city of saratoga memorandum - amazon aws

CITY OF SARATOGA Memorandum

To: Mayor Walia & Members of the Saratoga City Council

From: Britt Avrit, MMC, City Clerk

Meeting Date: January 28, 2022

Subject: Written Communications, Item 1

Following publication of the agenda packet for the January 28, 2022 City Council Special Meeting, written communications were submitted. The communications are attached to this memo.

From: Tina WaliaTo: Prema Jayashankar; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; Britt AvritSubject: Re: Preserve Prospect Community CenterDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 8:39:10 AM

Hello Prema,

Thank you for your thoughts on the Housing Element Update. Your comments will be included in the

record. The Council will further study this issue in a Council Workshop on January 28, 2022, starting

at 9 am. You can access the meeting by using Zoom or calling in:

Webinar URL: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82033650673

Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833

You can also learn more about the City’s efforts to update the Housing Element and subscribe to the

Housing Element Newsletter to stay engaged on this topic on the City website at

www.saratoga.ca.us/housing

Regards,

Tina Walia

Mayor, City of Saratoga

From: Prema Jayashankar Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 8:32 AMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Cc: Prema Jayashankar Subject: Preserve Prospect Community Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when openingattachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Hi Saratoga Council members,

Preserve the Prospect Community Center. i read that Saratoga City Council has decided to add theProspect Community Center site on to the proposed list of sites for the Housing Element. This wasdone around midnight on Thursday, Jan 20th. It is not only outrageous that the site was added at thelast minute – it wasn’t on the postcard the City sent out last month. I see that it city is consideringselling one of the City’s assets without doing any due diligence on the possible implications of suchan action. Note that the Community Center is the only city owned asset on the Housing Element list.

I am Saratoga resident for 25 Pkus years. The sale of the Prospect Community site was put on theballot and 75% of the votes were for retaining the site for community needs and not allowing the siteto be sold to a developer. The original owner, a church, then sold the site to the City at a discountedrate in order to foster community within the City. The City Council seems to have no qualms ongoing back on their word to the Church.

Further, if the City is going to add another 1700 families (1700 units to be built in the City), how isthe Joan Pisani center going to accommodate the needs of this upcoming population explosion?

Please have this site removed from any further consideration for the Housing Element.

Thanks,-Prema

From: James LindsayTo: Britt Avrit; Crystal BothelioSubject: Fwd: Housing Element - Prospect CenterDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 7:10:33 PM

From: Emily Lo Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 7:06:26 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar<[email protected]>Cc: James Lindsay <[email protected]>; Debbie Pedro <[email protected]>Subject: Housing Element - Prospect Center

CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Dear Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmembers, I am writing to request that you remove Prospect Center from the opportunity sites in theupcoming Housing Element for the following reasons : 1). As you are aware, this property was sold by the Church to the City at a very nominal pricefor communal use. The idea of turning it into residential use was defeated by a 75-25 vote onthe ballot. Allowing affordable housing to take over this property is a breach of trust, and a violation ofprinciple. It also undermines the confidence from donors who are considering donating toother capital projects in the City. This risk is not worth taking. 2). This property is well-utilized by the community. Having been continuously participating in the City’s recreational programs in the last 15years, I can tell you how much these programs contributed to the well-being of residents. Prospect Center has hosted a number of classes, and was rented out for various functions, including religious, community, and private gatherings. One should not use the present situation to make a judgement on its usage. A number ofclasses were cancelled or switched to online format due to Covid. Big indoor gatherings werediscouraged due to Covid as well. I am confident that after the Covid situation subsides, and life returns to normalcy, there will be a huge demand on thefacility. As scarcities of these venues grow, residents have nowhere to turn to. Like park andopen space, it supports our well-being. Explaining the background to residents will help make them understand why this site has to be

removed from the Housing Element plan. Thank you . Regards,Emily Lo

From: [email protected]: Mary-Lynne Bernald; Yan Zhao; Rishi Kumar; Tina Walia; Kookie Fitzsimmons; James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal

BothelioSubject: Online Form Submittal: Council Comments FormDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 8:01:56 PM

CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachmentsor clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Council Comments Form

Your Name KEN CZWORNIAK

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Additional Housing Opportunity Sites

Comments I was shocked to see that the city is now considering buildingeven more housing in the Village. There is already too muchtraffic on Big Basin Way from the housing which exists in back ofthe store fronts along this two lane road.

I am also very unhappy about the idea of building housing on thesite of the Heritage Orchard .This is an area of beauty and quiet that must not be destroyed .

KEN CZWORNIAK

Email Subscription Subscribe

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BothelioSubject: Online Form Submittal: Council Comments FormDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 10:07:23 PM



Your Name Peg Towns

Phone Number Field not completed.

Email Address

Subject Multi story tenements on Blauer Drive

Comments The insanity that is being shown by the state regulations isunbelievable, and it is against all the liberties that we have ascitizens. The latest insane plot is to put many storied tenementtype dwellings on Blauer Drive, behind my home, and others whohave lived here for years. What is the next insane thing you aregoing to do?




BothelioSubject: Online Form Submittal: Council Comments FormDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:06:21 AM



Your Name Minghao Cui

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Do not add high density housing to Montalvo Art Center

Comments Dear city council members, city manager, and planningdepartment

My name is Minghao Cui, and our family is residents of Saratoga.We just learned that one of the council members has proposedthat Montalvo Art Center be added to the new housing sites forconsideration of low-income high-density housing. We strongly oppose this proposal. First and foremost, theMontalvo Art Center area is in a very high fire hazard severityzone and earthquake fault zone, which makes it unsafe forbuilding high-density housing. Second, the roads leading into andout of the art center are very narrow and most of them are one-way only. Without the additional budget for the infrastructureinvestment, this would add to the traffic congestion severity in theneighborhood. We’ve already seen congestions, especiallyduring shows and performance events. This would only make itworse. The last and the most important, Montalvo Art Center isone of the icons of our Saratoga city history with well-designedartisan buildings and a beautiful park. The art center is ahistorical treasure we need to protect and preserve. It will not bethe same Montalvo Art Center we knew anymore if we add low-income, high-density housing into it. We urge the city councils, NOT to approve any high-density unitsto the Montalvo Art Center.

Thanks for your time!




BothelioSubject: Online Form Submittal: Council Comments FormDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:29:36 AM



Your Name Liqi Zou

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Please do not add high density housing to Montalvo Art Center

Comments Dear city council members,

I don't like the idea of adding Montalvo Art Center to the newhousing sites for consideration of low-income high-densityhousing. The art center is a historical landmark with a beautifulpark, hiking trails, history-telling mansion Villa Montalvo. Addinglow-income high density housing would change its culture andhistory. In addition, this area is in a very high fire hazard severityzone. It is likely in an earthquake fault zone. This land is notsuitable for high-density residences at all.

I urge the city councils NOT to support any high-density units tothe Montalvo Art Center.

Thanks




BothelioSubject: Online Form Submittal: Council Comments FormDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 2:04:43 PM



Your Name Chin-Chai Low

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Argonaut Shopping Center in Housing Element

Comments This shopping center is owned by a public REIT called Regency.They are not in the business of developing housing. Safeway andCVS leases are typically 10-20 years long. Putting this site on theplan is unrealistic and will not be approved by the state.







Your Name Housing Element - Blauer Drive

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Please do not consider super small parcels and also remove theonly shopping center

Comments Dear council members,

I know you have a difficult job in front of you with the housingelement but we ask you pls not consider very small parcels likethe one on the Blauer drive because it is impossible to designhigh density housing in such a small parcel without significantlyharming the nature of the neighbourhood. Parking will also be anissue, not enough space.

Also, I am doubtful that considering Argonaut shopping center,which is the only grocery store in Saratoga, makes sense. Ifremoved, all people in Saratoga will need to go to Cupertino orWest San Jose for groceries and medicine needs, makinggateway traffic probably 10X worse.

Please be reasonable. Thanks.







Your Name Christina Pratt

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Prospect North Campus

Comments I am writing to express my explicit opposition to developing thedevelopment of the North Campus on Prospect Ave. for low-income housing. We have very little community space as it is andthe North Campus was purchased explicitly for civic use. Further,the number of housing units required would make thedevelopment multiple stories high and impact the housing rightbehind the proposed space. The Housing Element has alreadyplaced a significant burden on the community members withWestGate West Development, El Paseo, Cox and Sratoga-Sunnyvale Rd. development. The proposed unit would createeven more traffic, with Lynbrook, Prospect HS, Miller, Blue Hills,and Christa McAuliffe nearby. It's time to look at spaces locatedin other parts of Saratoga that have yet to be impacted.







Your Name Baris Posat

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject New areas added to the housing proposal does not make sense

Comments Dear city council members,

New housing element areas on considered on Blauer drive andArgonaut shopping center makes little sense:The parcel on blauer is tiny, how will you build multi story buildingthere without significantly impacting the neighbourhood, and willit even move the needle? Argonaut shopping center is the onlypharmacy and grocery store. Won't removing it make everyonego out of Saratoga for grocery shopping. The whole city will leavethe city for groceries. Can you imagine the traffic impact of this?Please be reasonable.Kind regards







Your Name Diane Jew

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Villa Montalvo

Comments I am against having Villa Montalvo as a location for high density,low income housing. Villa Montalvo is The Jewel of the SouthBay. Please do not take away from this beautiful sanctuary. Is itpossible to create the high density housing in the outer Saratogasites that are not in Saratoga School District?







Your Name P Cowles

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Housing Element

Comments These are really questions that I am hoping will be answeredwithin the context of the Friday meeting. 1. I "heard" that it was decided by the Council to have the highdensity, Low and Very Low income houses along the outskirts ofthe city, namely Prospect Center, Azule area. Is that correct? Iagree it could possibly make sense to keep additional traffic ofhigh density housing along the edges, but it brings anervousness of more crime and noise, as well as lowerdesirability and therefore lower home prices to those along orclose to the border. Additionally, for high density along Azulearea, Cupertino schools will be impacted, not Saratoga schools.Why, if it is correct was that decision made? Was there lobbyingdone by wealthier residents deeper in the city zone protestinghigh density in their areas?2. Please outline if it is feasible to limit the Low and Very Lowincome to senior housing, police/fire, and teachers? If not, whatare the "qualifications" for receiving a low/very low incomehouse/apt, etc? Who reviews and decides?3. Will Prospect Center be used for housing, instead of thecurrent use, when it was sold to us by the former church only forpurposes of being a community center? They could have madelots of money selling it for houses at the time.4. Based on neighborhood apps, like Ring and Next Door, thereis a plethora of thefts and break-ins all around the periphery ofSaratoga. What steps would be taken to assure those of us alongor close to the borders that very low income housing won't bringmore crime and if so, do we have resources to combat it? 5. I heard mention of suing the state over this. Are other closecities, equally having a hard time meeting this "requirement",considering the same thing? Is it possible? What would it take?6. Why is the proposed retirement project along the creek now

being changed to low income housing?



From: liqi zouTo: Tina Walia; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan Zhao; Britt Avrit; James Lindsay;

Planning; Debbie PedroSubject: please do not add high density housing to Montalvo Art CenterDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:27:40 AM


Dear city council members,

My name is Liqi and a resident of Saratoga.

I don't like the idea of adding Montalvo Art Center to the new housing sites for consideration of low-income high-density housing. The art center is a historical landmark with a beautiful park, hikingtrails, history-telling mansion Villa Montalvo. Adding low-income high density housing would changeits culture and history. In addition, this area is in a very high fire hazard severity zone. It is likely in anearthquake fault zone. This land is not suitable for high-density residences at all.

I urge the city councils NOT to support any high-density units to the Montalvo Art Center.

Thanks!

Liqi

From: Tina WaliaTo: Joanne C; Yan Zhao; Rishi Kumar; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Kookie FitzsimmonsCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Affordable Housing Sites in SaratogaDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 5:05:18 PM

Hello Joanne,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Joanne C Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 12:25 PMTo: Yan Zhao <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald<[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Tina Walia<[email protected]>Subject: Affordable Housing Sites in Saratoga CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Saratoga City Council Members, I have been a resident of the northern part of Saratoga since 1978. Againand again I feel like a second class Saratoga resident because facilitiesSaratogans like are placed south of Cox Avenue and things less desirableare dumped in the north part of the city. For example, Saratoga decided there was a need for more soccer fields“close by” and destroyed orchard remnants in Kevin Moran park to build

them. Wouldn’t these fields be a lot closer and convenient for moreSaratoga residents if they had been built using a small part of the orchardnear the Saratoga library? The Saratoga Council now needs to decide where to place affordablehousing within the city. I don’t object to the concept of affordable housingshared in communities throughout the state. But I think it should beshared throughout the city of Saratoga as well. It is particularly egregious to place this housing in the Prospect Center.When this property was purchased, 75% of Saratoga voters voted to havethe City of Saratoga retain it as a community center instead of havingsingle family homes built on it. The Church sold it to the City at a discountsince it was going to be used for the community. Selling it now todevelopers to build housing goes against the wishes of the majority of thevoters and violated the commitment the City made to the original owner.The Prospect Center is our only hope for any Saratoga services in thenorth part of the city; everything else is several miles south of us. As anaging resident of Saratoga, I was looking forward to seeing some senioractivities closer to my home. I urge the City Council to consider other options than the Prospect Centerfor affordable housing and to place this housing throughout the city ofSaratoga. Options south of Cox Avenue that I strongly prefer include: 1.Making Argonaut Shopping Center a mixed-use center site. 2. Adding aportion of the orchard by the library as another site. Retain a remnant as aHeritage Orchard. 3. Move the Saratoga City office to Prospect Center anduse the current Saratoga City office space for a multi-storied building. Sincerely, Joanne Cornbleet

Saratoga CA 95070

cc:[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]

From: Vigen SalmastlianTo: Britt AvritCc: DL - Council; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; Rishi KumarSubject: Re: Allendale/Chester RezoningDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 8:47:21 AM

CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially fromunknown senders.

