By Khalida Sarwari
Plans to build a two-story commercial building on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road to house medical offices and a daycare center have been shelved–at least for now. The Saratoga City Council agreed to take up the issue again in August.
The council’s reason for delaying a decision on the project was to spend more time reviewing and discussing such details as daycare use and the height and bulk of the building.
The council was considering a resolution to uphold or deny an appeal of the planning commission’s denial of the proposed project. After several hours of deliberation on June 19, they decided to reconvene for a study session on July 15 with members of the planning commission.
The site of the proposed project is at 12250 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road. At that site now are light industrial buildings and a 13,700-square-foot, single-story office that TimeSpace Invest Development wants to replace with a new 25,081-square-foot building that would include medical offices and instructional facilities.
TimeSpace had requested a variance to allow the building to exceed the 20-foot height limit by approximately 4 feet, as well as a tentative subdivision map to subdivide the new building into 12 commercial condominium units. The planning commission, however, denied the proposed project by a vote of 4-2 after determining that “there are no special circumstances applicable to the property,” according to a staff report. The commission also had concerns that the parking was insufficient for the planned use.
TimeSpace appealed the commission’s decision on May 30. The applicant’s requests were viewed favorably by the city staff, which recommended the planning commission approve the variance. In the report, staff found special circumstances could be applied to the property because the site is long and narrow, “which forces any new structure to be situated toward smaller street frontage.” They found that that is inconsistent with typical commercial developments that are able to build wider buildings that allow greater visibility to the public right-of-way.
“Even with the narrow building footprint, the applicant has modeled its building, in regards to setbacks, widths, lengths and heights with buildings on similar size lots within the commercial zoning district,” the staff report stated.
Structures on those properties have heights that range between 24 and 26 feet. There are also two-story residences in the area that have heights similar to the proposed project.
About a dozen people, including members of the Restore Saratoga group, addressed the council to voice their opposition to the project. They raised concerns about increased traffic, noise, loss of hillside views and parking challenges.
“This one that’s proposed is an ugly building that deserves to be moved to Cupertino,” said Larry West. “Saratoga is a beautiful place, a beautiful city, and we should keep it that way. I really urge you to turn this down.”
One person, Lee Sung, spoke in favor of the plan.
“I think there are many parents like me that will support this project,” he said.
Following the July 15 study session with the planning commission, the council will next revisit the issue at a regular council meeting on Aug. 21, which will include another public hearing.
