Sobrato's Notre Dame development to come before commission in June

By Kara Chalmers

John M. Sobrato, who hopes to build a 10-home subdivision on the location where the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur resided for 100 years, will present plans to the Saratoga Planning Commission in June.

If his plans are approved, the local developer says he will call the subdivision Les Chateaux de Notre Dame, in memory of the Sisters' longtime presence at the location on the corner of Bohlman and Norton roads.

Sobrato plans to raze the villa where the nuns lived, along with other existing buildings on the property.

"This project was not undertaken as a development project for the company," said Sobrato, whose company mainly builds commercial developments. "My wife and I plan to build a home there on one of the lots,"

In 1998, Sobrato entered into a contract to purchase the 23.5-acre property from the Sisters. He said he has not yet closed escrow on the purchase but expects to by November. The plans include 10 homes, approximately 5,000 to 7,000 square feet each. The lots range in size from one to seven acres.

Sobrato said he plans to sell two acres below market rate to the Saratoga Cemetery District, which manages Madronia Cemetery on Oak Street. The cemetery would use the space for more burial plots. Sobrato said his agreement with the cemetery district is contingent on the city approving the subdivision map as he has submitted it.

The project requires no variances from the Planning Commission and the density for the housing tract is lower than that required by city ordinance, according to Community Development Director James Walgren. The area is zoned for single-family residences, with lots no smaller than one acre.

The commission was scheduled to hold a public hearing on the project on May 24, but the item was postponed to June 28, after neighbors brought noticing errors to the attention of the Community Development Department, Walgren says. The department is once again advertising the project to neighbors.

Walgren plans to recommend that the commissioners take public testimony on June 28, and schedule a second public hearing. That way, city staff could respond to comments raised during the first public hearing, and commissioners would not feel rushed to make a decision.

In December 1997, after almost 95 years in Saratoga, the Sisters announced their plan to sell the property, which includes their villa and a former preschool. The property had served as the order's headquarters for its California province. Currently, the site is used only for the province's administrative offices.

In June 1998, the preschool found a new home at Sacred Heart School on Saratoga Avenue. It opened in September 1999.

The Sisters plan to build new administrative offices and a home for Sisters needing assistance on the campus of their Notre Dame High School in Belmont, according to Sr. Nancy O'Shea.

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