Saratoga News

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Planners vote their approval for mixed-use village project

By Shannon Burkey

The Saratoga Village will soon have a new mixed-use development that will offer retail, office and residential space.

At its May 23 meeting, the planning commission voted unanimously to approve the design review and conditional-use permit for a three-structure development at the eastern end of Big Basin Way.

The development, owned by the Zambetti Trust and named the Tollgate Building, will consist of a two-story, 2,350-square-foot commercial building at the front of a 17,000-square-foot property, a two-unit, two-story 1,250-square-foot apartment building in the back of the property and a carport in the middle.

"Mixed-use in general has been like an adrenaline shot that brings new life to cities that are otherwise lifeless," said project architect Tom Sloane. "And based on my observation, the Village needs an adrenaline shot right now."

Property owner Gene Zambetti first submitted the plans for the development in January 2006 but had to revise them several times, he said.

Originally, Zambetti had hoped to build his home on the back of the property and have his business on the front. However, the property is in the CH-2 city zone and the housing element of the General Plan allows only for apartments at a maximum of 1,250 square feet in that zone.

So Zambetti changed his plans to put apartments along with commercial space that can be rented.

"These apartments will allow people in our fire department or teachers in our school to have a place in Saratoga to live," he said.

Andrea Bosco Mcgee, who lives in a condominium next door to the property, said she is concerned about apartments in the Village; as it is, she sees a lot of drug and alcohol use near the creek behind her building.

"This is a very quiet community and a very safe community," she said. "I think allowing this is promoting an activity that is going to diminish the value of the property around it."

Mcgee also said she has a problem with the size of the property and that it does not seem in proportion to the rest of the Village.

"The front unit is massive and although an adrenaline shot is what I think the Village needs, I think this is one on steroids and I fear that it's just going to minimize the value and peacefulness of the entire Village," she said.

Holly Davies, who owns a law firm on the other side of the property, also thinks the project is too big and sits too close to her property.

"The new building will be massive," Davies said. "The scale of it will dwarf my building and detract from its appearance."

In the CH-2 zone, the city allows for 60 percent of the net site area to be covered by a building. The Tollgate Building will cover only 28.8 percent of the area.

In her appeal to the planning commission, Davies asked that the building be moved to the west side of the property line so that it does not sit so close to her building. The current plans put the buildings 10 feet from the Davies property.

But Sloane argued that it would be a safety hazard to move the development to the other side of the property because the driveway would come out into a crosswalk and an oak tree 18 inches in diameter would have to be removed. Sloan said there was also another important factor in deciding where the buildings should sit.

"Given the choice to build the structure closer to residential use or building an office next to an office with 5-foot equal setback on both sides and the same roof lines, the choice to me was pretty obvious as far as compatibility," he said.

Although four residents showed up to the meeting to speak against the project, the commission pointed out that 17 people wrote letters in support of it.

"I think having this sort of mixed-use project is helpful to the city and is beneficial in the long run," said Commissioner Rishi Kumar.

Although Kumar said he had an issue with the bulk of the building, he would follow the city code.

"When I take it into perspective with respect to the code requirement, it is at one-third of the code requirement. I think that sort of takes care of it," he said.

Chairwoman Joyce Hlava agreed, adding that with all three buildings together the development is taking up only a small portion of the lot.

Hlava also addressed the issue of apartments coming into the Village.

"The official policy of the city in terms of the Village is that we are encouraging apartments. So while you view it as a potential problem in terms of degrading the value of your condominium, in fact it is the policy of the city that we are encouraging apartments," she said.