Planners OK Plan by Sobrato to Build Subdivision on Bohlman Road

Task force will decided whether to widen road

Loss of trees is an issue

By Kara Chalmers

At the project's third public hearing on Sept. 13, and after hours of public testimony and discussion, the Saratoga Planning Commission unanimously approved developer John M. Sobrato's plans for a 10-home subdivision on Bohlman Road--with conditions.

The plans are for an 11-lot subdivision--one lot will be sold to the Saratoga Cemetery District--at the site of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur complex at 14800 Bohlman Road.

The approval came after a lengthy discussion on how to separate longtime safety concerns that residents have with Bohlman Road from Sobrato's project.

For safety reasons, the commission voted to approve the plan if Sobrato would guarantee he would pay for widening Bohlman Road to 18 feet with one-foot shoulders on each side, if the commission so desires in the future, from Madronia Cemetery to Norton Road. In some places, Bohlman Road is as narrow as 13 feet.

Since many Bohlman Road neighbors oppose widening the road at all since it would entail destroying trees, and since the commission could not agree on a specific plan Sept. 13, the commission voted to form a task force or to ask the city's public safety commission to study if widening the road would be the best idea.

Other options would be to "selectively" widen the road in places where no trees or trees with little value could be easily taken out, to not change the road at all, or to add traffic-calming measures such as speed bumps or stop signs to the road.

The task force or public safety commission will study the issue and will report back to the commission with a recommendation, which could include forming an assessment district to pay for road improvements. But by imposing the condition that Sobrato would pay for an expensive option--widening the road to 18 feet--the commission ensured a financial commitment if and when the time comes.

If the city in the future decides to widen the road to 18 feet, 14 trees on the west side would have to be removed. Still, according to the city's planning staff, this would be the best way to improve Bohlman Road while maintaining the tree-lined look of the road. Also, according to Saratoga Fire District Chief Ernie Kraule, the minimum requirements of the California Fire Code is that a 20-foot road is needed in order for emergency vehicles to pass safely.

The commission's Sept. 13 decision precludes the commission from ever requiring the developer to build a new downhill one-way lane to create a divided road on the novitiate's driveway--an idea that some residents favor. An additional road could have resulted in the loss of one of Sobrato's 11 lots.

One resident, David Dolloff, like other residents of the area, said he wants to keep Bohlman as is, and not touch the trees, but also to improve the safety of the road and improve the chances of orderly evacuation in the chance of a fire. The only solution Dolloff said he could see is the second road alternative. He said the situation is unacceptable, and the city and the fire chief should work to change it. He even suggested a recall election of the fire commissioners.

According to Kraule, there is an access road that fire vehicles can use in the dry months, leading up the hillside. He said that for the two fires that have occurred in the Bohlman Road area in recent years, there were no evacuation problems.

City Attorney Richard Taylor said it would be difficult for the city to justify requiring the developer to install the second road. If the only impact of the development would be an 8 percent increase in traffic on Bohlman Road--a road that is not operating at capacity--it would be difficult for the city to justify it, he said.

Another resident accused Sobrato of trying to bully the planning commission, and said that given the scale of public outcry, the commission should not put the developers' wishes over those of the hundreds of residents who use Bohlman Road to get to and from their homes in the hillsides.

The commission imposed some conditions on the development, including Hillside Residential zoning development standards on lots 1 and 4, such as fencing enclosure and grading limitations.

The developer will not be allowed to further subdivide any of the lots in the future and there is a chance he may have to grant a riparian ravine easement on part of the property, subject to further analysis.

The commission also approved a General Plan amendment to change the General Plan designation of the site as quasi-public facilities to residential very low density. The reason is for the site to match the designation of most of the surrounding zone.

Because of its zoning, the site could be used the way it has been used in the past, as a school, residential apartments and an administrative building. It could even be used as a convalescent hospital.

The planning commission had already heard public testimony and testimony from Sobrato at two separate hearings in June and July.

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