Hi Britt,

I would like to propose another idea for the housing project, which I do not think has been considered. I think the city should propose that WestValley College can build dorms on campus. There is a lot of space to build there, it would significantly reduce traffic since students could live oncampus, and a section of the dorms could be reserved for low income like teachers from neighboring areas. Considering that dorms have small squarefootage, that would actually be low income housing and rental cost would stay low, even with the continuously rising prices of large homes in the areaon a per square foot basis. Building 1400+ sq ft condos or 3000+ sq ft homes is not a solution for low income housing. These condos would sell for$2M in today’s market and homes would be $3-4M.

West valley alone could probably meet the entirety of the 1700 unit quota.

Vigen

> On Jan 20, 2022, at 6:21 PM, Britt Avrit <bavrit@saratoga ca.us> wrote:>> Dear Vigen,>> Thank you for your message on the Housing Element Update. The City Council has received your message and your comments will be included aspart of the record for tonight’s City Council Meeting at 7:00 p.m. at which the City Council will further consider the Housing Element. >> The Council will further study this issue tonight, January 20, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. You can access the meeting by using Zoom or calling in: > • Webinar URL: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87501169173> • Webinar ID: 875 0116 9173> • Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833> You can learn more about the Housing Element and subscribe to the Housing Element Newsletter to receive updates on the City website athttps://linkprotect cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2f%2f%2fwww.saratoga ca.us%2fhousing&c=E,1,ySyX0TREVaQpV4x75HYO9jkTapbrfMu1Q5HpIUa85zcUEjKeZGQFyKDjX5T-eTiPxs0_b-fO99xGVVBNurIK8bqyZz9unqwWnwnnOp3JOg,,&typo=1 >> Sincerely, >> Britt Avrit, MMC | City Clerk> City of Saratoga | City Manager’s Office> 13777 Fruitvale Avenue | Saratoga, CA 95070> 408.868.1294 | bavrit@saratoga ca.us> Tell us how we did! Complete the City of Saratoga Customer Service Survey>> -----Original Message-----> From: Vigen Salmastlian > Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2022 5:53 PM> To: Britt Avrit <[email protected]>> Subject: Allendale/Chester Rezoning>> CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially fromunknown senders.>> Hello,>> I am writing in response to the proposal to rezone the Allendale/Chester lot from an agricultural lot to a potential r1-20 zone for 24 houses (andpotentially up to 96 duplexes).>> I am a resident in this area at l and was disturbed to hear that this potential rezoning proposal is being considered for this area. The reason my family and many others have moved to this area is because of the unique lifestyle it offers—a wooded, quiet community with large40,000+ acre lots, no traffic, and consistency in the layout of the neighborhoods. We are strongly against the idea of allowing a rezoning that isinconsistent with the zoning in the surrounding areas. While the vineyard lot is land that we understand could be developed for more homes, allowingr1-20 or even smaller lots sets a dangerous precedent for this area. Not only will it change the entire feel of the neighborhood, add traffic, noise frommany residents crammed in a small area, and potentially impact school enrollment numbers, what will prevent others from subdividing r1-40,000 lotsto build multiple homes in the future? A precedent allowing inconsistent zoning will destroy this community.>> It is also surprising to hear that the purported impetus for this rezoning is to build “affordable housing.” Homes in this are are now consistentlyselling in the $4-5 million range. Even if 96 two-story duplexes were built on the Allendale vineyard lot in the most aggressive scenario, each of thosehomes would sell for over $3 million—the opposite of “affordable housing.” >

> To the extent a rezoning proposal is considered for this Allendale lot, it should be strictly limited to the zoning of surrounding lots—in this case r1-40,000. >> Vigen Salmastlian> > Saratoga, CA 95070

From: Tina WaliaTo: Cecilia Andris; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; [email protected]; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Community CenterDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 4:57:19 PM

Hello Cecilia and Robert,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Cecilia AndrisSent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 3:50 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; YanZhao <[email protected]>Subject: Community Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.sJanuary 25, 2022

Dear City Council Members,

We voted you into office to do the will of the people not to make city coffers richer. 75% of the citizens voted to keep thecommunity center and not make it a space for homes. Why are you going against our wills? It is not the only piece of propertyin Saratoga where the low income housing could be built.Personally, I think the open space behind the Library is perfect. I know it is an orchard but for what purpose; now is theperfect time to put it to good use!

We have lived in our home since 1966. It was a wonderful place to raise children. When they were young we had themenrolled in a swimming program at Saratoga High School at one of there classes I heard two mothers talking about PridesCrossing Estates. One of the ladies didn’t know where it was, the other one said it is in Saratoga but on the wrong side of thetracks. I never forgot those words and it seems that way. Why don’t you move your offices into the community center? It is inmuch better condition than where you are now. Maybe it isn’t considered because it is on THE WRONG SIDE OF TRACKSand probably not near where any of you live.

You are already putting low income housing at Cox making Saratoga Ave a parking lot in the afternoons with all the trafficthat project will produce; and now you want to do the same thing with Prospect Ave. We beg you to think long and hard aboutwhat you want to do.

As I am writing this it has just dawn on me, how about taking out one of the parks in Saratoga? I think there is one behind thestores in the Village.

Please be a government for the people and keep your word not like the state or federal government.

Sincerely,

Robert & Cecilia Andris

Saratoga, Ca 95070

From: Tina WaliaTo: Anoop Kumar; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Yan Zhao; Rishi KumarCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Concerns about Prospect Center being proposed for high density housingDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 11:48:30 AM

Hello Anoop,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Anoop Kumar Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 11:39 AMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar<[email protected]>Subject: Concerns about Prospect Center being proposed for high density housing CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders. Hello Saratoga City Council members, First off, thanks to all of you for your hard work during this time. I came to know that one Council member (was it Council member Kookie or Council member Zhao?)proposed Prospect Center as one of the sites for the high density multi-storied building. I AMLITERALLY SHOCKED. I wonder if the Council member did any homework before proposing this or

did she just pull this site name out of thin air. I wonder how would this Council member feel if shewas sharing a fence with a multi-storied building next to her home and residents from that buildingpeek into her front and back yard all the time. Some points for the Saratoga Council members to consider:

1. This Center was on the ballot and 75% of Saratoga voters had VOTED to retain it as aCommunity Center. Building a high density housing on this property would be AGAINST THEWILL OF THE SARATOGA VOTERS and a violation of the commitment the city made to theoriginal owner of this property (which was a church).

2. Why are most of the sites that are currently under consideration on the outskirts of Saratogaand SOUTH OF COX (more than 70% of them) – this is HIGHLY INEQUITABLE ?. I wonder if theCouncil members have vested interests and are trying to avoid sites near their own homes(was there a disclosure on this by all Council members?). It’s not hard to find that out and ifneeded we will find it out.

3. There is no other proposed site on the list that is as close to the residential neighborhood asthis is. It is nestled right in the middle of so many homes and actually SHARES a fence withmultiple homes. Having a multi storied building on this property would be a total violation ofthe privacy for all these homes.

4. In addition, this is the only place that serves south Saratoga for any activities - everything elseis miles away.

5. I hear that we don’t want to pick the site of City Hall as moving City Hall would be costly –would it really be more costly than ruining the privacy of SO MANY HOMES FOREVER –really?

I WOULD STRONGLY URGE YOU ALL TO PLEASE TAKE THIS PROPERTY OFF THE LIST OF SITES THATARE BEING CONSIDERED FOR THIS PROJECT. We should pick sites that would not impact anyresident – it should be as simple. Saratoga Council should look at other options:

1. Redesigning and Revitalizing the Village2. Use Village East – find out about the tenant leases and if it needs additional analysis,

let’s do the analysis to find the feasibility. At least it won’t hurt any resident.3. If there are sites (>10 acres) like Saratoga County Club which need additional analysis,

let’s do the analysis to find the feasibility. At least it won’t hurt any resident.4. Make Argonaut Shopping Center a mixed-use center site.5. Use the Heritage orchard. At least it won’t hurt any resident.6. Move the City Hall to Prospect Center and use the current Saratoga City office space

for a multi-storied building. Last but not the least, it is a historic moment for Saratoga. Council members can choose to be fairand do due diligence in executing this project and be remembered forever for the great job they didor just have the short sightedness to have their way and go down in history as a body thatcompletely botched this important project. What we need to keep in mind is that the Councilmember positions are not life long positions and if the Saratoga residents are hurt, Saratogavoters don’t/won’t forget. Elections are coming up and we would mobilize and make sure we

vote for Council members who listen to the residents and care about them!. Thank you for listening. AnoopSaraglen Ct resident.

From: Tina WaliaTo: Sandi Eovino; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: General Plan UpdateDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 11:13:45 AM

Hello Sandi,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Sandi Eovino Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:56 AMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Subject: General Plan Update CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when openingattachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Dear Council Members,

I have been watching the development of of updating the general plan to add 1700 housing units. Irequest the Council work on solutions that do not have such a drastic density increase is such a smallportion of Saratoga north of Highway 85. This additional housing, coupled with the development ofEl Paseo and Westgate shopping centers (today we found out a Whole Foods will be in El Pasoe),will cause severe environmental impacts due to traffic congestion including on Prospect Road. It willalso indelibly change the character of this portion of Saratoga to a high density urban area requiringadditional city services including police protection. When Saratoga acquired the Prospect Center a

commitment was made to the sellers not to sell that property for development but retain as acommunity center This was done via a ballot measure overwhelmingly approve by the citizens ofSaratoga. The city council should honor that commitment made by the citizens of Saratoga.

Additional adoptions to consider:1. Redesign Saratoga village into a vibrant downtown with mixed use properties including housing.2. Use a some or all of the Heritage Orchard for housing. While it is a nice tribute to our history, itdoes not need to be so large.3. Argonaut Center should definitely be designated as a mixed use center.4. Include housing or mixed use property in the Saratoga City Center next to the Heritage Orchard.

Regards,Sandi EovinoSaraglen Drive

From: Tina WaliaTo: Emily Lo; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Yan Zhao; Rishi KumarCc: James Lindsay; Debbie Pedro; Britt Avrit; Crystal BothelioSubject: Re: Housing Element - Prospect CenterDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 11:18:51 PM

Hello Emily,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Emily Lo Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 7:09 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar<[email protected]>Cc: James Lindsay <[email protected]>; Debbie Pedro <[email protected]>Subject: RE: Housing Element - Prospect Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.By the way, I forgot to mention that Prospect Center is used as a Sheriff substation as well.

From: Emily Lo Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 7:06 PMTo: [email protected]; Kookie Fitzsimmons (city) ([email protected])<[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald ([email protected])<[email protected]>; 'Yan Zhao' <[email protected]>; '[email protected]'

<[email protected]>Cc: James Lindsay ([email protected]) <[email protected]>; Debbie Pedro<[email protected]>Subject: Housing Element - Prospect Center Dear Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmembers, I am writing to request that you remove Prospect Center from the opportunity sites in theupcoming Housing Element for the following reasons : 1). As you are aware, this property was sold by the Church to the City at a very nominal pricefor communal use. The idea of turning it into residential use was defeated by a 75-25 vote onthe ballot. Allowing affordable housing to take over this property is a breach of trust, and a violation ofprinciple. It also undermines the confidence from donors who are considering donating toother capital projects in the City. This risk is not worth taking. 2). This property is well-utilized by the community. Having been continuously participating in the City’s recreational programs in the last 15years, I can tell you how much these programs contributed to the well-being of residents. Prospect Center has hosted a number of classes, and was rented out for various functions, including religious, community, and private gatherings. One should not use the present situation to make a judgement on its usage. A number ofclasses were cancelled or switched to online format due to Covid. Big indoor gatherings werediscouraged due to Covid as well. I am confident that after the Covid situation subsides, and life returns to normalcy, there will be a huge demand on thefacility. As scarcities of these venues grow, residents have nowhere to turn to. Like park andopen space, it supports our well-being. Explaining the background to residents will help make them understand why this site has to beremoved from the Housing Element plan. Thank you . Regards,Emily Lo

From: Tina WaliaTo: Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan Zhao; Cc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Housing elements suggestion for Friday"s meetingDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 11:15:40 PM

Hello Marc ,





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Tina Walia


From: Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 8:50 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Subject: Housing elements suggestion for Friday's meeting CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Saratoga City Council, As you prepare for Friday’s meeting about the housing elements, I would like tosuggest you start from a point that builds on equity, instead of trying to touch up thecurrent plan by adding a few sites.One approach would be to divide up the required units proportionally across all schooldistricts as a starting point. This doesn’t ensure equity within each school district (thatis something you have to ensure in a second step), but it guarantees equity acrossthe school districts, something that is sorely lacking in the current proposal.I would also recommend:

· Keep in mind that the Saratoga/Prospect/Lawrence triangle is already seeing aminimum of 994 units (El Paseo), and that is just phase one of the project. Also, aCostco is supposed to be built at that same location. Therefore, do not make plan in abstracto and consider that this location is alreadyheavily loaded (I don’t know of any location that can absorb ~1400 new units!!)· Preserve orchards and parks as much as possible Thank you for your efforts: I am encouraged to see the drive within the council toseriously look at rebalancing the load.Regards,Marc

From: Tina WaliaTo: Jeff Wang; [email protected]; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Low income housing at prospect centerDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 4:01:28 PM

Hello Jeff,





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Tina Walia


From: Jeff Wang Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 3:59 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Subject: Low income housing at prospect center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.This is to express our deep concern on putting low income housing at Prospect Center. The Prospect Center is the only community center in the city other than the Joan Pisani center.There are more than 70% of the proposed units are already slated to go north of Cox. AddingProspect Center would make it more inequitable. Please consider other housing options such as in Saratoga Village, Argonaut Shipping center, adding

the orchard by the library as another site.Also, moving the Saratoga City office to Prospect center and use the current Saratoga City officespace for multi-storied building, is another great alternative. Thank you for your consideration.

