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August 7, 2002
Saratoga, California Since 1955 |
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Photograph by Kristopher Gainey
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Austin Way residents Judy and Tom Keeble have
worked to save Saratoga's historic brick
road.
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Residents, planning commission agree on protecting historic
Austin Way
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Kate Carter
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Many residents near the 8-year-old Highway
85 would love to see its ruts and grooves
removed and its traffic noise reduced. But
many residents near the 98-year-old Austin
Way want to keep the street's bumpy brick
surface unaltered because it is a link to
Saratoga's past.
The city's planning commission agreed with
them, and on July 24 decided to recommend to
the city council that Austin Way, which
crosses Saratoga-Los Gatos Road near the
Monte Sereno border, be designated a heritage
lane. The portion of Austin Way east of
Saratoga-Los Gatos Road is in Monte
Sereno and is unaffected by the designation.
The road is Saratoga's second heritage lane,
the first being a portion of Saratoga Avenue.
Austin Way used to be part of the highway
that connected Saratoga to Los Gatos and
along which ran tracks for the Peninsular
Railway trolley line, from 1904 to 1933. The
historic designation would prevent the brick
road from being destroyed and would allow the
city to apply for grants to repair areas of
the road in which brickwork has been patched
with asphalt to return it to its original
state.
In those days, highways were paved in brick.
"That's what the roads used to be in the
area, not just Saratoga and Los Gatos, but
the valley, the region," said Norman
Koepernick, chairman of the city's heritage
preservation commission that recommended the
historic designation. "It's just so unique.
It's fun to drive on it and hear your tires
go bumpity-bump."
The commission was approached about the idea
for the designation by Tom Keeble, one of the
16 property owners whose property abuts the
road.
"I just knew eventually it was going to be
covered over," said Keeble, who has seen the
road patched with asphalt during his 18 years
there. "I wanted to save it, and I want it
maintained. I don't want it improved."
The commission began the process to pursue
the designation early this year and concluded
that the street met the historic preservation
requirements of reflecting a significant
historic element and demonstrating a style
and method of construction.
Then letters were sent out to the adjacent
property owners. Several responded with
opposition to the idea, citing concerns about
the noise from the brick road, the wear and
tear it puts on vehicles and the greater city
oversight as to what property owners could do
on their own land.
In response to that city staff recommended to
the planning commission that, as none of the
structures along the road are historical and
several of them don't even face the street,
only the private land 10 feet off the road be
included in the historic area. Some of the
property owners showed up at the July 24
public hearing to question the necessity of
that, but the commission went forward with
the 10-foot inclusion because it could make
it easier for the city to get grants and
wouldn't really affect the owners much more
than they already are—the 10-foot distance
is already overseen by city zoning
regulations regarding setbacks.
The heritage preservation commission would
also like the street to be lined with
plantings or trees and that the pavement near
the beginning of the street be removed to see
if bricks are lying beneath it, Koepernick
said. Keeble said he isn't in favor of such
efforts. They wouldn't begin until the
future, however.
Perhaps 90 years in the future, Saratogans
will want to designate Highway 85 a heritage
lane, too.
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