According to Wanda Kownacki, who has property on Redberry Drive, the neighborhood has changed drastically over the years because of an increase in expansive housing construction projects.

"This area used to be rural," she said. "Now it's becoming urbanized with large houses and fewer trees."

Kownacki said she noticed the change when she saw a home located on the top of her street which she described as being "jarringly huge and inconsistent with the neighborhood."

Another resident on Redberry Drive requesting annexation, Pete Hepburn, said he remembers the quaintness of the neighborhood when he first moved in approximately 12 years ago.

"Homes then were smaller in stature and were surrounded by trees," he said. "Now these trees are replaced by massively huge buildings. We need to preserve what's left in the neighborhood and to maintain the integrity of the hillside area."

Kownacki and Hepburn said that annexing into Saratoga would be a step in the right direction and would prevent properties from expanding in the future. Under county ordinances, homes have a height limitation of 30 feet but do not have a floor-to-area ratio requirement, which means that property owners can rebuild their homes as large as they like. However, the county does have a right to deny projects that are largely out of scale.

On the other hand, under the city of Saratoga's purview, homes cannot exceed 26 feet in height and are subject to specific square footage limitations.

The annexation process is a lengthy one that can last up to six months and involves collaboration among the city, the Local Agency Formation Commission, which is a local agency mandated by state law that sets policies for annexation and Santa Clara County.

When a resident or the city requests annexation, LAFCO requires that the city follow a three-part process: initiate an annexation, hold protest hearings and approve or deny the annexation.

In the initial phase, the city must provide documents showing proof of compliance with LAFCO's policies. According to Dunia Noel, who is a LAFCO analyst, properties in question must be contiguous to the existing city limits and must not create areas in which it would be difficult provide municipal services.

According to John Livingston, the city's staff planner, the proposed annexation would not present any difficulties in services because a majority of the services would remain the same. In some cases in other cities, an annexation in the middle of a block would make it difficult to determine which emergency response agency would respond to a call. However, this problem would be eliminated in Saratoga since many of the local agencies such as the fire department, sheriff's office and the West Valley Sanitation District are contracted by the county.

The difference in services would be in efficiency and quality, according to Noel.

"The county is larger and focuses more on bigger issues such as health care and criminal justice," said Noel. "Cities are more defined and have a higher quality in service."

Ann Draper, who is the county's planning director, said she agrees with the city's quality service and encourages properties to be annexed into the city, although the county would be losing a portion of property taxes.

Draper said there are many pockets within the county where county services are required. She said that annexing into city jurisdiction and receiving city services would help "eliminate inefficiencies in the county's delivery of services." She added that under the city, residents would have better access to library services and street maintenance.

One area of concern with Redberry Drive is street condition and potential ground movement. According to studies conducted by geologists, the soil underneath the properties along the street is susceptible to landslides. The condition is categorized as poor to fair with some deterioration of roadway edges and moderate to heavy erosion. The answer for who will be responsible for upgrading the street is to be determined.

As directed by LAFCO, the city council will hold two public hearings in which residents involved in the annexation would have the opportunity to protest. If one does protest the annexation, an assessment of the individual's property value will be taken to determine the course of the process. If the individual owns more than 50 percent of the assessed land value, then the annexation will be terminated. However, if that person owns less than 50 percent of the assessed land value, the city council will adopt a resolution to annex the properties.

Councilwoman Kathleen King said she hopes to annex other properties in that neighborhood in the future to help preserve the character of the hillside area and to make sure that homes remain consistent with other homes in the city.

"We can't do anything about the homes that are already built according to county guidelines," she said. "All we can do is stop it from getting worse."

She added that she sees annexation as being a trend not only in Saratoga, but in other cities as well.