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Commission gives approval for Bellicitti ranch project
By Kara Chalmers
A Saratoga couple narrowly missed having their plans for a prefabricated home thrown out by the city's Planning Commission May 24. The final vote to approve the home, which will be constructed at the site of the Bellicitti Ranch--a home that is listed in the city's historic register--was four to three.
The plans involve demolishing the existing house because, according to the couple, John and Caroline Bellicitti, renovating it would be too expensive. The property is at 18500 Marshall Lane.
Their plans began as a remodel, but John Bellicitti said that high building costs swayed him to consider an alternative.
Because of the age of the property, the new home's design had to be reviewed by the commission.
"I don't find it objectionable," said commissioner Erna Jackman of the home's design. "I do find it a perfect delight to look at a 2,595-square-foot house and not try to figure out how to hide columns and 7,000 square feet." She added that she would not find it fair to require the Bellicittis to maintain the house that is there.
"I think we're trying to preserve something that would be nice to preserve, but not all that important to our past," she said.
Commissioner George Roupe agreed it would be unfair to deny the Bellicittis the right to use their property as they wish and have a decent place to live at a reasonable price.
The city's Heritage Preservation Commission has examined the project and decided that the real historical part of the Bellicitti property is the agriculture, not the home, which may have been remodeled as many as three times since it was first built around 1870. There was an extensive remodel in the 1950s after the Bellicitti family purchased it.
Robert Peepari, a heritage preservation commissioner, said at the meeting that one concern the commission had initially was that the house would set a precedent. But he said the commission ultimately found that approving the plan would not open up the floodgates to many more prefabricated homes in the city. He also said there is no record of what the original farmhouse looked like.
From the beginning of the commission's discussion, commissioners Margaret Patrick and Mary-Lynne Bernald said they were opposed to the project. Patrick said that the planning commissioners should not base their decisions on an applicant's financial ability, but rather should approve or disprove the proposed design and construction.
Commissioner Cynthia Barry said that she could support the project because the proposal results in keeping 10 acres of farmland. If the Bellicittis were forced to sell because they couldn't afford to remodel the existing home, the agricultural aspect of the property might be lost to developers, and the agriculture is what the heritage preservation commission has decreed to be historical. She said the home's design is reasonable with a landscape screening plan. She said a precedent is always worth considering but that she doesn't think one would be set here.
Commissioner George Roupe voted to support the project since he found the home compatible with the neighboring area. "The home doesn't look like a farmhouse to me, but there aren't many farmhouses in Saratoga, on the other hand," Roupe said. "It probably won't win an architectural award but I don't see it to be terribly incompatible with the typical ranch-style housing that you see around the neighborhoods."
Bernald disagreed and voted against the plan. "Every time we look at a project, we have to think beyond just the current applicant and what this is going to mean for Saratoga, and we need to look at what precedents we set," she said. "The prefab doesn't fit on an architectural site. I believe it does set a dangerous standard for the city."
Bernald added that approving the project would allow a mobile home and destroy a part of Saratoga's history. "This location is a gateway to Saratoga, not one we always discuss and think of, but it is a gateway from Campbell and Los Gatos," she said.
Patrick, who also voted against the plan, noted that the family is not promising to keep the agricultural land open space forever. "We should not delude ourselves that we're getting anything in return, if we think we're giving up something," she said.
The commission was divided on whether to continue the hearing so that all options, such as Mills Act protection, could be examined or to take a vote. Bernald said that to act quickly would not give the property the respect it deserves.
"We have found that when we have remodeled the older homes we have ensured that they stay," Bernald said. "This was not a grand estate. This was what Saratoga was when it started out. We don't know how long this process will take but we need to try."
The city does not have a program in place to apply for a Mills Act property tax benefit, according to community development director James Walgren. The Mills Act has been an item on the heritage preservation commission's agenda for years, he said. In addition, John Bellicitti said at the meeting that he was not interested in pursuing Mills Act protection.
When a motion failed to continue the hearing, Jackman moved to approve the application with a landscape plan as a condition. Commissioners Patrick, Bernald and Kurasch all voted against the project.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
