The remnants of an apricot orchard, once part of a larger orchard owned by the Hall family, are now set to be replaced by four new homes. The land, owned by the Hall Family Trust, had been under a contract that allowed the owners to pay a lower property tax rate for agricultural land.

The California Land Conservation Act of 1965, also called the Williamson Act, was passed to enable local governments to enter into contracts with private landowners for the purpose of restricting specific parcels of land to agricultural or open space use in exchange for lower property taxes.

On Dec. 7, at the first meeting presided over by newly appointed Mayor Norman Kline, the Saratoga City Council unanimously voted to allow the cancellation of a Williamson Act contract for 7.73 acres of land at 20865 Wardell Road. The land has been divided up into four parcels, which the Hall Family Trust has put on the market. One of the parcels has been sold to Tom Lim, who plans to build a home there.

The Hall family owned approximately 26 acres of land in Saratoga that became subject to a Williamson Act contract in 1972. The city council canceled the contract for 18 acres of the land in 1979, leaving the remaining 7.73 acres still subject to the contract.

A city report prepared by Lata Vasudevan, an associate city planner, states that apricots were once farmed on the property but that the 7.73 acres of land has not been actively farmed since 1990. According to the report, the land has become unsuitable for farming.

In order for the Wiliamson Act contract to be canceled, the applicant must pay a cancellation fee to the Santa Clara County treasurer. The fee amounts to 12.5 percent of the land's current fair market value. The value of the 7.73 acres at 20865 Wardell Road was determined to be $7,250,000, which means the fee paid to county treasurer is $906,250.

Councilwoman Kathleen King reiterated during the meeting that the cancellation fees do not go to the city. But she said that having families move onto the land would increase city revenues through property taxes.

Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith said she was sad to see the city lose more farmland to homes, but that the area certainly would be a beautiful place to live.

Waltonsmith explained that the state of California is cracking down on people with Williamson Act contracts living on land that is not being used for agriculture. "If they stop using it for agriculture, it doesn't meet the criteria anymore," she said. The land at 20865 Wardell Road is surrounded by homes, she added.

"It's too bad that people aren't farming anymore in Saratoga," Waltonsmith said. "We need houses, but it will just be more houses."

In other business, the council approved an updated capital improvement plan for the 2005-06 fiscal year, which provides funding for several ongoing city projects.