Marshall Lane townhome study finds evacuation delays it cannot fully fix; residents weigh in Thursday

A draft environmental study for a proposed 132-townhome project on Marshall Lane concludes it would worsen Saratoga's wildfire evacuation problems and its effect could not be brought below the level of significance, even with the extra preparedness steps the study requires. Residents can comment on the findings at an online meeting Thursday.

The city's virtual community meeting on the draft environmental impact report starts at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, on Zoom. Written comments are due by 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26, and a public hearing on the project itself is expected in spring 2027, according to the city's project page.

The project

The plan calls for three-story townhomes of about 1,275 to 2,268 square feet on roughly 9.84 acres at 18500 and 18520 Marshall Lane, with 298 parking spaces. Cars would enter from Marshall Lane, and an emergency-vehicle access would connect to Sobey Road. Ten units would be set aside for extremely low-income households.

The applicant is proceeding under the state's builder's remedy provision, which the report says makes the project consistent with the city's general plan and zoning under state law.

Two impacts that cannot be fully mitigated

Evacuation. The report leans on a wildfire evacuation study the consulting firm Fehr & Peers prepared for the city in May and presented to the council June 3. That study put Saratoga's baseline time to get 90% of evacuees out at 2 hours and 45 minutes on a summer night, and 5 hours for everyone, and it identified a bottleneck on Quito Road near the site.

With 725 pending subdivision units, this project among them, the study estimated the 90% time would grow by less than 15 minutes overall and by 15 minutes for residents, and the time to evacuate everyone by less than 15 minutes overall and by 30 minutes for residents. The draft report finds the Marshall Lane project would add to those delays.

To reduce its share, the developer would have to prepare a site evacuation plan approved by the Saratoga Fire Protection District and the Planning Commission before anyone moves in, post evacuation and alert information on site each year, give new residents information on signing up for the county's AlertSCC alerts and hold an annual practice evacuation.

The report concludes the effect would still be significant and unavoidable.

Driving. The study estimates residents would drive about 17.61 miles per person per day, against a county threshold of 11.33. Sidewalk and bike improvements would bring that to 15.49, still above the threshold, so the vehicle-miles impact also remains significant and unavoidable.

Impacts on air quality, biological and cultural resources, geology, greenhouse gases and tribal cultural resources can be reduced to less than significant with mitigation, according to the city.

Alternatives

The report compares three alternatives: no project; the nine-lot subdivision already approved for the site, with a single-family house and an ADU on each lot; and a 22-unit density bonus version. It names the nine-lot plan as the environmentally superior option other than doing nothing, while noting that it includes no extremely low-income units and would not help the city meet its state housing target.

Comments can be emailed to contract planner Kavitha Kumar at kkumar@m-group.us with the subject line "18500 and 18520 Marshall Lane Townhome Project." The draft and its appendices are posted on the city's website, and paper copies are available at the Community Development Department.

Sources

saratoga.ca.us

saratoga.ca.us