Residents rally to prevent ground-level housing in Saratoga Village

"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."

"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."

Saratoga held a joint study session with the planning and heritage preservation commissions to develop objective design standards for downtown. The city retained Lisa Wise Consulting, an urban planning and economics firm that focuses on walkable, transit-oriented communities. The work aims to transform the 2019 Village Design Guidelines into objective standards that support adding housing consistent with state law. SB330 and SB35 create state incentives and requirements to expedite housing permits and prioritize affordable housing. City development manager Cindy McCormick explained that ground-floor commercial requirements and the 35-foot maximum height could be overridden if a property owner invokes state law. Community members urged retention of commercial ground-floor use and protection of scenic lines of sight.

Read at The Mercury News