Saratoga News

Commissioners stand firm on approval plans for Argonaut

New property owner hoped to begin separate building

Renovation plans stalled

By Sarah Lombardo

Calling the current Argonaut Shopping Center "disgusting" and "an embarrassment," Saratoga planning commissioners turned down a request July 8 that would have allowed for the construction of an additional building near the center--without any start in sight for the overall renovation of the center itself.

But commissioners did allow for changes in a proposed soundwall after a number of Regan Lane residents complained that it was neither needed nor wanted.

The request would have separated the approval and building permits for the property across the street from Argonaut Shopping Center, at the corner of Blauer Drive and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, allowing property owner Anthony Moreci to begin construction at the site. But the renovation of the center and the construction of any building on that land, called Pad B in the project's plans, are tied together--no renovation begun, no new construction allowed. It's a condition of approval planning commissioners hoped would ensure the renovation took place, and not just the addition of extra commercial buildings to the area.

But almost a year and a half after the center's approval, the renovation of Argonaut hasn't begun--a fact that didn't seem to make the commissioners amenable to any changes. "I've had it with Argonaut. I'm not giving anyone anything," Commissioner Marcia Kaplan said after telling center owners Paul Hulme and Carole Rodoni that Argonaut was "the most disgusting place I've ever seen."

Some commissioners did sympathize with Moreci, who can't do anything with his property until Rodoni and Hulme do something with theirs. Without the separation of the projects, Moreci said, his only option would be to wait till the approval and building permits for the center's plans expire next year and bring the project back before the commission himself.

Moreci said he is losing money not only from a vacant lot, but from not knowing when renovation at the main center will begin. According to Moreci, a lease agreement is prepared and ready for signing, but it is being held up because Moreci doesn't know when he'll be able to begin construction.

"In February 1998, I contracted to buy Pad B," he said, adding that he had been told renovation at the center would begin in March or April. But since then, he said, renovation has been delayed for one reason or another--and, he said, he can't get a definite start date from Rodoni and Hulme. Moreci said he is also losing money from utility and other permit applications he has filed with the understanding that renovation would begin soon. Many of those permits, he said, will expire in the next few months, and he'll have to reapply for them.

"I share Mr. Moreci's frustration about the renovation getting completed," Commissioner Mary-Lynne Bernald said, "but I cannot vote in favor of [the separation of projects] tonight."

Bernald added that, if she had a second chance, she probably wouldn't approve the Argonaut renovation plans. "In my year and a half on the commission, this is the one decision that I have regretted," she said, adding that she didn't like the architecture or the design proposed for the new Argonaut. "I would relish the opportunity for two years to go by and be able to turn down this project again."

Commissioner Margaret Patrick agreed. "I would like to see the place condemned," she said. "I am certain that would this come up for a vote again, there are certain members of this commission who would not approve it. [The current center] is disgusting and an embarrassment to all of us."

It was that feeling of disgust with the state of Saratoga's oldest shopping center that seemed to fuel the neighbors' and commission's desire to agree with owners on some sort of renovation plans when the project was approved in February 1997. The project calls for the expansion of the Safeway Supermarket, the addition of two freestanding buildings at each corner of Blauer Drive and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, improved and landscaped median barriers, a soundwall along the north side of the property behind the center, landscaping of the parking lot, creek side restoration, a bus turnout and shelter, and traffic-design improvements on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road--including a left-turn signal from the center's Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road driveway.

The project went through four revisions before its approval and was then called up for review by the City Council.

[ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ]