The city had first adopted the ordinance on Nov. 22 in an effort to amend the Saratoga Municipal Code and plug a loophole in the city's building laws.

The loophole allowed homeowners with completed projects to change their plans without being subject to the conditions of the original design review process. The interim ordinance ensures that the design review conditions and plan approvals for buildings remain valid beyond the construction of the project.

City council members voted unanimously at a council meeting on Jan. 5 to extend the interim ordinance. In the meantime, city staff will work on revising the actual ordinance and remove any inconsistency so that a more lasting solution can be found.

Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith raised some questions about the interim ordinance.

"I want to make sure that people are not moving into a museum when they move into a new house. They can change something if they have to," she said.

City Attorney Richard Taylor assured her that this was only an interim freeze while the actual ordinance was amended.

Councilman Norman Kline brought up the issue of neighbors and the amount of control they would have over the design review process.

In other city business, the council directed city staff to look into a training program for the planning commission.

Mayor Kathleen King had initially wanted to send members of the planning commission to the 2005 Planners Institute Conference in Pasadena. "Our land values keep going up," she said justifying the importance of training for planning commissioners.

But her colleagues did not warm to the idea and found the costs of the Pasadena conference too expensive.

"The more training there is, the better. But the best bang for the buck is local training," said Kline.

Councilman Nick Streit said that any training should be an ongoing process and suggested some joint training with neighboring cities like Los Gatos or Campbell.