Saratoga News

Planners send Park Place team back to the drawing board

Designs 'inappropriate' next to the Foothill Club

Study session set for Oct. 8

By Sarah Lombardo

The view from the Saratoga Foothill Club will remain unchanged for a little while longer, after Saratoga planning commissioners Sept. 10 decided they could not support proposed construction plans for neighboring lots unless drastic design changes were made.

"I love the designs I see here," Commissioner Mary-Lynne Bernald said. "I don't love them on Park Place."

Commissioners said they were worried that the look of the new homes, described as cottage-style by the applicants, simply didn't fit in with the primarily craftsman-style neighborhood.

The owners of the three Park Place lots, Byron Harkey and David Solomon, were given the opportunity to ask for a continuance of the issue or to accept a denial of the applications. They chose a continuance so that they can make changes to the proposals; they will meet with the commissioners again in a public study session Oct. 8 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the Community Center.

The plans called for three new two-story homes on three lots of record on Park Place. The proposed homes would each have been 23 feet high with a basement, and two of the homes included detached garages 10 feet from the rear property line.

The plans also called for the demolition on an existing two-story house that straddles two of the lots in question.

The property is adjacent to the Saratoga Foothill Club, designed by renowned architect Julia Morgan, and members of the club said they fear the view from the club will be spoiled, and new neighbors might complain of noise from the club, with three

The property is adjacent to the Saratoga Foothill Club, designed by renowned architect Julia Morgan, and members of the club said they fear the view from the club will be spoiled and that new neighbors might complain of noise from the club, with three houses built in an area where one house now stands.

"We will have a house only six feet from our property line," Pat Dubridge, a member of the club, said. "As stewards [of the club], we are deeply concerned."

Said one resident: "We don't want to see that kind of dense housing there. It's been said that we'd like to see only two houses. I was happy looking at only one house there."

But the commissioners did not question whether houses could legally be built on each of the three lots. Their concerns included not only the design of the houses, but also the size of the houses and their proximity to the Foothill Club and a historic valley oak tree.

"I think the Foothill Club is a treasure," Commissioner Mark Pierce said. "I think it absolutely has to be respected and protected."

Commissioner Marcia Kaplan said that she wanted all three of the proposed houses to be built out from underneath the valley oak's canopy.

Despite the commission's unanimous disapproval of the project--all five of the members present had concerns--the project had received a recommendation for approval from the Saratoga Heritage Preservation Committee, which was made aware of the issue by city staff.

Community Development Director James Walgren said staff notified the committee of the proposals because of the existing house's age and proximity to the Foothill Club. The house, built around 1915, is in the craftsman style, and the property was once the location of the Saratoga Blossom Festival.

Preservation committee members decided that both the house and the land should be added to the city's Heritage Resource Inventory and documented before demolition.

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