City Council of Saratoga Councils,

I am a Saratoga citizen for more than 25 years. My resident's address is on . Saratoga. I see the city has been a beautiful and safe

environment for our home. We appreciate the community’s work for keeping the environment so well; in addition, the whole community and residents effort to work together to make Saratoga city to keep it’s value and tradition way of the town that our residences are proud of.

The community center on Prospect road is one of the important parts of our community living circle. We have many seniors and families who need to have this type of center for gathering purposes.

We heard that the city has a plan to reconstruct the center to make it to be a new development project for the low income group. We think it’s an inequitable decision to our community. The original owner (the church group ) had sold to city tthe o be used for communmity purpose. However, the city sold to the developers to build more houses is against the wishes of the original owners and the voters in Saratoga residence.

We really want to voice this out to keep this community center for its original purpose. City can have other parts of Saratoga areas to adapt the expansion planning. The following are few options.

1. Redesigning and revitalizing the Saratoga Village.

2. Making Argonaut Shopping center a mixed-use center site.

3. Adding the orchard by the library as another site.

4. Use the current Saratoga City office space for a multi-storied building and maybe possible to move the current City location to Prospect Community center location

Please consider the above alternate options and keep the community center for Saragoga residence.

Sincerely,

Emily Fan

From: Tina WaliaTo: Chi Mei Wang; Kookie Fitzsimmons; [email protected]; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; James LindsaySubject: Re: Low Income Housing Proposed at Prospect Center with 120 units with 3 story buildingDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 11:17:53 PM

Hello Chi-Mei,





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Tina Walia


From: Chi Mei Wang Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 7:15 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>;[email protected] <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>;Yan Zhao <[email protected]>Subject: Low Income Housing Proposed at Prospect Center with 120 units with 3 story building CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Saratoga council men and women,

Prospect Center is 100% nested with vast residential community. Adding 120 units low income housingin the middle of this vast residential community is just not a proper idea. It will increase a lot of crime, traffic(which isalready very bad), and air quality. Especially these days we are all threatened by wild fire every year, how can we evacuatesuch a huge community. There are a lot of children live in this area, adding 120 units low income housing will hurt thelife of the children.

As a parent, we want our kids to live as safe, healthy - mental, emotional and physical as possible.I believe you guys are all parents too, you want your kids to have a good quality of life. Please treat otherpeople's children as much as your own children.

More than 70% of the proposed units are already slated to go north of Cox. Adding 120 units herewould be just inequitable. You should locate it in a more isolate and less residential area.

Best Regards

Chi-Mei Wang

Saratoga, Ca 95070

From: Tina WaliaTo: rramsdell; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Low Income housing Proposed at Prospect CenterDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 5:26:15 PM

Hello Carol and RIchard,





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Tina Walia


From: rramsdell Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 11:41 AMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Subject: Low Income housing Proposed at Prospect Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Councilpersons:

I am writing this to let you know we are extremely opposed to the proposed low income housing at theProspect Center. The center was purchased originally by the city at a discount from a church to be usedas a community center. This is the only community center in Saratoga besides the Joan Pisani Center. Selling it now to developers is in direct opposition to the majority of the voters in the city and thecommitment made originally to the previous owner. The city needs to retain and upgrade this facility as acommunity center.

There are several better locations to consider for the proposed housing project. Consider the following:

1. Move the Saratoga City offices to Prospect Center and use the current Saratoga City office spacefor multi-storied buildings.

2. Use the orchard by the library as the building site.

3. Use the Argonaut Shopping Center as a mixed use center site.

4. Use the Gene's Quito Market shopping center for the needed development site.

Thank you for your consideration,

Richard and Carol Ramsdell,residents of the City of Saratoga

From: Tina WaliaTo: Selina Mak AuCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Low Income Housing Proposed at Prospect CenterDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 3:16:45 PM

Hello Selina,





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Tina Walia


From: Selina Mak Au Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 2:05 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>Subject: Low Income Housing Proposed at Prospect Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Ms. Walia,

I am writing to express my opinions on the choice of location of proposed low-income housing.I believe it is NOT a good idea to build low-income housing at the Prospect Center. Reasons as follows:

1. Building multi-story building story will negatively impact the original city planning and aesthetics of thisneighborhood of the city, which is low density and mostly single-story structures. Prospect Road is one ofthe boundaries of the city and a multi-story building which does not fit into the neighborhood will destroythe image/"look" of the city.A good alternative solution is to re-zone existing Argonaut Plaza to multi-purpose use and build new unitsthere. Incorporating multi-story residential units to existing commercial zone comes a much more naturaltransition.

2. Building the low-income housing at Prospect Center location will NOT serve well to future residentsthere from access to shops point of view. Some low income families might rely on biking or walking toaccess supermarkets and other daily life shops. Prospect Center location is far to these shops. Again,turning existing Argonaut Plaza into mixed commercial/residential use will be more desirable for the futurelow-income housing residents.

3. When we Saratoga vote on the center sold to the City of Saratoga, 75% of Saratoga voters to have thecity retain it at a community center and. The original owner (the church) sold to the city at a discountsince it was going to be used for community. If it is now sold to developer for housing development, itgoes against the wishes of the majority of the voters and the commitment the City made to the originalowner.The Prospect Center is the only community center in the City other than the Joan Pisani center. Addingnew 1700 new families ini the City with no backyard to hold event. The need for this community center iseven more critical.

I strongly urge the City Council to remove the proposal to build the low-income housing at the ProspectCenter.

Thanks.

SelinaSaratoga resident

From: Tina WaliaTo: Jim SteinbrunerCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Low Income HousingDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 3:14:08 PM

Hello Jim and Sandy,





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Tina Walia


From: Jim Steinbruner Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 2:36 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald <[email protected]>Subject: Low Income Housing CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.To the Saratoga City Council members:

The proposal to build low income housing at Prospect Center doe not have the approvalofresidents that live in the surrounding area. 75% of Saratoga voters voted to keep the siteas a community center which is an example of how democracy works. To force this projecton voters who clearly do not want it is an attack our local democracy.

Finally why are 70% of the proposed low income housing are North of Cox avenue? This isvery inequitable. The housing must be equally applied to all of the City of Saratoga.

Jim and Sandy Steinbruner

From: Tina WaliaTo: Rashmi Kumar; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Multi-story Housing proposal at Prospect CenterDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 11:16:19 PM

Hello Rashmi,





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Tina Walia


From: Rashmi Kumar Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 8:34 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Subject: Multi-story Housing proposal at Prospect Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when openingattachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Hello City Council Members,

I live near Prospect Center, sharing a fence with the center.We were completely shocked to learn that in spite of bringing this up multiple times in City councilmeetings, Prospect Center is added to the proposed location. In fact, this news has shaken up ourentire neighborhood. Really !!!

Do the city council members know the exact location of this place and its vicinity?

Are they aware that this location is sharing fence with many houses in the neighborhood?

Do they know that this is one location completely nestled inside a residential location?

While traffic issues are a big concern to us as well, its much worse than that.

We will not be able to open our windows and sit in our backyard without being peeked at from amulti-story building right in our backyard.

Complete violation of our privacy!!!When we renovated our second story, we had to take permission from all neighbors within 500 ftradius of our house for approval on the renovation. And here we are talking about building a multi-story building without considering any of the people living around!!!

Besides, you have already added more than 70% proposed units in the North of Cox, which isalready INEQUITABLE. Adding Prospect Center would make it even more inequitable.Why is it that we don't want any construction on the south of Cox?

What about looking at these locations which are already commercial or non-residential -

1. Saratoga Village: which can house all required 1700 units and drastically could use somemodernizations like other cities downtown2, Argonaut Shopping Center3. Orchard by the library as another site.4. Move the Saratoga City office to Prospect Center and use the current Saratoga City office spacefor multi-storied building.

I hope you will be reading my email. I spoke at the City council meeting last week. But don’t think Iwas heard :-(

-Rashmi

From: Tina WaliaTo: Prema Jayashankar; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; Britt AvritSubject: Re: Preserve Prospect Community CenterDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 8:39:10 AM

Hello Prema,





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Tina Walia


From: Prema Jayashankar Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 8:32 AMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Cc: Prema Jayashankar Subject: Preserve Prospect Community Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when openingattachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Hi Saratoga Council members,

Preserve the Prospect Community Center. i read that Saratoga City Council has decided to add theProspect Community Center site on to the proposed list of sites for the Housing Element. This wasdone around midnight on Thursday, Jan 20th. It is not only outrageous that the site was added at thelast minute – it wasn’t on the postcard the City sent out last month. I see that it city is consideringselling one of the City’s assets without doing any due diligence on the possible implications of suchan action. Note that the Community Center is the only city owned asset on the Housing Element list.

I am Saratoga resident for 25 Pkus years. The sale of the Prospect Community site was put on theballot and 75% of the votes were for retaining the site for community needs and not allowing the siteto be sold to a developer. The original owner, a church, then sold the site to the City at a discountedrate in order to foster community within the City. The City Council seems to have no qualms ongoing back on their word to the Church.

Further, if the City is going to add another 1700 families (1700 units to be built in the City), how isthe Joan Pisani center going to accommodate the needs of this upcoming population explosion?

Please have this site removed from any further consideration for the Housing Element.

Thanks,-Prema

From: Tina WaliaTo: Harry Cornbleet; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Proposal for low income housing at Prospect CenterDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 5:03:04 PM

Hello Harry,





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Tina Walia


From: Harry CornbleetSent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 2:28 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Subject: Proposal for low income housing at Prospect Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear City Council Members,I am a senior citizen living on Saraglen Drive near Prospect Center. I am writing to urge youto vote against the proposal to use Prospect Center as a site to build low income housing.

To be clear, I do not object to building low income housing in Saratoga, nor do I object to lowincome housing built near me. But what does disturb me is that the Prospect Center was soldby a church to the City of Saratoga with the expectation that the property would be used forcommunity services. As I recall, 75% of Saratoga voters also voted to have that propertyretained as a community center instead of used for single family homes. For the City of

Saratoga to now sell the property to developers to build housing on the site would be abetrayal of commitments made by the City as well as contrary to the will of the voters.

The Prospect Center is the only site for community services in the northern part of Saratoga. Ihad hoped that community services at that site would be expanded rather than converted to asite for housing. I urge you to preserve Prospect Center for community services, and toconsider alternative sites for the low income housing project.

Thank you,

Harry Cornbleet

Saratoga 95070

.

From: Tina WaliaTo: ying d; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Rishi Kumar; Yan Zhao; Mary-Lynne BernaldCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Prospect Center - High density housingDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 5:11:17 PM

Hello Ying,





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Tina Walia


From: ying d Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 5:06 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>;[email protected] <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; YanZhao <[email protected]>Subject: Prospect Center - High density housing CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Mayor Walia,

I am very much concerned about the current high density planning direction led by the city council.The opportunity site selection process lacks transparency and measurable criteria, in particulartowards the Prospect Center. Hence, please remove the Prospect Center for the following reasons:

1. Prospect Center is 100% nested into the resident area, adding the high density housingdoesn’t brand into the neighborhood at all. Setting such precedent would open the legalchannel for anyone picking any small residential park or even a resident lot to be

converted into high density housing. The convenience of as city property is not thereason for the consideration

2. The Prospect Center is the only community center that is fully dedicated for thecommunity use. Please keep it.

3. Prospect road residents already share the loads and impacts from Gateway andProspect/Lawrence for the allocation of over 800 units. More equitable distributionthroughout the city is needed.

City council needs to publish a process and criteria for why the following sites are not beingconsidered, which are reasonable as opportunities and provide more equal distributions

1. Argonaut center with small scale mixed use, including Bagel shop, which would providethe priority to the employees who work in these shops, such as Safeway. This will be awin-win solution for the residents and service industry staffs.

2. Move the city hall to Prospect/Lawrence site, and use the current city hall space formulti-story building. Again this will benefit the West Valley staffs and students. Anotherwin-win situation.

3. Scale down version of Orchard and pumpkin patch plan. 4. Downtown re-design or other vacant lots

In summary, remove the Prospect Center which is 100% nested in the residential area, publish theclear criteria, remove the conflict of interests, and address the inequitable high-density housingdistribution throughout the city.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Ying Ding

23 years of Saratoga resident.

From: Tina WaliaTo: Raymond Tum; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Prospect Center (North Campus) - Low Income HousingDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 3:08:54 PM

Hello Raymond,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

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Tina Walia


From: Raymond Tum Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 2:50 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Subject: Prospect Center (North Campus) - Low Income Housing CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Hello, Saratoga City Council.

My family and I have lived in the Pride's Crossing area (Kevin Moran Park) since2005 and love Saratoga and its library, parks, community centers, and quaint retailofferings.

I appreciate the Council's and City Planning Commission's transparency in the lowincome housing site selection process thus far. I also appreciate the opportunity to

share my thoughts & concerns with you.

I feel that Prospect Center is not a suitable location for a 4-story development. Thetraffic flow on Prospect will come to a screeching halt that not even formal traffic lightscan mitigate. Also, such a development will go directly against the understanding onwhich the previous sale of North Campus to Saratoga at below-market ratebased...for community use only. As a compromise, if no other option, maybe we canrestrict any development at Prospect Center to just 2 stories and add a newcommunity center at Prospect/DeAnza either on the Peet's Coffee side or Jake'sPizza side?

I know this is a controversial topic that's stirred lots of healthy, yet passionate, debateamong Saratoga residents, and I know you're right in the middle of it all. Thank youfor your leadership on this.

