Saratoga News

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Council to consider planning appeals

The Saratoga City Council is scheduled to hold public hearings Sept. 16 to consider two appeals of Planning Commission decisions.

The first appeal is of a denial by the commission of design-review approval to construct a new 6,566-square-foot, two-story residence on a vacant parcel on Villa Oaks Lane. The almost five-acre lot is located in a "hillside residential" zoning district.

The second appeal is of the commission's denial of design-review approval to construct a new 5,048-square-foot residence at a height of 20 feet from the natural grade at a location on Palomino Way. The site is almost two acres and is also located in a "hillside residential" zoning district.

Joe Simitian off to Bosnia-Herzegovina

Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian announced Aug. 28 that he plans to return to Bosnia-Herzegovina to participate in national elections. Simitian will serve as an elections supervisor for elections to be held Sept. 12-13. This will be Simitian's second year as an elections supervisor.

Simitian and other members of a team chosen by the U.S. State Department will monitor the voting process and the subsequent vote count. In this year's elections, voters will select leaders for the three-member presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the presidency of Republika Srpska, legislative seats throughout the country and 11 newly created municipal councils.

High temperatures put power at risk

California's independent systems operators announced last week that recent high temperatures--and the uses of air conditioners and fans--have been putting a strain on the state's electrical operating reserves. The agency called for several Stage I and II alerts due to very low electrical reserves during the first few days of September, and asked residents to reduce noncritical electricity use whenever possible to avoid more severe conditions, such as involuntary power outages.

The request for voluntary reduction is the second step in the state's three-stage emergency plan, and means that reserves have fallen to less than 5 percent above customer demand for electric power.

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