kaplan, chair of the Planning Commission, said Wednesday that she was not in favor of a proposal submitted by the Dow/Civitaf Corp. to divide a 26-acre hillside parcel near Pierce Road into five residential lots.
"I have enough information to say I can't approve this project," Kaplan said at a Planning Commission study session on the revised environmental impact report on the subdivision.
Kaplan cited the EIR, which states the bedrock foundation was crumbling, that more than 20,000 yards of soil would need to be moved and that 101 trees would need to be removed in order to build on the parcel.
Iyad Naffa, president of NA Engineering, who wants to build the proposed subdivision, said he will appeal if his proposal is turned down.
"We're going to change the plans and give [the Planning Commission] more details," Naffa said. "We'll give them a better idea about erosion."
Naffa also added that he was willing to not build on two of the proposed lots if it proved necessary.
During the discussion, residents from nearby Padero Court said that the erosion that would be caused by building the subdivision would erode grading they have on their land to prevent erosion. They said that this wasn't covered in the study.
One of the complaints the commission had with the revision of the EIR was that details they had asked for at the March 12 Planning Commission meeting were not included.
The Planning Commission had asked for the amount of soil that needed to be moved, how much would be taken and where it would go.
Dow/Civitaf Corp. can revise the EIR for further review, but Kaplan said she will not approve the proposal even if more details are rendered.
"I think you need a miracle," commissioner Al Abshire said.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, April 2, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.