But the tranquility has been in jeopardy in recent weeks. A few neighbors on Ronnie Way aren't exactly seeing eye to eye with the owner of a new residence there. They say that the owner, Ronald J. Haas, has gone back on a promise made to them when he got the plans for his house approved by the city.

In February of 2003, the community development department approved an administrative design review on Ronnie Way for a one-story 4,513-square foot home with a 3,862-square foot basement. In response to feedback from the neighbors, Haas made changes to the plan and removed a proposed carport, reduced the height of the building, removed the elevated terraces and railing from the front elevation and converted a library to a guest room.

After the house was completed, the city conducted a final planning and building inspection. Haas was allowed to occupy the house after he posted a bond to complete landscape work around the house.

Now his neighbors say that Haas obtained an over-the-counter building permit right after he moved in to build a covered patio and barbecue area that looked just like the carport area that he had agreed not to build. The change in the plan was approved by a different city planner who was not familiar with the project. Since it was an over-the-counter approval, no input from the neighbors was needed.

A memorandum about the issue sent to Mayor Ann Waltonsmith and the Saratoga City Council from Thomas Sullivan, the community development director, says: "The addition does not violate any zoning requirements. The Saratoga code is unclear as to how long after final inspections are the conditions of a design review enforceable. It is clear that they are fully enforceable up to the final inspection."

There has been much communication between the neighbors and the city council members in the last week.

At a council meeting on Nov. 17, the neighbors submitted a petition asking for the immediate removal of 350-square feet of a BBQ area that was added in the subsequent plan. It also requested that the landscape frontage remain the same to protect the privacy of the neighborhood. It was signed by 60 residents who live on or near Ronnie Way.

"They have to enforce the code and regulations as it is written. That is all we want," said David Mighdoll, a concerned neighbor who believes that the city council could still help the neighbors out.

He says that the design in question violates some of the basic tenets of the city's design review handbook.

"Why isn't the city doing anything to stop this person who has gone back on the agreement that he had made with the neighbors?" said Mimi Frazer Mather, another Ronnie way resident.

That might be because of the loophole that currently exists in the city's building code. It is unclear as to how long the conditions of a design review are enforceable.

"It was concluded that due to the language of that section, the conditions of approval of a design review are in full force until the dwelling has received a final inspection and occupancy has been granted," said the memorandum that was sent to the city council.

The city is moving fast to address the loophole. At its meeting on Nov. 17, the council passed a resolution to amend the building code. The council retired to a special closed session late in the night and then decided to call an emergency meeting on Nov. 22 to pass an interim urgency ordinance so that the problem could be addressed.

"The main issue is that we have to have a reasonable set of conditions for the construction of homes," said Councilman Norman Kline. "We do not want to take away the property right of the owners."

Kline indicated that a timeframe would have to be imposed for any changes to plans that have been approved. "There is not a lot that is wrong with the code. We just have to plug a few holes. Some conditions are not enforceable in the long run," he said.

But even the council members are not sure what they can do to help the neighbors on Ronnie Way at this point. At the council meeting, Kline was in favor of putting the Ronnie Way controversy on the agenda for a future meeting. But no one else on the council supported him on the idea.