Saratoga's Planning Commission will take up two housing projects on Wednesday, Oct. 14, that were filed under the state's builder's remedy, and city staff is recommending conditional approval of both. Together they would add 97 units, counting accessory dwelling units, on sites zoned for far fewer homes.
Pierce Road: 22 homes on under 2 acres
The newer of the two items is at 12991 Pierce Road, at the corner of Comer Drive. Extend Ventures LP wants to split the 1.83-acre lot, which backs onto Calabazas Creek and now holds four abandoned buildings, into 22 lots for market-rate houses of 3,674 to 4,543 square feet.
Six would include an attached ADU set aside for low-income households, which is how the project reaches the 20 percent affordability that the builder's remedy requires.
The staff report describes three-story homes along internal streets and five four-story split-level homes facing Comer Drive, with average heights of about 34 to 43 feet and some side setbacks of zero. The zoning there calls for 40,000-square-foot lots and a 26-foot height limit. Access would come from a new private street off Comer Drive, with no driveways on Pierce Road.
Each home gets a two-car garage, and no visitor parking is planned. Of 85 protected trees on the site, 73 would come down, mostly coast live oaks.
Written comments from neighbors raised density, fire truck access, water pressure for sprinklers, traffic and sight lines at Comer and Pierce, and the trees, the report says. YIMBY Law wrote in support, warning the city could face legal action if it does not approve the project.
Quito Road: 69 units next to Friendship Park
The second item, from Acme Development LLC at 14076 Quito Road, would place 55 three-story townhomes and condominiums in 12 buildings on a vacant 3.85-acre site between Quito Oaks Way and San Tomas Aquino Creek. Fourteen of the units would carry an attached affordable ADU. Staff recommends removing 67 of the site's 109 protected trees.