By Khalida Sarwari
Once a year, the Saratoga City Council and city staff meet to discuss goals and priorities in the coming year and this year was no different. Following a marathon council meeting two days prior, city officials met to discuss everything from speed limit enforcement to affordable housing during the city’s annual retreat.
Traffic calming measures will be a priority this year because a recent study found that speeds have increased on 31 of the 61 roadway segments compared to five years ago, prompting the council to consider potentially increasing the budget to the sheriff’s contract for increased enforcement.
City staff are in the process of working with the traffic safety commission, the traffic engineer and the sheriff to recommend an overall plan to address traffic safety and to reduce excessive speed on some streets and collisions on Saratoga Avenue, although final decisions won’t be made until the budget approval process later this year.
The community event grant program was another point of discussion at the Feb. 7 retreat. In December, the council agreed to allocate $20,000 from the general fund for the program and opened the application process soon after. Applications are due by March 4 and will be considered by the council at its March 19 meeting.
Community development director James Lindsay gave a presentation on annexation around Glen Una Drive, the housing element update and city code updates.
In October, the council approved a plan and timeline for the annexation of nearly 207 acres of land in an unincorporated area of Santa Clara County south of Glen Una Drive and now city officials are in the process of developing a service plan for the area. They’re also developing an estimate of the annual cost to maintain the public roads within the area.
Nearly 121 parcels are located within the annexation area, totaling around $192.7 million in assessed value. In the event of annexation, the city would receive about $100,000 annually in additional property tax revenue.
The city will need to complete the documents by March to start the review by the county surveyor and assessor, after which the council would then vote on whether to formally initiate the annexation. If initiated, property owners would be notified and the council would conduct a hearing to consider the annexation and schedule protest hearings if necessary.
Lindsay also gave a presentation on the housing element update, a document that contains policies and programs that encourage housing development for a variety of income levels. As part of the update, Saratoga planning officials must show how 439 units can be accommodated in their jurisdiction within the next eight years.
Public meetings will be held Feb. 25 and March 11 to solicit help from residents in identifying locations in the city that could be rezoned to accommodate the 439 affordable housing units. Both are at 7:15 p.m. and will be held at the Joan Pisani Community Center.
In his presentation of city codes, Lindsay identified three codes in particular that require updating: the procedure for classing vicious animals, which currently doesn’t allow for a progressive classification of dogs following a biting incident; the business regulations chapter, which contains outdated regulations and procedures; and the alarm permit process, which has been deemed inefficient.
Mary Furey, Saratoga’s finance and administrative services director, gave a presentation on the financial outlook for the city and discussed the five-year financial plan. Furey discussed also the available funding for the city’s capital project proposals and the council was given an opportunity to review and prioritize the proposals to determine which projects should be brought forward to the council budget study session for funding consideration in the next fiscal year budget. Some of the ones discussed at the retreat were street repair and resurfacing projects, roadway safety improvements, street landscape and beautification projects and park and trail projects.
The retreat wrapped up with a request from Councilman Chuck Page to prioritize policies that support water conservation.
Council, staff gather to discuss Saratoga’s goals for the coming year
