Concerns over residential zoning in Saratoga Village were dispelled at a Nov. 17 study session addressing development of objective design choices for the city’s downtown.
The city council held the joint study session with the planning and heritage preservation commissions. Saratoga retained Lisa Wise Consulting, an urban planning and economics firm that specializes in walkable, transit-oriented communities. The goal of the meeting was to take the Village Design Guidelines from 2019 and turn them into objective design standards that would support the addition of housing in accordance with state law.
SB330, also known as the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, was intended to address the state’s housing shortage by expediting permit processes, increasing housing production and protecting existing housing stock. SB35 prioritizes affordable housing projects in cities that don’t meet Regional Housing Needs Allocation numbers.
Saratoga development manager Cindy McCormick said while the city’s guidelines require that the ground floor of buildings in commercial zones are used for commercial purposes, that could change if a property owner or developer proposes residential use under state law. The maximum building height in the Village is 35 feet, or three stories, but McCormick also said a property owner or developer could use state law to propose taller buildings with more stories.
The idea of ground-floor residential use in the Village stirred several people to speak during public comment and to send emails to discourage the city from allowing it.
Residents affiliated with community group Saratoga Village Vitality Neighbors wrote a letter asking the city council to direct ;staff to strengthen the zoning codes to require commercial ground floor active use as an objective standard. They also criticized the city for leaving open the possibility of taller buildings on Big Basin Way and not preserving the “line of sight to the hills, as our scenic environment is the defining characteristic of Saratoga Village and our competitive advantage versus competing downtowns.”
The group argued that preserving ground-floor commercial storefronts would not prevent Saratoga from meeting its housing obligations. They expressed concern that AB 2011, a law that allows for affordable housing in commercial zones, could be used to bring housing to Big Basin Way, but added that the Village doesn’t align with all the requirements of a qualifying commercial corridor.
“I can see that the pressure here is that you’ve got state compliance, you’ve got to get more housing and you’ve got to fit it into this little Village, and I suspect what we all feel here is that whilst that’s being interpreted as the biggest priority, we really think the biggest priority is, like, getting Saratoga to be vital again and restoring its commercial viability,” a woman named Breyoni said during the meeting.
City attorney Richard Taylor clarified that they would likely keep the ground floor for retail use because residential use is only permitted in a mixed-use building with a conditional use permit, which can’t be granted if there’s residential on the ground floor.
“No one is saying tonight that we’re going to allow housing,” Mayor Belal Aftab said toward the end of the meeting. “That is never what this was intended to be, but I recognize that this is confusing. But it is possible, and we have to be realistic about what we as a council can and cannot control, because oftentimes state laws take those decisions out of our hands.”
Other topics at the joint study session included what kinds of signs would be allowed in the Village, specifications for upper-story setbacks, standards for paseos and proposed standards for prohibited colors.
In general, commissioners agreed that they would like larger, graduated setbacks starting at the third floor for taller buildings to preserve the line of sight to the Santa Cruz Mountains. One planning commissioner also wanted signage for public use, like active signage for open parking spaces.
After another public meeting in December, the consultants are scheduled to bring a draft of the Village Design Standards amendments to the planning commission and city council in February.