By Khalida Sarwari
It seems as if no two Saratogans have the same opinion about the city’s downtown area. Known as the Village, Saratoga’s city center inspires fondness in some and dissatisfaction in others. So this month, the city will begin a formal effort to gauge what residents think the Village should look like.
The city is conducting the outreach as part of a process to update its Village Plan, a city policy that regulates and guides development and land use within the downtown area. City officials say it is overdue for an update as it hasn’t been touched since its adoption in 1988. Thus, they’re embarking on a comprehensive review and update of the plan and are asking residents and stakeholders to step up and share their insights.
“The council is interested in what residents like and dislike about the Village, what they value most about the Village and what improvements they would like to see,” said Kirk Heinrichs, the project manager for the Village Plan update process.
The community outreach will take place over a three-month period, starting on Jan. 9 with a poll administered by Godbe Research. The professional polling firm is expected to contact 400 to 500 residents reflecting the demographic representation of Saratoga to find out their views about the Village.
That effort will be followed by the launch of an online survey on Jan. 19 to collect feedback from residents. The city will be working with Peak Democracy, a social media platform that specializes in online community polling and surveying, to form the survey.
The survey will be posted onsaratogavillageplan.org, a website where the community can also access information about the land use policies currently governing the development in the Village and access to links regarding the Village and its activities.
The community outreach will extend through March and include “pop-up” workshops on some Saturdays at the Saratoga Library and occasionally at the farmer’s market. These workshops will continue periodically through April. During this time, the city plans to also initiate a social media campaign through Facebook, Nextdoor and Twitter.
The outreach is expected to continue through May, at which point the results of the process will be presented to the council, Heinrichs said.
“The hope is to engage a broad spectrum of Saratoga residents on their views of the Village to provide the city council a base from which to begin reviewing and updating the Village Plan,” he said.
The city’s outreach efforts kicked off last November with a joint meeting of Saratoga’s planning and heritage preservation commissions. That meeting was attended by nearly 35 community members, some of whom offered suggestions that included putting in a grocery store, a teen-oriented retail shop or hangout spot, and a venue for a startup.
For more information, contact the city’s community development department at 408.868.1222 or email Kirk Heinrichs at kheinrichs@saratoga.ca.us.