Regards,

Ray TumSaraglen Drive

From: Tina WaliaTo: Bobbi Eisenberg; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Crystal Bothelio; Britt Avrit; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Prospect CenterDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 11:52:04 AM

Hello Bobbi,





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Tina Walia


From: Bobbi Eisenberg Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 11:50 AMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Subject: Prospect Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when openingattachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Good Morning City Council Members,I have been a resident of Saratoga for 36 years. I live on Saraglen Drive. I was recently made awareof decision to make the Prospect Center on Prospect into low income housing. I am absolutely not infavor of this site for affordable housing options. Prospect Road is already impacted with traffic. TheProspect Center is one of two community centers for the residents of Saratoga. The Church whosold the center to Saratoga stipulated that city use the facility as a community center. There are otheroptions in the city of Saratoga to build affordable housing:1. Cox and Saratoga Avenue where there is commercial property.2. Saratoga Avenue where the pumpkin patch and Christmas trees are sold

3. Make downtown Saratoga into a Santana Row mixed residential and commercial use. It wouldbring more foot traffic4. Heritage Orchard could be on the decision list.

Please consider another site for the housing issue.

Bobbi

From: Tina WaliaTo: William FordCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Prospect CenterDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 1:28:01 PM

Hello Norma and Bill,

Thank you for writing your thoughts on the Housing Element Update. Your comments will be

included in the record. The Council will further study this issue in a Council Workshop on January 28,

2022, starting at 9 am. You can access the meeting by using Zoom or calling in:


Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: William Ford Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 12:41 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>Subject: Fwd: Prospect Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Mayor Tina Walia,We realize there are only so many ways to address this subject, but wefind the idea of destroying the Prospect Center beyond belief. As you wellknow, in the spirit of citizenship the land and improvements were sold tothe city at below cost. In lieu of the property being sold again and thensubdivided, my wife and I spent many hours campaigning against this.The electorate spoke and it was kept as a community facility with amajority vote of 75% to 25%.

The Center is a park-like jewel with modern good lookingrefurbished structures. Outside of the Joan Pisani Center, it is the onlyvenue of this type in the community of 30,000. And, even in the face ofthe pandemic, it is in use most days of the week. Assigning 3 newresidents to the 1,800 new units will increase Saratoga’s population by18%. Then, the Prospect Center and Pisani Center will be in even moredemand.For now, incorporating the Prospect Center into the Housing Elementdoes nothing to reduce the assigned location number of new homes Northof the RR tracks. We hope you will take a studious look at otherpossibilities in lowering the overwhelming percentage of units assigned toSaratoga’s north side. As many many citizens have voiced their concern and frustration over thepost card assigned percentages, in keeping with the goodwill found in theinitial sale, remembering the site is surrounded on three sides with singlefamily homes, and its value as a lovely community center, please do notassign the Prospect Center to the Housing Element Update. We all knowif it’s once lost it will never be replaced and when Covid subsides theCenter will be in huge demand.We wish to thank all of you for the time and work you have spent on theHousing Update. Saratoga citizens for 44 years, Bill and Norma Ford

From: Tina WaliaTo: Adele SalleCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Prospect Community CenterDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 11:19:35 PM

Hello Adelle,





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Tina Walia


From: Adele Salle Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 5:34 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>Subject: Prospect Community Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Regarding adding the Prospect Center to the list of sites for some of the 1700 new homesmandated to be built in Saratoga: DON'T DO IT.

This property was sold to the City by the church that used to be the owner for the purpose ofcommunity use, not for housing. Do not go back on the word the city of Saratoga gave to theprior owner.

Shame on you for even considering destroying that beautiful site for homes; don't be a doublecrosser.

Adele Salle, Saratoga

From: Tina WaliaTo: Surabhi Pathak; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan Zhao; Vikas PathakCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Ref to low income housing proposed at the prospect centerDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 5:06:05 PM

Hello Surabhi and Vikas,





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Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Surabhi Pathak Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 5:04 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Cc: Vikas Pathak <Subject: IMP: Ref to low income housing proposed at the prospect center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Hello Saratoga City Council Members,

I recently came to know that the city council of Saratoga is considering building low incomeand very low income housing at the expense of the Prospect community center.

We looked into this proposal in detail and noticed that more than 70% of the proposed unitsare already planned to be built north of Cox which is extremely inequitable and now adding

the community center to this project will make it more inequitable.

Prospect center originally was a church. When the church wanted to sell the property, 75% ofSaratoga voters asked the City of Saratoga to retain it as a community center and not buildsingle family homes. Church sold it to the city at a discounted price as it was planned to beused for the community. Now if the community center is sold to developers, it will be againstthe wish of majority of the voters and the commitment originally made to the church.

The Prospect center is the only community center in the city other than the John Pisani center.This center holds regular activities and events for various cultures promoting diversity aroundus. It makes us feel proud and helps our children grow as responsible and loving citizens.

We go to the community center area every evening to play and run with our dogs andfrequently make new friends. It has become a meeting point for many families.

The increased traffic with additional housing will bring traffic congestion on the Prospect rdwhich is already very busy throughout the day and will become more unsafe during schoolhours.

If 1700 units are added in the city, it will mean 1700 new families. They will have nobackyards to hold events. The need for this community center will become more critical andwe encourage you to upgrade it so that it can be used by the additional citizens.

Alternate options:Instead of adding the prospect center in the list, which is also north of Cox, the city councilshould look at other options like:

1. Redesigning the Saratoga village which can house all required 1700 units.2. Make Argonaut Shopping Center a mixed-use center site3. Add the orchard by the library as another site4. Move the Saratoga City Office to Prospect center and use the current Saratoga City

office space for multi-storied building.

We voted for you to make sure that all the decisions of this city are made after carefulconsideration of our points and concerns. I request you all to make the right decision on thismatter too.

ThanksSurabhi Pathak and Vikas Pathak

Saratoga CA 95070

From: Tina WaliaTo: Blane Eisenberg; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; Britt AvritSubject: Re: State Mandated Housing AllocationDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 4:00:55 PM

Hello Blane,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Blane Eisenberg Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 3:47 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Subject: State Mandated Housing Allocation CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when openingattachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Good Day, City Council Members:

I have been a resident of Saratoga for 36 years. I live on Saraglen Drive. I was recently made awareof decision to make the Prospect Center on Prospect into low income housing. I am absolutely not infavor of this site for affordable housing options. Prospect Road is already impacted with traffic. TheProspect Center is one of two community centers for the residents of Saratoga. The Church who

sold the center to Saratoga stipulated that city use the facility as a community center.

There are other options in the city of Saratoga to build affordable housing:1. Cox and Saratoga Avenue where there is commercial property.2. Saratoga Avenue where the pumpkin patch and Christmas trees are sold3. Make downtown Saratoga into a Santana Row mixed residential and commercial use. It wouldbring more foot traffic and allow Saratoga to have a vibrant commercial and social area.4. Heritage Orchard could be on the decision list.5. Saratoga Sunnyvale Road can be made into more mixed use with commercial on the ground floorand housing above.

Please consider another site for the housing issue.

Blane Eisenberg

From: Tina WaliaTo: umashanker n; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Stop Low Income Housing at Prospect CenterDate: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 5:04:00 PM

Hello Umashanker,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: umashanker n Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 2:22 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Subject: Stop Low Income Housing at Prospect Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Hi,

If this gets approved, there are 3 things that will happen that have happened in other neighborhoods throughout the Bay Area... 1) Increased Congestion 2) Increased Noise 3) Increased Crime

We already have had a string of home invasions and other crimes in this area.

From: City CouncilTo: Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan Zhao; James Lindsay; Crystal Bothelio; Tina Walia; Kookie Fitzsimmons;

Britt AvritSubject: FW: [SVDC 2275] Hosing element meetingDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 9:28:50 AMAttachments: ATT00001.txt

From: SVDC On Behalf Ofjill hunter via SVDC Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 9:28:26 AM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)To: Subject: [SVDC 2275] Hosing element meeting


Hi all,

I hope you have noticed the 14 urns of primroses lining Big Basin Way in the last fewdays. The Village Gardeners planted them all and swept out many of the parklets whichare looking very untidy (business owners with parklets hear my plea!). Also notice thelack of trash because Kate Hendren, our resident volunteer, spends Tuesday cleaning upafter us all. Many many thanks to these wonderful helpers.

I thought I would include information about the Housing Element meeting to be heldtomorrow, all day, on Zoom. You can watch bits and pieces or the whole thing from 9-5tomorrow(Jan. 28th). I have watched almost every meeting held in the past year and Ibeg you to have compassion for our council and our city staff. They are all workingunder impossible conditions and trying to do the best they can. I remember because Iworked on the housing element in 2014 while I was on the council and it was a verydifficult thing to do. I can assure you, nobody will be happy at the end.

Here is the city information to watch or comment. If you love the Village and/or theHeritage Orchard you might choose to email or comment.

Teleconference/Public Participation Information to Mitigate the Spread of COVID-19

This meeting will be held entirely by teleconference. All members of the City Council and staff willonly participate via the Zoom platform using the process described below. The meeting is beingconducted pursuant to recent amendments to the teleconference rules required by the Ralph M.Brown Act allowing teleconferencing during a proclaimed state of emergency when local officialhave recommended social distancing. The purpose of the amendments is to provide the safestenvironment for the public, elected officials, and staff while allowing for continued operation of thegovernment and public participation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Members of the public can view and participate in in the Special Meeting by:

Using the Zoom website https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82033650673; Webinar ID 820 33650673 OR

Calling 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833 and entering the Webinar ID provided above

The public will not be able to participate in the meeting in person.

As always, members of the public can send written comments to the Council prior to themeeting by commenting online at www.saratoga.ca.us/comment prior to the start of themeeting. These emails will be provided to the members of the Council and will become partof the official record of the meeting.

Take care and let the primroses make you cheery! Jill

From: Debbie PedroTo: Britt AvritCc: James LindsaySubject: FW: Additional feedback on the housing element from resident Sharon McElhoneDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 1:17:05 PM

From: Sharon McElhone Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 12:08 PMTo: Debbie Pedro <[email protected]>Subject: Additional feedback on the housing element from resident Sharon McElhone


Hello Debbie, Below are a few thoughts and comments that I would appreciate the city council take intoconsideration as they are making decisions on the housing element. Thank you for doing sucha great job. What happens to these comments? I know a lot of people are writing in beforethe meeting tomorrow and it would be nice to know how the city is going to respond toquestions and suggestions. Building on the edge of the creek on a small space at the intersection of Cox and SaratogaSunnyvale does not make sense to me. The waterways are fragile as we have historic droughtsand the traffic is of great concern. In addition, the size of the apartments on that small lot arelikely to be smaller and to include stairs, which would not accommodate families or seniors.It's important to know who the housing is being built for before these decisions are finalizedand if quality of life is being taken into consideration. Anyone who drives down Lawrence cansee vacancy banners on the big apartment buildings lining the expressway. Plus, displacing thebagel shop and the vet and the other small businesses that are doing really well on that cornerand serve our community is not something we would like to see. Argonaut elementary may be a better fit for this part of our community as far as a potentialsite as it will allow for properties that look more like homes and that can blend into thecommunity, as long as it still allows for enough school sites. Also, there are larger parcels byAllendale and Fruitvale and HWY 9 that would be good to see on any plan moving forward. It'sunclear why there has been a request for Argonaut to be added back to the list and not moreof push to fold more housing into the southern part of Saratoga.

Lastly, 1700 units is a lot of units and if 800 go near Quito shopping center that leaves 900 todisperse everywhere else. If some of those 900 are ADU built by homeowners than it willreduce that number. I would like to see the city work with current residents to make sure thatpermissible ADU units get built within the timeframe that is being given by the state. Thatwould allow for families to rent or have elderly family or children live in town, which shouldalso be included in affordable housing. Lastly, if West Valley adds student and teacherhousing, we may be able to come up with a plan that does not put Saratoga at risk of losing itshistoric charm. High density will have a negative impact. While Quito is slated to be of higherdensity, it seems reasonable that a vacant shopping mall and the large lot across the street beable to accommodate more housing since there are many more access points to shopping,freeways and other amenities. It would be good to see that development really use the spacewisely to accommodate families that will live there long term. Saratoga sits in a corner withnot as many ways to control the flow of traffic and has greater environmental concerns withhigher fire risks and creeks that need to be protected. Someone also brought up the good point that things appear to be moving too quickly and thatperhaps city leaders need to slow down and allow for residents and themselves to take theirtime to make decisions and I'm in agreement with that. It would be nice to get timelinereminders so we continue to be aware of the state requirements. Best, Sharon M.


Britt AvritSubject: FW: Saratoga Housing Element Compliance - Retain Prospect Center as a Community CenterDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:42:09 PM

From: Nikhil Kelkar Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:41:57 PM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)To: City Council <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Tina Walia<[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald<[email protected]>; Yan Zhao <[email protected]>Subject: Saratoga Housing Element Compliance - Retain Prospect Center as a Community Center


Dear Saratoga Council Members,

More than 70% of the proposed units are in the north side of the city. Adding Prospect Center to the list ofpossible housing sites would make it even more inequitable. When the original owner of Prospect Centerwanted to sell the property, 75% of Saratoga voters voted to have the City of Saratoga retain it as acommunity center instead of having single family homes built on it. Selling it now to developers to buildhousing goes against the wishes of the majority and the commitment the City made to the original owner.I request that The Prospect Center be retained as a community center in Saratoga, currently only otherone than the Joan Pisani center.

