Saratoga News

City Council overturns decision on One World

By Sarah Lombardo

After hearing more than two hours of public testimony before a packed house at the Civic Theater, the Saratoga City Council unanimously voted Dec. 3 to overturn a Saratoga Planning Commission decision--also unanimous-- allowing One World Montessori to use facilities at Immanuel Lutheran Church, located at 14103 Saratoga Ave.

Citing traffic and safety concerns, councilmembers said they could not justify letting the school, with a current enrollment of 123, to move into the residential area.

"It really pulled at your heart to have to turn down a fine institution of learning, but I wasn't willing to impact Saratogans further with the traffic that it would have brought," newly appointed Mayor Don Wolfe said.

The decision leaves the Cupertino school, which began in Saratoga and has operated for about 20 years, without a home and facing closure at the end of the year. It also leaves school officials disappointed and bitter.

"It was pretty clear to me that [the councilmembers] had their minds made up even before the meeting started," Rebecca Keith, One World's founder and director, said. "I mean, the planning commissioners are appointed. [The councilmembers] are elected. It looks to me as if this was a simple case of politics."

The proposal, approved by the Planning Commission Oct. 22, called for preschool through sixth-grade classes to be placed in eight classrooms and two multipurpose facilities at the church. Part of a lower parking lot on the 3.24-acre property would have a playground built for up to 145 students to use. The parking lot has 114 spaces, of which 20 would have been for school employees' use and another 20 would have been replaced by the playground. Class times were to be staggered throughout the day, as were pick-up and drop-off times, which Planning Department officials--who recommended approval of the use permit for the school--cited as one reason traffic would not be a big problem. City staffers also reported to the commission in October that the width of the portion of Saratoga Avenue in front of the church would also help alleviate the impact of traffic brought in by the school because new striping could create a stacking lane for parents to use while dropping off kids.

As part of the approval of the conditional use permit, planning commissioners also made it mandatory that One World parents place placards in their car dashes to identify themselves so that residents could make sure parents weren't using residential streets as shortcuts; made the permit exclusive to One World Montessori and not transferable to any other school should One World leave Immanuel Lutheran before the permit expired; made the permit automatically expire in six months so any other school hoping to move into the facility would have to apply for a new permit; limited the school's operation to the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; and required that the school have a traffic monitor on site during peak traffic times.

Residents of neighboring streets, however, said that the conditions were not enough and that too much traffic was too much traffic. Loma Rio resident Fiona Rodrigues, with the support of neighbors, filed an appeal of the Planning Commission decision Nov. 6.

In her address to the council, Rodrigues stressed that she did not oppose the school itself but the problems it would cause if located at Immanuel Lutheran.

"I just want to start by saying that I have nothing against One World school. I love the Montessori method," she said. "But that's not the issue here. The issue here is traffic and safety."

The council agreed.

Keith said she has no idea at this point what the school would do. The school faces eviction at the end of the year because the Cupertino Union School District, from which it leases its current facilities, needs to take back the property for its own use. The district has informed school officials that they might be able to continue at the location for an extra month, but that would be all.

In an emotional plea to the council, Keith stressed that One World only needed to use the Immanuel Lutheran Church's facilities temporarily, and said that without them the school would have to close because it does not yet have another permanent location ready for use.

"We have been able to find a place, but in getting it ready, it's taking a little longer than we thought. ... If you do allow us to use the facilities for only six months, we will have time to regroup," she said. "Please give us a chance to find a permanent location so we can get out of your hair, since it's obvious you don't want us."

Of the 41 speakers who addressed the council, some offered support on each side.

"It is unfortunate that 145 families and the administrators of that school will be affected," Saratoga resident Nina Hitchcock said. "But this is our neighborhood that will be affected."

Many residents brought up issues of safety, including Linda Parker, who said she lives near Redwood Middle School and has seen how traffic can make for a dangerous situation for children. "We don't have children," she said, "but I'm nervous that one day I'm going to hit someone else's."

But not all Saratoga residents were against the school locating on Saratoga Avenue.

"I have seen traffic get really bad," one resident said, "but for so many reasons other than 145 students who want to attend a temporary school."

Keith said the school is in escrow to purchase a school in Los Altos Hills. One World was scheduled to go before that city's Planning Commission Dec. 10, but that hearing has been postponed pending an environmental impact report. But Keith said that with the school's experience in Saratoga, she doesn't have much hope.

"After this, I can't imagine that we stand a ghost of a chance in Los Altos Hills, frankly," she said.

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