Council Extends Moratorium On Conversions Until Elections
People will have chance to extend it until 2002
Streit against decision
By Kara Chalmers
Saratogans will sound off this November about whether or not to halt all residential development of areas that are now zoned commercial in the city until March 2002.
With councilman Nick Streit dissenting, the City Council voted 4-1 on April 19, to extend the current moratorium on commercial to residential land conversions until November, when the citizens vote on the issue as a ballot measure in the Presidential election.
Since four-fifths of the council voted to extend the moratorium, it will now last until Dec. 31, 2000. If voters pass the moratorium, it will last until March 15, 2002, at the latest. If it does not pass, the council will lift the moratorium in December.
The council members' decision to pass a moratorium reflects their desire for more time to decide how best to preserve the minuscule amount of commercial space in the city. Council members who voted to pass the moratorium agree that it is only the first step in enhancing the city's commercial areas. They do not think that the moratorium will damage developers or people in the business community, especially since it may only last another six months.
"What harm is there in putting it before the voters?" Mayor Stan Bogosian asked at the meeting. Bogosian noted that he trusts that Saratoga voters will make a good and sound decision, and any burden of a moratorium is minimal in comparison to the possible loss of valuable commercial space.
With the high price of land in Saratoga and the demand for residential development, the majority of council members see the moratorium as a way to prevent Saratoga from turning into a true bedroom community.
Streit disagrees. He said the moratorium is a way to blame residential development for the real problem--decreased economic viability of Saratoga's commercial areas.
"It isn't the residential development that has caused the 'For Lease' signs in the village or the lack of marketability of the office space at Azule Crossing," he said. "It's the overall market conditions of our commercial areas, it's the mix of retail, the hours of retail and the lack of marketing."
He said the city has not done enough for these areas and should not waste any more of its resources, such as money, for drafting a ballot measure on a moratorium.
"It's time for this council to act now," Streit said. "Yet tonight, when we should be holding public hearings on the revitalization of the Gateway area, holding meetings with the business owners, reviewing the old plans for the Gateway, we are again talking about the moratorium."
According to Streit, if the city's commercial areas were revitalized, there would be no need for a moratorium, since the marketplace would solve the city's problem.
In December, Bogosian was elected mayor and outlined plans for a November ballot measure that would extend the slow-growth initiative Measure G to apply not only to open space and residential areas but to commercial areas as well. Measure G, an initiative Saratogans passed in 1996, requires a ballot vote to change any land-use designations in the city's General Plan. Because of Measure G, all commercial development of areas zoned residential and open space is subject to a vote.
In January, City Attorney Richard Taylor introduced the idea of a moratorium as a way to halt more conversions now until the council decides on whether or not another measure should go to voters or be adopted by the council.
On March 15, the council voted, also 4-1 with Streit dissenting, to pass a 45-day moratorium with the understanding that they would probably extend it again after the 45 days. The 45 days lapsed on April 19.
The moratorium will only affect residential development, so it wil not affect plans for retail developments or for a theater in the village. It does not apply to any applications submitted prior to March 15.
At the meeting on April 19, two residents, Jeff Schwartz and Victor Monia, spoke in favor of the moratorium and ballot measure. Bogosian entered two favorable letters into the record, one from Marcia Fariss and one from Meg Caldwell.
Schwartz noted that if there was no moratorium, people might rush to get developments approved between now and November. He added that if the council passes the moratorium and voters affirm it in November, the city would have an opportunity to reassess the residential element and the city's small amount of commercial space.
Monia noted that a ballot measure would provide an opportunity for the community to speak at large about what it wants for Saratoga.
Resident Betty Feldheym, spoke against the moratorium, noting that its passage would delay and make difficult any development of needed low-income housing in the city. High-density housing can be developed in commercial areas in the city with a conditional-use permit.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
