Saratoga News

City Council approves traffic enforcement on private roads

By Sarah Lombardo

Deputies from the Westside Substation of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department have a little more territory to patrol after the Saratoga City Council's meeting July 15. The council adopted a resolution authorizing the sheriff's department to enforce the California vehicle code on private streets within the Vineyards of Saratoga subdivision, which lies west of Saratoga Avenue.

The streets in the area are privately owned and maintained, but residents claim the neighborhood has traffic problems, including cars speeding and parking in inappropriate areas. And they want help solving them.

The Vineyards of Saratoga Homeowners Association petitioned the city in April, asking the city to direct the sheriff's department to begin patrolling the area.

It was a request councilmembers were willing to make--after ensuring residents were aware that the solution to their traffic problems may mean traffic tickets issued. Residents said they were aware and willing.

City Manager Larry Perlin said the move should not include any additional costs for the city, which contracts with the sheriff's department for law-enforcement services, adding that sheriff's deputies already patrol the are as a matter of routine.

"I don't think the deputies will be patrolling the area any more than they have been. It's just that now, they will be allowed to issue tickets," he said. "So, in fact, it may even amount to extra revenue for the city from those additional tickets."

But, Perlin said, word of mouth may keep that from happening. "What I believe will happen is that once word get out about the patrolling, and once a few tickets have been issued, the traffic problems will simply go away," he said.

The City Council has adopted resolutions similar to the Vineyard's on such private roads as San Marcos Road and Wildwood Way. The vehicle code for the Vineyard area, Perlin said, will go into effect as soon as the proper signs are installed in the neighborhood.

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