The city staff should review all sites that have been proposed via public input. This list should beevaluated against specific considerations to assign a final score for each site to facilitate site selection, forexample (1) Story limit and height limit: e.g., limit every site to 2/3 stories with max housing units, (2)Identify housing sites by schools and strive for a balance: every school district to benefit from growth inpopulation. (3) Balance traffic out. Do not overload sections of Saratoga e.g., Saratoga-Sunnyvale/Prospect area. (4) Commercial sites: Any commercial district can be replaced with housing,just like Quito Village. e.g., Saratoga village, Neals Hollow area, Argonaut center and the SaratogaBagels location should also be evaluated. (5) Schools, public and private: should be identified as housingopportunity sites. Allow teachers to live on campus and push for the “affordable housing” concept which issupposedly the foundation of this housing push from Sacramento. (6) Churches: Explore opportunities forour churches and religious facilities to build housing on site. (7) Fire Districts: We should exploreopportunities for our fire districts to build housing on site for their staff - and build their “affordablehousing” units. (8) City owner properties, e.g. parcel of land adjacent to Saratoga library. Thank you,

Sincerely,

Nikhil Kelkar

Saratoga Resident





Your Name P

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Housing Element

Comments These are really questions that I am hoping will be answeredwithin the context of the Friday meeting. 1. I "heard" that it was decided by the Council to have the highdensity, Low and Very Low income houses along the outskirts ofthe city, namely Prospect Center, Azule area. Is that correct? Iagree it could possibly make sense to keep additional traffic ofhigh density housing along the edges, but it brings anervousness of more crime and noise, as well as lowerdesirability and therefore lower home prices to those along orclose to the border. Additionally, for high density along Azulearea, Cupertino schools will be impacted, not Saratoga schools.Why, if it is correct was that decision made? Was there lobbyingdone by wealthier residents deeper in the city zone protestinghigh density in their areas?2. Please outline if it is feasible to limit the Low and Very Lowincome to senior housing, police/fire, and teachers? If not, whatare the "qualifications" for receiving a low/very low incomehouse/apt, etc? Who reviews and decides?3. Will Prospect Center be used for housing, instead of thecurrent use, when it was sold to us by the former church only forpurposes of being a community center? They could have madelots of money selling it for houses at the time.4. Based on neighborhood apps, like Ring and Next Door, thereis a plethora of thefts and break-ins all around the periphery ofSaratoga. What steps would be taken to assure those of us alongor close to the borders that very low income housing won't bringmore crime and if so, do we have resources to combat it? 5. I heard mention of suing the state over this. Are other closecities, equally having a hard time meeting this "requirement",considering the same thing? Is it possible? What would it take?6. Why is the proposed retirement project along the creek now

being changed to low income housing?







Your Name Ray Muzzy

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Please remove Prospect Center from the list of proposed sites.

Comments As a 54 year resident of Saratoga I would like to appeal to youand other council members to kindly allow Saratoga ProspectCenter to keep serving as a community center for the residentsand visitors instead of converting it into city housing.

Need for CenterSaratoga Prospect Center is a vital center for use by thecommunity and would be a big loss for the citizens if it'sconverted into city housing. It is the only community center that isfully dedicated for the community use and is put to good use bythe community holding many events and even in Covid times wehave fitness classes being offered in the parking lot. With the growth of city residents, we need more places like thisthan ever before. Such community centers play a critical role inbringing the community together and providing a place forresidents to hold different events/activities. Instead of removingthe Center, we encourage you to upgrade it, since it is going tobe used by even more citizens.

City Commitment to Prospect CenterIt took several years of very hard work to preserve that space foradditional city services. The original owner of Prospect Centerwas a church. When it wanted to sell the property, 75% ofSaratoga voters voted to have the City of Saratoga retain it as acommunity center instead of having single family homes built onit. The Church sold it to the City at a discount since it was goingto be used for the community. Reneging on its commitments and using that property fordevelopment goes against the wishes of the majority of theSaratoga voters and the commitment the City made to theoriginal owner. Integrity should be a critical consideration for our

elected city officials.Since then Saratoga has invested considerable energy intoupgrading the structures, landscaping and extensive outdoorlighting that has turned the area into a great neighborhood forcommunity use.

Impact on Local ResidentsProspect Center is 100% nested into the surrounding residentarea, adding high-density housing doesn’t blend into theneighborhood at all. Turning this into any sort of high densityhousing will not conform to the surrounding residentialneighborhood, any high rise building will also obstruct the viewsof existing houses around the Prospect Center.Setting such precedent would also open the legal channel foranyone picking any small residential park or even a resident lotto be converted into high density housing.

Traffic IssuesImplementing the proposed Housing Plan on Prospect Road atthis location will increase the traffic by many folds. Traffic isalready quite heavy with the proposed location being theepicenter of of several schools: Blue Hills Elementary School,Christa McAuliffe Elementary School, Lynbrook High School andProspect High School. Lots of children walking and biking tothese schools are placed at a higher risk with the increase intraffic.Prospect road is the main road that a lot of people use tocommute towards the North where majority of the Bay Areamega companies are located. Adding more traffic to an alreadybusy area will only make it worse, not just for the local residentsbut to all commuters from other cities around.

FairnessProspect road residents already share the loads and impactsfrom Gateway and Prospect/Lawrence for the allocation of over800 units. Adding Prospect Center would make it even moreinequitable.

Please remove Prospect Center from the list of proposed sites.

Ray Muzzy







Your Name Mona Kaur

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Why include Pierce Road junction in the list of possible housingsites again?

Comments Dear Mayor Walia and Council members,

I am very surprised to see that the City staff has decided to addthe Pierce/Sunnyvale Saratoga junction again as a possibleopportunity site for the housing element. Many of us here in thehillsides have time and again pointed out that Pierce is one of thekey arterial roads that is one of the escape routes for the hillsideresidents in case of wildfire. We all know that the danger fromwildfire has only increased in recent years and each year we areon tenterhooks and standby June - November in case we have toevacuate. Wildfires move very quickly and can leave little roomfor change of plans or maneuvering. Pierce is a single lane roadand you cannot even make a right on Sunnyvale Saratogawithout being stuck behind a single line of cars. In case of awildfire scenario, this junction would be jampacked single lanedwith people trying to flee. What makes you think this is a goodidea again?

The council itself agreed unanimously on Jan 10 that Piercewould be removed as a possible site. Now you go back on yourown word and decision? What do we trust from the council then?

I am also surprised that City staff has not mentioned the aspectthat Pierce is a wildfire escape route for Saratoga Hills in the"Cons" aspect of each site even though we have spoken about itnumerous times and the council itself took a decision to leavethis site alone for this reason. Why this serious omission?

I request you to please stand by your unanimous decision on Jan10 (all 5 of you voted yes) on removing Pierce junction as an

opportunity site and direct city staff to remove this site from theadditional sites for the housing elements.

Sincerely,

Mona Kaur-FreedlandHeber Way, Saratoga







Your Name Purvi Savla

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Saratoga Housing Element

Comments Dear Council Members,

Thank you for re-purposing the Jan 28 meeting to re-considerALL the sites that can be considered for the high densityhousing.

I am NOT in support of the current proposal and am hoping thatthe outcome of the Jan 28 meeting will be a more equitabledistribution of the housing.

Would want you to re-consider ALL sites, including but not limitedto:

1. Heritage Orchard site2. “Bagel Shop” zone3. Neals Hollow 4. The Village5. Argonaut Center

Would want to clearly document the pros/cons for each site fromall aspects such as schooling, traffic, infrastructure,environmental concerns etc.

Finally, if some significant and equitable redistribution of theproposed housing element cannot be found at the 1/28 meeting,please delay the decision to give time to work this further. Thereis plenty of time for staff to meet the November deadline - I amled to believe that we are ahead of other cities in this process. Ifit is, as you said Mayor at the 1/10 meeting, “the biggestchallenge the city of Saratoga has faced since its incorporation” -then why rush for closure to a self-induced early deadline on a

clearly imbalanced plan that has generated an unprecedentednegative response from the citizens of Saratoga?

Thank you for your attention and consideration! Purvi

Email Subscription Unsubscribe






Your Name Terry Cabrinha

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Consider these Housing Element Sites

Comments Dear Council Members:

Thank you for reviewing the current Housing Element list ofopportunity sites. Opportunity sites should be sharedproportionately throughout Saratoga. Current Housing Elementproposals place an untenable and unfair burden on the schools,streets, and neighborhoods north of Cox.

I suggest increasing the density of Marshall Lane Subdivisionand Quito Vessing Subdivisions already in the pipeline. Ideallythis would include a proportional mix of all densities andaffordability.

I suggest significantly increasing the burden on areas withinSaratoga School District. Including: 1. The Village within the moderate fire zone.

2. Thoroughfares south of Cox: Saratoga-Los Gatos Road.The commercial strip along this thoroughfare between Big Basinand Fatima Villa would be an excellent site for multi-family ormixed use. Buildings of historic value can be preserved ormoved.

Saratoga-Sunnyvale south of Cox. Properties already considered should be reconsidered: Blauer,Argonaut, and the site between Compass Realty and the animalhospital. The previous density of the East Village property should berestored. Properties of the Saratoga Nursery School and University

Nursery should be considered. These are prime locations along amain thoroughfare. The schools could be relocated to lessstrategic locations.

3. Residential properties along major thoroughfares south of Cox.If greater equity can not be achieved by identifying non-residential opportunity sites, then some residential propertiesshould be included. This may seem radical, but 1700 is a radicalnumber.

Please try to identify sites so that the burden to all Saratogaschools and neighborhoods can be equitably shared.

Thank you,Terry Cabrinha







Your Name Madhulima Pandey


Email Address

Subject Housing proposal

Comments I am a long-time resident of Saratoga. The most importantreason why we chose to live in Saratoga and raise our familyhere was having a self-contained community where elderly andkids can safely walk to Argonaut shopping center and areaaround it. The Argonaut elementary school is less than 0.5 milesfrom here and young kids walk or bike to school. The familieshave paid huge house prices for that safety of the children andparents. The city should not consider Argonaut shopping centerand other areas surrounding it as potential sites for high densitydevelopment.







Your Name NIKHIL KELKAR

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Saratoga Housing Element Compliance - Retain Prospect Centeras a Community Center

Comments Dear Saratoga Council Members,

More than 70% of the proposed units are in the north side of thecity. Adding Prospect Center to the list of possible housing siteswould make it even more inequitable. When the original owner ofProspect Center wanted to sell the property, 75% of Saratogavoters voted to have the City of Saratoga retain it as acommunity center instead of having single family homes built onit. Selling it now to developers to build housing goes against thewishes of the majority and the commitment the City made to theoriginal owner. I request that The Prospect Center be retained asa community center in the City, currently only other one than theJoan Pisani center.

Our city staff should review ALL possible sites making sure thatwe also consider all sites that have been proposed via publicinput. This list should be evaluated on specific considerations ina way that would provide us a final score for each site to facilitatesite selection, such as (1) Story limit and height limit: e.g. limitevery site to 2 stories, (2) Identify housing sites by schools andstrive for a balance: every school district to benefit from growth inpopulation. (3) Balance traffic out. Do not overload sections ofSaratoga e.g. Saratoga-Sunnyvale/Prospect area. (4)Commercial sites: Any commercial district can be replaced withhousing, just like Quito Village. e.g. Argonaut center and theSaratoga Bagels location should be brought back into play andevaluated. (5) Schools, public and private: should be identified ashousing opportunity sites. Allow teachers to live on campus andpush for the “affordable housing” concept which is supposedlythe foundation of this housing push from Sacramento. (6)

Churches: Explore opportunities for our churches and religiousfacilities to build housing on site. (7) Fire Districts: We shouldexplore opportunities for our fire districts to build housing on sitefor their staff - and build their “affordable housing” units.

Sincerely,Nikhil Kelkar




BothelioSubject: Online Form Submittal: Council Comments FormDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 9:40:35 AM



Your Name J Fulde

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Housing Element Montalvo Art Center

Comments Minghao Cui All of the homes which are built past Hill Ave and upto the gates of Montalvo DO NOT HAVE AN EXIT ROUTE! If afire breaks out downhill from us and moves uphill towards us, asfires burn uphill faster, we have LOCKED gates! The gate atMontalvo is locked at 5 pm, we have no way to open it. The otherroute would be from Montalvo Heights down the double gatestowards Vickery Lane, through the water tanks, two gates! Nowthat fire is real concern, we should ask for codes or routes beforeit is too late! I am sure, I can't manage a lock cutter in the dark,with a fire coming at me and my family. Please let's slow downand rethink this. It's also unfair to issue permits for 4,000 ft plussingle family homes in Saratoga going forward. These lots andfamily homes should be rethought for ADU and Jr ADU before aUber rich person can build a mansion on limited land goingforward. Makes zero sense.







Your Name Mohini Balakrishnan

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Please remove Pierce/ Sunnyvale Road intersection sites frompossible housing opportunity list.

Comments Dear Council Members and Staff,

We would first like to thank and commend the city officials andcouncil for the arduous hours and effort that they have put intothe meetings to answer questions from residents. While weunderstand the pressures and challenges that you face fromSacramento to perform on this housing bill, we also urge you tobe creative and responsible in your choice of opportunity siteswith minimum impact to residents.

1. Kindly remove the bagel/ pet shop strip mall and Argonautshopping center at the intersection of Pierce Road andSunnyvale /Saratoga Road from your potential housingopportunity sites list for the housing element. We are sure that you are already well aware of the wild firedangers and risks that exist in the hillsides, and the need andnecessity to keep evacuation routes from Pierce road ontoSunnyvale Saratoga free.There are already traffic bottle necks and jams with Pierce roadbeing a single lane country road and barely able to keep up withcurrent resident traffic.We are sure you will agree that this would not be a goodopportunity site and would not be a prudent choice given therisks it would pose to residents

2. We urge you in parallel to take the necessary actions andsteps to push back on this bill through ballot measures. Thehorrific impact to Saratoga’s already fragile infrastructure, water,traffic, parking and environmental impact becomes a seriousconcern by overcrowding already developed areas. Besides who

are we kidding? ….these developments will never really beaffordable in our areas. Developers will meet the criteria byoffering a token number of units at the lower price and thenafterwards the developers will rake in the money!! This bill onlyempowers the developers…!!!

3. Finally we would urge the council members to have a unitedfront and to remain focused on the task ahead and avoid fingerpointing. This is a herculean task ahead of you. This is not a timefor political posturing. This is when your primary responsibility isto your residents and making judicious decisions should beparamount.

Thank you, Mohini and Balu BalakrishnanVilla Oaks Lane







Your Name Linda Dorsa

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Argonaut shopping center

Comments Why on earth would you tear down a wonderful shopping centerand dental office complex to build low income housing? Surelythere must be a better place. Where will Saratoga citizens shop.And where will the low income residents shop? Please think thisthrough!







