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Commission Gives A Nod To Tennis Club's Expansion And A New Fence
Neighbors oppose plan, citing parking problem
Project is approved 3-2
By Kara Chalmers
At its meeting on June 14, the Saratoga Planning Commission approved enlarging the three courts at the Saratoga Tennis Club and replacing the club's fence, but not before first hearing from some neighbors who oppose the project.
The plans call for a 34-foot addition to the back of the courts. This would allow extra space between courts so that one match doesn't interfere with another. The project also calls for replacing the 12-foot-high wire and wood fence with a vinyl clad chain link fence.
The club, located at 20571 Komina Ave. also includes a small wooden clubhouse. Today, the courts are not set back from the street, and the fence around them is two feet higher than the city requires. The reason, according to Cliff Barrett, the president of the club, is to keep tennis balls inside the courts and out of neighbors' yards.
The expansion will cost the 86 club members a one-time fee of $750, Barrett said. The club's annual dues are $200 per member.
At the meeting on June 14, a motion failed to approve the changes on condition that the new enlarged court be set back from the street. That would allow the club to provide more off-street parking for its members.
Barrett said that he could not afford to comply with that condition. After some discussion, the commission compromised by approving the project with a parking monitoring plan for the club's existing driveway. The plan will be returned to the commission for final approval.
Commissioners Mary-Lynne Bernald and Margaret Patrick voted to deny the project. Since he is a member of the club, George Roupe recused himself from the proceedings.
Patrick said at the meeting that she could not support the project unless the club provided more off-street parking, set the courts back from the street and provided more screening landscaping.
The problem that some of the Komina Avenue neighbors of the club have is that users park on the street, exacerbating a parking and traffic problem from the nearby Saratoga School on Oak Street.
Some neighbors say the club should be treated the same as a residence since it is located in a residential neighborhood, and be required to comply with the city's setback requirements and fence height limits. Some called the courts "ugly" and an "eyesore."
"This is a neighborhood," said one resident who lives on Komina Avenue, across from the club. "A 12-foot cyclone fence isn't acceptable."
According to some neighbors, now is the time to ask the club to address its parking problem by creating more off-street parking, either in back or in front of the courts, and adding more landscaping.
"This is the juncture where there should be consideration of more off-street parking," said Arthur Anderson, who lives across the street from the club, at the meeting.
Barrett replied that the cost of creating additional on-site parking would be astronomical. He also suggested that some of the neighbors might be using the club to address problems they really have with the school.
In a later interview, Anderson, who has been a member of the club for 12 years himself, said, "I can't imagine a club that's more wealthy than this club." He said he feels that the club has not explored all options.
According to Barrett, six cars can fit in the club's driveway, which is 20 by 60 feet, as long as they are parked back to back. Anyone else can park in the six places in front of the club's property on Komina Avenue. Barrett said that the back of the courts is a riparian habitat and he has no plans to touch it for parking or anything else.
According to some neighbors, users often choose to park on Komina Avenue, rather than deal with possibly being blocked in or having to move their cars.
Last July, the Planning Commission granted the club a use permit. Prior to that time, the over 70-year-old club, which was present before the city was incorporated, had been called a "legal nonconforming use."
In July 1999, the commission could have approved the expansion but chose not to, until the club conducted a parking study and surveyed its members to see if the majority backed the expansion.
According to Barrett, a survey he conducted showed that about 72 percent of members support the expansion and the added cost. Barrett also said that a survey of parking that he conducted shows that there is no parking problem. Many neighbors disagree.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
