Saratoga News

City Council upholds decision to keep Argonaut Shopping Center projects tied

By Sarah Lombardo

Anthony Morici has a tenant all ready to move into his new office building on the corner of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and Blauer Drive. The only problem is, he doesn't yet have the office building. And he may not be able to break ground for a while, after the Saratoga City Council upheld a decision to withhold issuing permits for the site until renovation begins at the nearby Argonaut Shopping Center.

In a 4-1 vote on Aug. 5, the council, with Mayor Don Wolfe dissenting, agreed with a recent Saratoga Planning Commission's decision to keep tied together the renovation of Argonaut Shopping and the construction of a new building at the corner opposite the center on Blauer Drive.

Councilmembers reasoned that because the center was approved as one, it should proceed as one. "A deal is a deal," Vice Mayor Jim Shaw said, "and until those permits expire in April, I think the deal should remain."

Councilmembers said that as one project, both the center and the additional building were designed to look the same. Some councilmembers argued that if Morici was allowed to go ahead with his project, there was a chance that the Argonaut renovation might be postponed, and the permits could expire. That would open up the possibility of Argonaut returning to the Planning Commission for redesign--and, in fact, commissioners have said they would insist on a redesign of the proposed center if the permits ran out.

Wolfe said he thought the new owner of the land deserved to begin work. "The fact is that this is physically separated [from the main center]," Wolfe said. He added that he wasn't convinced it would be a calamity even if the designs weren't exactly alike. "It seems we're holding [Morici] hostage to the rest of the project."

The two projects were originally considered by the Planning Commission as one project when Argonaut Associates, center owners Paul Hulme and Carole Rodoni, not only planned to give Argonaut a face-lift but also proposed the construction of two new freestanding buildings, one on each corner of Blauer Drive and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road. After being sent back to the drawing board three times, the project finally won commission approval. But commissioners maintain that one of the conditions of approval was that the renovation of the original center and construction of the new buildings happen at the same time. That condition was imposed, according to Community Development Director James Walgren, to ensure that the renovation, and not just the construction of additional buildings, did happen.

But Morici insists that such a condition is not written in the project's approval.

"I am not trying to circumvent any conditions," Morici told the council. "This is an interpretation issue."

In a letter to the council dated July 30, Morici said he thoroughly inspected the conditions. "When I bought Pad B in March of 1998, I read and relied on the resolution's conditions of approval. There is no condition stating that permits must be issued simultaneously. Quite to the contrary, the conditions state that either one or the other party can proceed once it has met the conditions of the resolution."

Morici applied in June to have the projects separated. He said he has no intention of making any changes to the design already approved for the area by the commission, but wants to get started building without having to wait for the renovation of the shopping center to begin.

"I find myself in a position where I really have no say over my own situation," Morici said. "I'm just asking to have my permits issued."

But Morici may not have too long to wait, according to Hulme, who told the Saratoga News Aug. 5 that an agreement with Safeway Supermarket--reportedly the sticking point holding up the start of the renovation-- has been reached. In the project plans, Safeway is due to add an extra 10,000 square feet to its store.

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