Your Name David Anderson


Email Address

Subject STOP THE SHOTGUN URBAN PLANNING NOW!

Comments STOP THE SHOTGUN URBAN PLANNING NOW!

All of you Saratoga City Council members have touted your bonafides as prior city planning commissioners but the most recenttack of the City Council (on Jan 20 and continuing to Jan 28) fliesin the face of basic urban planning 101. Bowing to a vocalminority calling for "equity" (which is actually a false argument),you are now in a unseemly, frantic, and dangerous mode of"shotgun urban planning" for this recent Housing Element Updatethat will scar our city forever.

Spreading out high density housing across Saratoga (ie "shotgunurban planning") is NOT good urban planning. Plan and simple. Itignores basic urban planning principles (below) and creates anunseemly patchwork of different types of housing across our city.

Spreading out high density housing across Saratoga and "equity"is a false equivalent. Good urban planning is good urbanplanning. Also, if a resident lives at/near areas of the city that areat/near existing higher density housing, at/near major roadways,and/or at/near commercial districts, that resident should NOThave an expectation that those areas will NOT be areas of higherdensity housing. Conversely, if a resident does NOT live at/nearareas of the city that are at/near existing higher density housing,NOT at/near major roadways, and/or NOT at/near commercialdistricts, that resident SHOULD have an expectation that thoseareas will NOT be areas of higher density housing.

Valid higher density housing locations per basic urban planningprinciples/criteria:- Near current denser housing (ie apartments, condos,

townhouses) with like neighborhood feel. - Along current major roadways (ie min 4 lanes) to facilitate caringress/egress.- Near current or proposed commercial areas to encouragewalking/biking (ie less cars on roads).- Commercial district revitalization (ie the Village).

Areas that do NOT meet any of these basic urban planningcriteria: - Quito/Pollard lot (and adjacent Friendship Park, as onecouncilmember unfortunately proposed)- Allendale/Chester lot- Wardell lot- Churches, schools, parks, other city owned land, and other landNOT located within above criteria

Areas that DO meet these basic urban planning criteria:- Prospect/Lawrence- Saratoga-Sunnyvale corridor (Prospect to Village)- Saratoga Ave corridor (Prospect to 85)- At existing higher density senior living centers/areas- Village East AND the Village itself- Churches, schools, parks, other city owned land, and other landthat IS located within above criteria

Don't buy into the false argument that shotgun urban planning isequitable and good urban planning. It is not. You were elected todo the RIGHT thing for the city (even though maybe hardpersonally and/or politically)... not what is easy.

STOP THE SHOTGUN URBAN PLANNING NOW!

David AndersonSaratoga resident

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BothelioSubject: Online Form Submittal: Council Comments FormDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 12:03:50 PM



Your Name Glenda Aune

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Input for City Council Workshop - Housing Element - Jan 28,2022

Comments Dear City Council,

I have lived in Saratoga for over 35 years, and I participated inthe Housing Survey and Community Meetings last year.

I have three concerns regarding properties that you areconsidering for high density housing.

1/ The Council is on a very slippery slope, literally, if you considerhillside properties such as Pierce Road, Montalvo, Hakone, andthe Country Club for high density housing. These properties areall in very high wildfire areas and all are located on narrow,winding rural roads that cannot handle additional traffic. How willyou mitigate these risks - build new roads, for example?

* If you allow high density development on just one of thesehillside properties, you open the door for all the Hillsides and theVillage to be high density. How will you tell anyone "no" after youopen the door? You will not be able to shut this door.

* Saratoga Residents have voted to keep the Hillsides"residential low density." You cannot just override the voters.

* Wildfire season is now year round, not just in the fall. AND,studies of recent wildfires conclude that clustered housing shouldbe avoided in high wildfire areas because it puts large numbersof people in harms way during a wildfire emergency and livesmay be lost if people cannot escape the fire.

2/ Residents have asked that Argonaut Shopping Center be

zoned "commercial" in order to save the only grocery store andother services that are close to many of us who live in this area.Zoning this property "mixed use" opens the door for SB 35 whichcould result in the closure of these important services.

3/ Residents of the Hillsides have asked that the intersection ofPierce and Sunnyvale/Saratoga Road where the bagel shop islocated be protected from high density housing. This intersectionis one of the very few exits for Hillside residents. Housing isokay, just not high density. Traffic generated by high densityhousing at this intersection can put residents at risk in the eventof an emergency evacuation from the Hillsides.


Glenda Aune







Your Name Neeta

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Email Address

Subject Field not completed.

Comments PLEASE REVISIT YOUR HOUSING ELEMENT PLAN FORQUITO POLLARD CORNER, INCLUDING FRIENDSHIP PARK.

Per urban planning 101, it does NOT make any sensewhatsoever to put high density housing in the middle of singlefamily homes and on a narrow 2-lane country road. Our SaratogaCity Council is now in a frantic and dangerous mode of "shotgunurban planning" for this recent Housing Element Update that willscar our city forever.

Valid higher density housing alternatives per basic urbanplanning principles:- Near current denser housing (ie apartments, condos,townhouses) with like neighborhood feel. - Along current major roadways (ie min 4 lanes) to facilitate caringress/egress.- Near current or proposed commercial areas to encouragewalking/biking (ie less cars on roads).- Commercial district revitalization (ie the Village).

Quito/Pollard does NOT meet any of these basic urban planningcriteria!!

QUITO is a one-lane road already congested at commute times.







Your Name Kumara Tharmalingam


Email Address

Subject Quito pollard housing proposal

Comments I learned there is a proposal to put in 4 story apartments at Quitopollard, including handing over friendship park to developers. Ibelieve this is a mistake for several reasons:1. Quito is already a small street with significant traffic given thevarious schools in the area, and residences. 2. The park is a key part of the neighborhood with significantimportant trees, and added neighborhood feel.3. Dense housing doesn't fit with the neighborhood of single storyresidences. Instead focusing dense housing closer to largerroads and existing commercial areas would fit better.



want ANY change? It’s just not fair nor equitable! Please spreadthe wealth - or grief!

Thank you for listening.

Chris Burns20 year resident of The Vineyards of Saratoga







Your Name Marilynn Nagel

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Email Address

Subject Argonaut shopping center

Comments Argonaut shopping center has been an important part of ourcommunity for many years providing grocery, drug, hardware,banks travel. restaurant and coffee shops and other neededshops and businesses . Please keep our shopping center.







Your Name Sandra Moisenco

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Email Address

Subject Proposed development impacting Quito Road

Comments Please address Saratoga’s plan to mitigate Quito Roadcongestion if the proposed Quito/Pollard, Quito Marshall Lane,walnut orchard property near Vessing and Quito, the El Paseoand proposed Costco are constructed. I have seen no attentiongiven to Quito, the rural entrance to Saratoga, no communicationfrom the city to answer traffic concerns, no new bridges. Quito isshared by multiple municipalities but not one has stepped topreserve the heritage and ecology of Quito Road.







Your Name Suzanne d’angelo


Email Address

Subject Quito/pollard high density housing. I was not notified

Comments Respectfully, you have 9 1 acre homes scheduled for Marshalllane at Quito, but you want to take away the only open space onthis side of town and squeeze in countless high density on 1acre? Shouldn’t it be the opposite? High density on the largeracreage? Also the Quito property adjacent to friendship park -you are quadrupling it’s zoning? How would you like 4 stories ofwindows staring into your bedroom and backyard? Yes thingschange and evolve, but please understand the traffic nightmarewe live with now and doubling the traffic load ipredictably willendanger pedestrians (many children) traveling to school.

living 1/2 block away from these proposals, why have I not beengiven notice?

Los Gatos, ca 95032

I fully understand the pressures you are under, - have youactively provided incentives for current property owners to addanother housing unit on their land? You can likely meet yourhousing goal and still preserve much of Sarstoga beauty.

Like many are asking? Why isn’t the land by the library beingdeveloped? It’s two lane and closer to freeway for travel

RespectfullySuzanne dangeloI am happy to get involved and help solve Saratoga issues, justplease be open minded on limiting high density housing






Your Name Letitia Lam(Gateway neighborhood)

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Email Address

Subject Request for transparency and fairness in deciding the HousingElements site location

Comments Dear Council members,

Regarding tomorrow’s council meeting on selecting the sites forHousing Elements, I urge you all to be fair and transparent in theselection process. As elected representatives by all the Saratogaresidents, please think bold and big. Don’t just dump all thehousing units on Gateway neighborhood or the Saratoga Avenuewhich only make the local roads traffic adverse. Please spreadout the housing in the whole city. Please have a rationalapproach in the urban planning. Be partial, you are not therepresentatives of your own neighborhood or the donors of yourpolitical campaign, but the representatives of all residents inSaratoga. When you make any decision in tomorrow’s meeting,all the Saratogans will remember your legacy. Please make ourcity thrive In your decision

Thank you







Your Name Christina F


Email Address

Subject Housing Element feedback (code, sites, and distribution)

Comments Dear members of the Saratoga Council,I have one important point to make, then a few sites I couldsuggest for you to look into. First, the important point. Please respect the current Saratogabuilding code and ordinances in regard to setbacks, height, etc.Please be reminded that if the building code is changed, such asallowing any building of any height to sit closer to existing single-family homes than currently allowed, then such new rules shouldapply to ALL Saratoga houses from this point on, including thehouses next door to your own. And to this point, we can see thatif you apply the building code to the Prospect Center, which isliterally surrounded by single-family homes on 4 sides, you can'tput any building higher than 2 story there with the requiredsetbacks.

Next on site suggestions. I have read many comments, includeCouncilman Kumar's, and here are the list of ideas that I like forADDITIONAL SITES and distribution:- the distribution should be evenly distributed across all schooldistricts (detail in Kumar's post).- All commercial sites can be turned into Mixed-used, meaning,preserve all the businesses as you wish, but allow addinghousing on top (keeping businesses on the ground level). TheArgonaut center and Village should be utilized just like Gateway. There is no excuse that one should carry more load than theothers.- creating units on school grounds (why not? teachers and otherschool employees will most benefit from); To preserve the samefootprint, housing units could be added on top of existing officesand classroom buildings, much like what's proposed for themixed-use commercial buildings. Similarly with fire stations.

- Library and the orchard. There is no reason why the librarycan't be mixed-use too. While in principal we should preserveall parks, the Heritage Orchard is large enough to spare someroom for added parking if needed to accommodate for the addedhousing on top of the library.- I agree with Councilman Kumar that The Prospect/Lawrencelocation is indeed unique in a way that it's not next to single-family homes. I suppose it could at least match the Costco planacross the street to be 5-story high, if you will add undergroundparking to accommodate.Thank you,Christina







Your Name Julia Christensen

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Quito x Pollard development

Comments Hello,

My name is Julia Christensen. My family has lived in Saratoga forover 70 years. Fron prune orchards and dirt roads to SiliconValley and high tech, our family has seen fellow Saratogansnavigate changes while our town holds on to its semi-ruralcharm.

Part of our town's charm is that it feels like a step back from theconcrete jungle that Silicon Valley has become, where one canwalk under majestic oaks and perhaps be lucky enough to spotlocal wildlife (coyotes, deer, bobcats, and so many bird species)who use our town as a gateway for accessing food, water, etc.

The town's own byline calls us a lovely residential communitywith a small-town feel, offering a high quality of life with a chanceto escape the hustle of Silicon Valley.

All you need to do is look at the comments from a few years agoregarding a school development at the same proposed site. For aone lane road, there is a huge lack of infrastructure to supporthigh-density housing. We have elementary, middle, and highschools as well as a community college all within 3 miles of thissite, with most of the traffic using the same route, Pollard Rd andQuito Rd.

The watershed access that runs along the site is an invaluableroute for the variety of wildlife that call our town home. Havinghigh-density housing built here will have a negative impact onthis for decades to come. Please reconsider the proposedhousing plans- having these amazing trees and animals with

residential homes scattered throughout is what helps keep ourtown unique and loved by its residents. Thank you.



From: RayTo: Britt AvritSubject: Please remove Prospect Center from the list of proposed sites.Date: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:18:11 PM


As a 54 year resident of Saratoga I would like to appeal to you and othercouncil members to kindly allow Saratoga Prospect Center to keep serving as acommunity center for the residents and visitors instead of converting it intocity housing.

Need for CenterSaratoga Prospect Center is a vital center for use by the community and wouldbe a big loss for the citizens if it's converted into city housing. It is the onlycommunity center that is fully dedicated for the community use and is put togood use by the community holding many events and even in Covid times wehave fitness classes being offered in the parking lot. With the growth of city residents, we need more places like this than everbefore. Such community centers play a critical role in bringing the communitytogether and providing a place for residents to hold different events/activities. Instead of removing the Center, we encourage you to upgrade it, since it isgoing to be used by even more citizens.

City Commitment to Prospect CenterIt took several years of very hard work to preserve that space for additional cityservices. The original owner of Prospect Center was a church. When it wantedto sell the property, 75% of Saratoga voters voted to have the City of Saratogaretain it as a community center instead of having single family homes built onit. The Church sold it to the City at a discount since it was going to be used forthe community. Reneging on its commitments and using that property for development goesagainst the wishes of the majority of the Saratoga voters and the commitmentthe City made to the original owner. Integrity should be a critical considerationfor our elected city officials.Since then Saratoga has invested considerable energy into upgrading thestructures, landscaping and extensive outdoor lighting that has turned the areainto a great neighborhood for community use.

Impact on Local ResidentsProspect Center is 100% nested into the surrounding resident area, adding

high-density housing doesn’t blend into the neighborhood at all. Turning thisinto any sort of high density housing will not conform to the surroundingresidential neighborhood, any high rise building will also obstruct the views ofexisting houses around the Prospect Center.Setting such precedent would also open the legal channel for anyone pickingany small residential park or even a resident lot to be converted into highdensity housing.

