Saratoga News
News
General plan update creates debate among local residents
By Shannon Burkey
The update of Saratoga's General Plan, which has not been done in 23 years, has caused much debate recently among residents.
But, after a four-hour study session on Oct. 10 to discuss the Land Use Element of the General Plan, planning commissioners hope they are a step closer to resolving the issue to bring Saratoga's General Plan into compliance with the state.
A second study session to discuss the Open Space and Conservation Elements is scheduled for Oct. 24. Then the commission plans to bring the revised version of the General Plan to the Nov. 8 planning commission meeting for public discussion.
"I think it is moving very smoothly at this time," said Linda Rodgers, chairwoman of the planning commission. "We are comfortable enough with it to take it to a hearing."
The General Plan, a policy guideline mandated by the state for all cities in California to follow, consists of seven key elements, and each city is responsible for writing its own plan and updating it every 10 years. But some elements of Saratoga's General Plan have not been updated since the 1980s, according to Saratoga community development director, John Livingstone.
In order to comply with state laws, the city is looking to do a "technical" update of the Land Use Element, the Open Space Element and the Conservation Element. By updating these three elements at this time, Saratoga's General Plan will meet the state's requirements.
However, members of the public have expressed concern about the city's attempt to update the plan, worrying the process may be happening too fast without much input from the public.
So in order to hear from all sides, the study session was scheduled to bring together the planning commission, the planning department, members of the public and consultants Jerry Haag and Deborah Ungo-McCormick, who presented a draft of the revised General Plan. Haag and Ungo-McCormick went over the proposed revisions step by step.
"I think the consultants have done a good job of taking the old General Plan and putting it into a format that reflects Saratoga today," said Wanda Kownacki, who was co-chairwoman of the Land Use Element Update Committee.
"I think it is a good start," said Trish Cypher, who also served on the Land Use Element Update Committee. "I think there is much uncertainty about where we are going and how we will get there."
Although Cypher said she is happy there is discussion on the General Plan, she believes there are still many questions remaining. Before things move forward, she said the public really needs to be involved in the process.
"I think we need to start scheduling meetings to get the public talking about their areas and update these plans," Cypher said. "We need to review the existing policies and see if the new policies are the right ones to address the future needs of Saratoga."
While many of the proposed changes to the General Plan are small and not controversial, there are a few larger issues that have some people worried. But in order to get the plan moving, the planning commission has decided to table several items, including a zoning change to the Abrams property that houses the city's pumpkin patch and Christmas tree farm on Saratoga Avenue, and a section that refers to development in the Village.
"There are several issues that need individual consideration and strategic public input, so we are setting those aside to come back to at a later date," Rodgers said.
By setting aside the larger issues, Kownacki said, the General Plan document looks good to move forward.
"The issues being removed are the ones people were having trouble with anyway," Kownacki said. "By taking those out, it is not quite as contentious as people think."
Planning Commissioner Jill Hunter said she is not sure about taking the document to the next planning commission meeting.
"I feel as though they are giving people one opportunity to speak and if they are not available that night it is a lost opportunity," Hunter said. "We should be having public meetings and hearing from everyone on this. People should have four or five opportunities to talk about it. I think it would behoove us to take a little time with this."
Cypher also thinks the document is not ready to move forward.
"The adoption of this document is premature and irresponsible to consider at this time. There needs to be additional study sessions, inclusion of area plan updates and implementation of our committee's public outreach plan, to name a few things," she said.
But taking the document to the planning commission meeting does not mean it will be adopted at that time, according to Rodgers, who said it is just another way to get public input.
"We want to make sure that people are involved at all times," Rodgers said. "If we need to send it back to a study session and do more work on it, we will. If we think it is ready to go to the city council, we will send it. We just want to make sure that everyone who has something to say has the chance to say it."
The study session for the Open Space/Conservation Elements of the General Plan will take place on Oct. 24 at 5 p.m. at 19655 Allendale Ave., Saratoga. The planning commission meeting to discuss the revised version of the General Plan will take place on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. in the Saratoga Civic Theater.
