Saratoga, California Since
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for Saratoga's Gateway plan By Kate Carter Proposed design guidelines to make the Gateway district more mixed-use commercial-residential and pedestrian-friendly in nature will get a bit more tweaking before the city moves forward to make them official. At its June 12 meeting, the city planning commission heard from business and commercial property owners within the district who had concerns about the proposed guidelines as they were presented at that time. The commission and staff acknowledged those concerns and asked the task force to meet again and consider input from the business community in honing the proposals. The commission will hear the proposals again in September before asking staff to move forward with zoning changes. The Gateway district, a commercial area of Saratoga located along Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road between Prospect Road and the Union Pacific railroad tracks, has been the subject of much attention and plans for revitalization. This spring, the city council approved a master plan for the public right of way along the corridor - supported by most of the businesses and residents nearby - which included a narrower street, a more attractive streetscape and a more pedestrian- and customer-friendly area. The project, expected to cost $2.8 million of Caltrans and Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority funds, could be completed by next spring. In conjunction with the plans for public property, city staff and a task force drafted design guidelines to bring private property into conformance with their goals for the area. But the current proposal is a problem for Zoe Alameda-Farotte, owner of the Saratoga-Cupertino Funeral Home, and Flora Sennewald, co-owner of Bob Gilmore's Flowers 'n Things, whose businesses are both located within the district. They said the task force didn't include any business or property owners from the area among its members - only residents - and the proposed guidelines could reduce, rather than improve, the district's commercial vitality. "Everybody's for the goals" for the area, Alameda-Farotte said. "It's just how you apply them." She said that while she's confident the city will come up with a plan that will benefit the businesses, the one presented to the planning commission doesn't reflect the area's actual circumstances. For instance, she said, a scenario for new development in the area, developed in conjunction with Design Studios West, Inc., shows a land parcel much larger than the typical small, narrow commercial lots in the area. Most of the commercial areas that have not yet redeveloped do not have the characteristics of the proposed scenario, described in the staff report as representing a "typical" site. Alameda-Farotte also said the limitations on locations for trash, service and loading areas could preclude their presence at all in the district. And she said the proposed zoning changes would make it impossible to rebuild buildings as they are now were they to be destroyed. Alameda-Farotte met with community development director Tom Sullivan and Bob Eck of Design Studios West prior to the commission meeting. They agreed that some of her concerns had not yet been addressed in the proposal but would be before it was again brought to the planning commission. Among the proposed development standards for the Gateway area was a limit of 20 dwelling units per acre, with such units located only on a second floor of or behind a commercial location. Mixed-use structures could be no taller than 26 feet; non-mixed-use buildings must conform to the current height restrictions. Adjacent to existing single-story residences and Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road buildings could be no more than one story and 18 feet tall. Fencing eight feet high would be required next to residences. New businesses would be restricted to those serving the local community, and office uses on the ground floor would require use permits. Aesthetically, new development would be on a residential scale, with a similar style to that of Saratoga's neighborhoods. Buildings would be required to adhere to a common list of architectural materials and features and a soft-color palette to create a common theme throughout the area. Signage and lighting, as well, would be held to a variety of standards. |
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