Traffic IssuesImplementing the proposed Housing Plan on Prospect Road at this location willincrease the traffic by many folds. Traffic is already quite heavy with theproposed location being the epicenter of of several schools: Blue HillsElementary School, Christa McAuliffe Elementary School, Lynbrook HighSchool and Prospect High School. Lots of children walking and biking to theseschools are placed at a higher risk with the increase in traffic.Prospect road is the main road that a lot of people use to commute towards theNorth where majority of the Bay Area mega companies are located. Addingmore traffic to an already busy area will only make it worse, not just for thelocal residents but to all commuters from other cities around.

FairnessProspect road residents already share the loads and impacts from Gatewayand Prospect/Lawrence for the allocation of over 800 units. Adding ProspectCenter would make it even more inequitable.

Please remove Prospect Center from the list of proposed sites.

Ray Muzzy

From: Sunil MehtaTo: Yan Zhao; Tina Walia; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Rishi Kumar; Mary-Lynne BernaldCc: Britt AvritSubject: Proposed redevelopment of Prospect Center into low-income housingDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 2:55:06 PM

CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Saratoga City Council,

I am writing to you to express my strong opposition to the low-income housing currently beingproposed at the site of the Prospect Center. There are many reasons that I consider this to bea bad idea:

1. I understand that more than 70% of the proposed high-density units in Saratoga areslated to go in the part of the city north of Cox. This is extremely inequitable. AddingProspect Center would make it even more inequitable.

2. The original owner of Prospect Center was a church. The church sold it to the City at adiscount since it was to be used for the community, and this was approved by 75% ofSaratoga voters. Selling it now to developers to build housing goes against the previouscommitment as well as the wishes of the voters.

3. The Prospect Center is the only community center in the City other than the Joan PisaniCenter.

4. Adding 1,700 high-density housing units in the city means 1,700 new families. They willhave no backyards, which will make the need for the community center even morecritical.

Rather than pursue the redevelopment of the Prospect Center into low-income housing, I urgethe City Council to consider other alternatives, such as finding a location south of Cox,revamping the Saratoga Village to accommodate the new housing, making the ArgonautCenter a mixed-used center site, or adding the orchard by the library as a housing site. I'msure that the esteemed Council can collectively think of other viable alternatives as well.

Thank you for your consideration, and I sincerely hope that you make the right decisiontomorrow.

Best regards,

Sunil Mehta( , Saratoga)

From: Tina WaliaTo: SHIHTAY WANG; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Against housing proposed at prospect centerDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 11:04:10 PM

Hello Shihtay,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: SHIHTAY WANG <Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:19 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>Subject: Against housing proposed at prospect center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear City Council, Please listen the voices from the neighbors around Saratoga Prospect Center.Simply speaking the Prospect Center is NOT right place to build low income housing.I can give many reasons why. If you do not listen to us you could lose votes next time to run City Council. Sincerely yours,

Shih-Tay Wang Sent from Mail for Windows

From: Tina WaliaTo: ; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Yan Zhao; Rishi Kumar; Kookie FitzsimmonsCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Considerations for Low Income Housing ApproachDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 11:00:18 PM

Hello Naresh and Nita,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 9:57 PMTo: Mary-Lynne Bernald <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao <[email protected]>; RishiKumar <[email protected]>; Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons<[email protected]>Subject: Considerations for Low Income Housing Approach CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear City Council Members, First of all, my wife and I highly appreciate your hard work and commitment to serve the city. Wecan also appreciate the tremendous challenge that you must be facing to address the statemandates for adding such a large number of low income housing elements to Saratoga whilebalancing the needs for all Saratoga residents. We’ve listened to and participated in the last two citycouncil meetings until late in the night and this is clearly an emotional and highly impactful matter toeveryone.

As such, we urge you to slow down to speed up. We know you’ve been LISTENING to the feedbackbut PLEASE also take action which REFLECTS the feedback and not just proceed on the currentcourse. Also, please consider that many residents did not participate in the earlier meetingsincluding those with the Planning Commission which narrowed down the possible sites. Some thoughts for you to consider regarding the current approach:

1. We seem to have an unrealistic schedule possibly driven by artificial deadlines. You’ve statedthe deadlines without explaining the rationale or the consequences of not meeting thedeadlines. Just worrying about threats about the city losing control over future developmentmay be a concern but do we really have realistic development proposals that such urgency isnecessary? Are such concerns as much of an issue as moving so fast towards a plan that willforever change the nature of the city?

2. How much effort has been put in to reach out to other cities with more affluentneighborhoods and understanding how they are handling the situation and maybe learningfrom it and coordinating with them. If this has been done, please share how other cities arehandling this matter with all the residents. For example, do we really think that Atherton willbe adding multi-story low income housing?

3. Why are we not waiting for conclusions by West Valley College in their planning beforedeveloping our plans. Is there any way to incentivize or collaborate with West Valley College?

4. Many sites have been dropped without proper consideration of all factors and feedback fromALL the residents. How sure are you that you’re truly looking after the best interests of all ofSaratoga and not being influenced by your personal opinions or a select residents of Saratogaor some developers?

5. The fact that a majority (something like 1700) of units and all the low income housing is beingconsidered for North of Cox is a fact that makes it obvious that the current plan is flawed.Have you truly considered what percentage of the Saratoga residents would be impacted andwhat will be the impact? Is this area not already suffering from traffic issues which will onlyget worse as other development such as a new Costco are built?We understand that therewill be future traffic and other studies but by de-selecting alternatives right now, are you notputting the city in a position to eventually ignore the impacts and implement the plan anywaydue to state mandates and deadlines? Such considerations must be included RIGHT NOW, andnot deferred to future planning.

6. We now understand the Prospect Center is being considered. Are you forgetting that a largemajority of Saratoga residents voted to keep this as a community center? I remember hearingsome residents speak very strongly keeping the Prospect Center as a community center at therecent housing element meetings. Is their voice less important than the one person whospoke about their grandmother shopping at Safeway?

7. We all know that Saratoga Village needs to be revitalized so that it’s as vibrant as many of theother city centers. This would be good for the businesses, residents and the city. Why not usethis opportunity to not only add the necessary housing but also to revitalize Saratoga? Why isthis off the table? What real actions have been taken to figure out how best to revitalizeSaratoga Village while adding housing?

8. Why not work with and incentivize developers to build mixed use housing at the ArgonautCenter instead of pushing to making it only for commercial development? This way, we can

retain the valued businesses such as Safeway while providing low income housing and verylikely improving tax revenue to the city.

9. Have you really polled the entire Saratoga community and given them the choice of addinghousing or retaining the orchard by the library? Please internalize why this site was dropped.These are tough choices and should not be based on default answers or personal opinions.

10. Can we not figure out a way to use the Saratoga City Office area for housing and as necessary,relocate the offices? What are the considerations for this and have the residents weighted inon the pros and cons?

The point is that we urge you to reset the entire process and follow a more democratic processwhich not only LISTENS to inputs of FEW residents but INCORPORATES inputs from a MAJORITY ofthe residents, particularly those that may be most impacted by any proposals. Thanks-Naresh & Nita MakhijaniScully Ave

From: Tina WaliaTo: Srilatha Raghavan; Yan Zhao; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Kookie Fitzsimmons; James Lindsay; Debbie

PedroCc: Crystal Bothelio; Britt AvritSubject: Re: Exclude Pierce/Sunnyvale Saratoga Rd. intersection property from housing opportunityDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 3:18:43 PM

Hello Srilatha and Prabhakar,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Srilatha Raghavan Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 3:16 PMTo: Yan Zhao <[email protected]>; Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald<[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons<[email protected]>; James Lindsay <[email protected]>; Debbie Pedro<[email protected]>Subject: Exclude Pierce/Sunnyvale Saratoga Rd. intersection property from housing opportunity CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Council Members, Thank you for your hard work to make Saratoga a safe and attractive place to live. We understand that the Pierce rd/Sunnyvale Saratoga intersection property is beingconsidered as a spot for housing. We urge you to remove this property from the list for thefollowing reasons:

1. Many of the homes Pierce rd/Mt.Eden road and environs are in the high risk fire zone. We

have first hand experience with fires coming within close enough range that we were asked topack up and be ready to evacuate. This being the case it would be a judicious choice to notfurther throttle the traffic at the pierce intersection which might become the only way out of ahazardous fire situation.

2. Creating new housing at this intersection would mean increasing the traffic levels morethan this area can handle.

Please make the judicious choice of excluding the Pierce/Saratoga Sunnyvale rd intersectionfrom the list of potential sites for affordable housing.

Thank you,Srilatha & Prabhakar RaghavanDeer Trail Court

From: Tina WaliaTo: Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; James LindsaySubject: Re: Housing Element Email / For Public Record for 1/28/22 CC MtgDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 2:06:26 PM

Hello Scott,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 1:46 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Cc: Britt Avrit <[email protected]>Subject: Housing Element Email / For Public Record for 1/28/22 CC Mtg CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Mayor Walia, Vice-Mayor Fitzsimmons & City Councilmembers, Thank you all for your efforts to date. Your decision to look at other parts of the City to potentially“spread-out” future housing allocations, is a smart & responsible choice. Below are my personal opinions related to a majority of the “new” properties (Attachment “A” ofthe agenda package for this item) that are being considered for possible inclusion on the City’s

Inventory List. All of you (and Staff) have done an outstanding job in trying to navigate this absurdlychallenging process. The notes below will take no more than 5 minutes to read, but I think theyhighlight some important items to consider, in terms of not only the realistic development potentialof each site, but also the level of HCD scrutinization that might come with certain sites. While choosing sites is an important part of this process, it is not the only part of it. As you know,every site is unique and every site presents its own positives & negatives (w/respect to developmentpotential). And at the end of the day, in the context of delivering more housing units, the“development potential” of site is what matters to an owner or builder, that will invest money andtake the risk to develop the property. Placing sites on the Inventory List that get submitted to HCD (that have critical flaws), in the end willonly put the City in a position to have to respond to the HCD comments, by finding even more newsites OR increasing the heights & densities of HCD accepted sites (in order to meet the City’s RHNAunit requirement). And while currently, the draft Inventory List shows the City is about 200+ units above its RHNArequirement, that number can change dramatically downward with just a few HCD “large site”rejections. I appreciate your review the notes below as you consider the culmination of Saratoga’s InventoryList. Thank you. “ATTACHMENT A” (from the 1/28/22 Staff Report) PROPERTIES

1. Prospect Center (Cox)

If this site is for affordable housing, it’s likely an affordable group would want to build aproject that is 4-stories or 50’ tall at a density higher than 30 du/ac. This is a great site forthat, but given the proximity to SFH’s on 3 sides of the property, any height will likely be achallenge for the neighborhood to accept.

2. Montalvo Arts Center (in the hills above Hwy 9, south of downtown)

a. What do you envision building here…SFH’s at R-1-40?b. Given the topography challenges, how many homes will that really produce?c. At least 50% of the property is literally in a “forest” of tall/mature trees.d. The entire property is located in the “very high” Fire Danger Area of the WUI map & 2

faults run through the propertye. Would the Montalvo Association even consider a redevelopment of the property?

3. Saratoga Country Club (in the hills, West of Argonaut Center)

a. This is a 99 acre property, but the topography on 75% of the property is severelychallenged.

b. Would the Saratoga County Club even consider a redevelopment of the property?Given that there is an existing use on a portion of the 99 acres, HCD would require aletter from the ownership stating their intent to redevelop.

c. What do you build here…SFH’s at R-1-40?

4. City Parks & Open Spacea. Once you lose a park, you will never get it back.b. A “pro” comment on the Staff sheet, notes “100% affordable housing”…is it realistic to

think any of these neighborhoods below would support this, especially given that it’shighly unlikely that any affordable developer would build an affordable project to an R-1-10 density. And HCD will only count a site as “affordable” if it is at least 30 du/ac…which, in my opinion, for the sites below…none of them are appropriate for 30 du/ac.

i. If you take out the parks/open space that are in the high fire danger ofthe WUI or topography challenged AND you remove small/odd shape sites,the following remains:1. Heritage Orchard (10.2 acres)

a. Given the limited amount of site options for affordable housing at30 du/ac that are not adjacent to SFH’s, this would be a great sitefor an affordable housing project, if the “historic nature” of theproperty could be solved.

2. Beauchamp Park (2.73 acres)a. This park is surrounded by ½ acre to 1 acre estate homes. Even at

R-1-20, development of this property would product likely no morethan 4-5 homes.

3. Moran Park (10.54 acres)a. It could be feasible that the City takes a portion of the land (the site

is currently zoned R-1-12.5) to allow SFH’s4. Azule Park (4.15 acres)

a. It could be feasible that the City takes a portion of the land (the siteis currently zoned R-1-12.5) to allow SFH’s

b. The site is challenged in its “shape” and lack of efficiency5. El Quito Park (6.7 acres)

a. This would be a great site to take advantage of the R-1-10 zoningthat is in place, however this property sits adjacent to theCox/Saratoga area which is the focus of a majority of publiccomments about “too many new units in one area of the City”.

5. City Hall/Civic Center (5.88 acres)

a. Given the limited amount of site options for affordable housing at 30 du/ac that are notadjacent to SFH’s, this would be a great site for an affordable housing project. Thechallenge, as stated in the Staff slide, would be the costs to move City Hall and finding alocation for the new City Hall. It is highly unlikely the City could sell this land to anaffordable developer for the costs associated with moving City Hall. Thus, the movingof City Hall would end up being a large capital investment for the City.

6. Village Parking Lots

a. Because of the odds shapes, shallow depths, proximity to the Saratoga Creek (ie…mandatory building setbacks of at last 50 feet), this area seems unfeasible for any

substantive development.b. All of these lots are “behind” existing commercial buildings and the disruption to all of

those businesses during construction would be very problematic.c. The Wells Fargo/retail site (the biggest site in the downtown), has a tremendously bad

environmental situation from a former dry cleaner, thus challenging any futuredevelopment on that property.

7. Village

a. This is an area that if considered, should require mixed-use as part of any newresidential development. At the current zoning of 20 du/ac, it’s not feasible to build tothat level and retain any ground floor commercial.

8. Village East Area

a. This area is highly likely to receive negative feedback from HCD, because of thefollowing factors

i. Proximity to Saratoga Creek and required building setbacks ii. Small parcels owned by different owners iii. Topography challenges

b. This would be a great area for Council to drive…just to see how challenging anyredevelopment of substantial size in this area would be.

9. Saratoga-Sunnyvale / Pierce Rd (Compass Realty & Bagel Shop/Retail)

a. Great site for housing, but for all the community push back against it, over the past 6public meetings.

b. Likely that the Compass lease is long term and thus will prevent development (at leaston the North parcel) in the next 8 years

10. Argonaut Shopping Center

a. This center is full of “Class A/Credit Tenants”…in my opinion, there is not a chance thatexisting leases & options would allow for redevelopment (of even part of the center)over the next 8 years.

b. Generally speaking, tenants like Safeway & CVS (both of which are tenants at thisproperty), not only have long term leases (20+ years), but also have 10-20 years of“options” to extend their leases.

c. I think HCD would disqualify this site immediately, unless there was proof that all leases(or a majority of them) expire within the next 8 years.

11. Blauer Rd (across from Argonaut)

a. Other than it’s proximity to SFH’s, the lot sizes being less than ½ acre and 3 differentowners, this would be a great site for residential.

12. Mountain Winery

a. Topography challenges come mind and net developable area.b. I’m not sure how HCD would view this site, seeing that a majority of it is not in the City

of Saratoga and would likely need to complete an annexation process, prior to HCD

counting the units. Santa Clara County also has a RHNA unit requirement to fulfill.

13. Old Grandview Rancha. What would be built here and at what density?b. Hard to imagine the Atwood family or the Head family wanting to sell their property, as

there are two large estate homes and a vineyard on the property’s.

14. Newly Added Wardell Sitesa. These properties could be good sites for new residential to match the adjacent zoning

of SFH’s, however the “access” to these sites is currently off a very narrow, one lane“make-shift” road that is bordered by a hillside (the road I’m referring to and a slopedownward on the opposite site. Not sure how you could develop homes on thesenewly added Wardell sites and have ingress/egress access that would meet the code.

15. Community Facilities Property’s (Churches)

a. There are a lot of older church properties throughout the City, that have been losingmembers over the past decade. The one thing they all have in common is that they areall great redevelopment sites. I know in a previous version of the Inventory List, thesesites were considered to be included, but then later taken off the list.

16. School District Properties

a. While there are many School Districts in the Bay Area (of all shapes and sizes), I am notaware of any pending school closures in Saratoga. I think it would be highly challengingto consider any of these sites that are currently operating schools. Has the City had anyconversations with any of these schools? Schools are similar to Parks…once they areredeveloped, you will never get them back.

Thank you for the opporutnity to communicate these thoughts with you. Scott

From: Tina WaliaTo: Karthikeyan Ganesan; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; James Lindsay; PlanningSubject: Re: Housing element: Please add one more opportunity site and suggestion on the approach to decision makingDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 10:43:41 AM

Hello Karthikeyan,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Karthikeyan Ganesan Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 10:39 AMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>; Britt Avrit <[email protected]>; James Lindsay<[email protected]>; Planning <[email protected]>Subject: Housing element: Please add one more opportunity site and suggestion on the approach todecision making CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Hi Saratoga council members/Staff,I am a resident of the Saratoga village neighborhood. Based on the housing element reporttowards discussion on Jan 28th, there are new potential sites added based on suggestionsfrom community members - "After the January 20 meeting, Councilmember Kumar requestedthat maps be included for each suggested site sent to the City Council by community

members.". Based on this, I would like the council/staff to add the sites in Cox/Paseo Presada

as an opportunity site (these were arbitrarily dropped in the lead up to the Jan 19th meeting).This is a large lot located close to major expressways/freeways/thoroughfares. The pros andcons of this would have already been studied but let's have this on the table and have thecouncil make a decision like the other sites newly added.

I urge the council to make a data-driven decision based on infrastructure available, WUIelements, proximity to freeways/expressways/shopping centers/public transportation.Saratoga has never been an urban city and what the state is asking us to do is absurd. But ifwe want to take up urban planning, it should be based on concentrated development in onearea and improving the infrastructure/public transportation there instead of distributing iteverywhere (infrastructure cannot be improved everywhere).

If the council wants to decide based on community input, then let's put the options (Dec 14th,Jan 10th, Jan 19th, or any other proposals) in a ballot and have all of the residents vote on it.You cannot sway in your decisions in each council meeting based on different neighborhoodrepresentation (which is driven by Nextdoor/Whatsapp propaganda and misinformation).

Thanks,Karthik

From: Tina WaliaTo: Kuang-Yu WangCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Housing Element/Prospect CenterDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 11:03:03 PM

Hello Kuang,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Kuang-Yu WangSent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:31 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>Subject: Housing Element/Prospect Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Mayor Walia:

As a resident in the Prides Crossing neighborhood of Saratoga for 20+ years, we want to voiceour strong opposition to change the Saratoga Prospect Center to Low Income Housing(Housing Element). About 15 years ago, residents in Saratoga voted 75% in favor of purchasing the property forpublic use. Thus the site has been changed from a church to a community center since then. It has played a critical function for our community to hold activities.

The change in Kevin Moran Park years ago in this neighborhood is a prime example of whatwill happen to the community: too many cars parking on both sides of the street causingdriving hazard; people outside of this neighborhood running the stops signs near the park, toname just a few. Once the Housing Element is put in place, we can anticipate substantialincrease of traffic congestion on Prospect Road, and potentially increased noise/disturbance inthe neighborhood. Please take our opinion seriously and do not put the Saratoga Prospect Center on the list! Sincerely,Kuang-Yu Wang

From: Tina WaliaTo: Patricia HimelCc: Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; [email protected]; Rishi Kumar; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio;

James Lindsay; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Housing in Saratoga VillageDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 11:36:05 AM

Hello Patricia,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Patricia Himel Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 11:32 AMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>Cc: Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald<[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar<[email protected]>Subject: Housing in Saratoga Village CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when openingattachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Dear Saratoga City Council Members,

I understand the pressure all of you are under to find places for more housing in Saratoga. However,by putting more dense housing in the already dense area of the Village should not be an answer. Thehigher buildings and increase in traffic would destroy any of the ambience of our Historic Village.Every possible place on Big Basin Way has condos except the Buy and Save area. We need to findand keep retail in our town. With all the new housing on Saratoga Avenue and De Anza Blvd, wewill have to drive many more miles for groceries and other shopping. Please bring those things to

our Village and not more dense housing. Please consider what the City of Saratoga would lose bydamaging our beautiful and unique Saratoga Village.


Patricia Himel

From: Tina WaliaTo: Gordon Ko; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Housing Proposed at Prospect CenterDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 7:40:31 PM

Hello Gordon,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Gordon Ko <Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 7:20 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Subject: Housing Proposed at Prospect Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Hi All,

My name is Gordon Ko. I live in since year 2000. My house is adjacentto the Prospect Center.

The Prospect Center is not an appropriated location for high density building, the campus isnot enough to hold over 100 units particular the parking space. The only available parking

space will be the two sides of the Prospect Road which can be a possible root cause for thetraffic accident if too many cars and people around there. The other approach to provideenough parking space is to have the Developer spend extra money to dig into the ground 4 or5 levels. Anyway the underground garage can bring other issues such as the stability of theswimming pools, the liquefaction of the soil because of the un-balanced weight of the on-ground structures around the neighborhood.

More than 70% of the proposed units are already in the north of the Cox. We should have aplan to distribute the new houses evenly and let all Saratoga citizen share the sameopportunities together with those new residents in the near future

Thanks - Gordon Ko

From: Tina WaliaTo: Sharon Baab; Cc: Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; James Lindsay; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Input on Housing InitiativeDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 2:24:58 PM

Hello Sharon,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Sharon Baab Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 2:21 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>Cc: Subject: Input on Housing Initiative CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Hi Tina,

I have lived in Saratoga for almost 30 years and love the community, open space and all the trees.I know the citycouncil and you have very difficult decisions ahead and no one will be happy with the outcome.

Here is my feedback regarding the housing:

Is there any activity toward communities like Saratoga trying to get signatures for a ballot to give decisionmaking for housing back to local communities? If not, can we dispute the numbers given fire danger, etc?If we have to increase housing to the numbers communicated by the state, I would put the increasehousing in the peripheral (not the village and core area) and close to highway 85 entrances like Saratoga-

Sunnyvale/Prospect, Saratoga Avenue/Cox. In addition, on Saratoga-Sunnyvale there is a lot ofcommericial buildings and high density housing so does not impact the charm of Saratoga. Saratoga Avealready has a development project going on in Quito Village and there is vacant land where the pumpkinpatch is. Makes most sense to leverage that huge piece of land and its proximity to highway 85.I would place the heritage orchard off limits and limit development in the village to 2 stories to only specificareas (where the grocery store used to be and current zoning allowances) where it does not change theambiance of the village.Do not change the current height and acreage limits in the core housing areas so we destroy all ofSaratoga.

In summary, put housing growth in the peripheral areas which are close the highway 85 entrances and incommercial area. Do NOT change current zoning the the village and core areas as we don’t want to destroy all ofSaratoga. If you take the approach of “spreading” the housing numbers across all of Saratoga we will havenothing special left in the city.

I am willing to volunteer in any way if the city is looking for residents to help.

Best,

Sharon Lesko Baab

From: Tina WaliaTo: City Council; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan Zhao; James Lindsay; Crystal Bothelio; Kookie Fitzsimmons;

Britt AvritCc: Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Input for City Council Workshop - Housing Element - Jan 28, 2022Date: Thursday, January 27, 2022 12:03:17 PM

Hello Glenda,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Housing Element Update. Your comments will be

included in the record. The Council will further study this issue in a Council Workshop on January 28,

2022, starting at 9 am. You can access the meeting by using Zoom or calling in:


Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: City Council <[email protected]>Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 12:00 PMTo: Mary-Lynne Bernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; YanZhao <[email protected]>; James Lindsay <[email protected]>; Crystal Bothelio<[email protected]>; Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons<[email protected]>; Britt Avrit <[email protected]>Subject: FW: Input for City Council Workshop - Housing Element - Jan 28, 2022

From: Glenda Aune Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 12:00:31 PM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)To: City Council <[email protected]>; James Lindsay <[email protected]>; DebbiePedro <[email protected]>Subject: Input for City Council Workshop - Housing Element - Jan 28, 2022


Dear City Council,

I have lived in Saratoga for over 35 years, and I participated in the Housing Surveyand Community Meetings last year.

I have three concerns regarding properties that you are considering for high densityhousing.

1/ The Council is on a very slippery slope, literally, if you consider hillside propertiessuch as Pierce Road, Montalvo, Hakone, and the Country Club for high densityhousing. These properties are all in very high wildfire areas and all are located onnarrow, winding rural roads that cannot handle additional traffic. How will youmitigate these risks - build new roads, for example?

If you allow high density development on just one of these hillside properties,you open the door for all the Hillsides and the Village to be high density. Howwill you tell anyone "no" after you open the door? You will not be able to shutthis door.

Saratoga Residents have voted to keep the Hillsides "residential low density." You cannot just override the voters.

Wildfire season is now year round, not just in the fall. AND, studies of recentwildfires conclude that clustered housing should be avoided in high wildfireareas because it puts large numbers of people in harms way during a wildfireemergency and lives may be lost if people cannot escape the fire.

2/ Residents have asked that Argonaut Shopping Center be zoned "commercial" inorder to save the only grocery store and other services that are close to many of uswho live in this area. Zoning this property "mixed use" opens the door for SB 35which could result in the closure of these important services.

3/ Residents of the Hillsides have asked that the intersection of Pierce andSunnyvale/Saratoga Road where the bagel shop is located be protected from highdensity housing. This intersection is one of the very few exits for Hillside residents. Housing is okay, just not high density. Traffic generated by high density housing atthis intersection can put residents at risk in the event of an emergency evacuationfrom the Hillsides.


Glenda Aune

From: Tina WaliaTo: Drew Morrish; Rishi Kumar; Yan Zhao; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne BernaldCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: [email protected], [email protected],[email protected]: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 7:45:43 PM

Hello Andrew and Isobel,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Drew Morrish Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 12:36 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald<[email protected]>Subject: [email protected], [email protected], CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council members,

I am writing to you to express my great concern and objections to the Saratoga planfor housing expansion.

While I support the need to increase affordable housing in Saratoga, the plan that hasbeen proposed so far, which forces all development into the North Saratoga area, isunbalanced and very poorly conceived. I agree with just about all the comments thathave been voiced by people critical of this plan, such as Rishi Kumar.

Such a massive growth will cause havoc to the social fabric of this area, puttingenormous stress on the local schools - which are NOT even part of the Saratogaschool district! It stands to reason that the increased load for the schools should bespread fairly across the school districts, and thus should be a huge factor inconsidering housing expansion. One of the major schools that would need to supportsuch growth is Prospect High School This school is already situated at the busiesttraffic cross section in Saratoga where serious and even fatal accidents haveoccurred in the past. Forcing more traffic and more students into this area will withoutdoubt result in more accidents, potentially to the youngest members of our society.

With reference to the traffic speed study recently conducted by Saratoga City Council,Saratoga avenue is already at the top of the list regarding traffic volume by a largemargin:

Without a doubt, the traffic along Saratoga Avenue will go from bad to terrible withthis proposed development. People living on streets that feed onto Saratoga Avenue,such as the whole of the Saratoga Woods Area, already find it very difficult to enteron to Saratoga Ave during commute times. This will become virtually impossible, tothe point of being dangerous if traffic is allowed to rise exponentially with the dramaticand lopsided housing increase per the initial proposals.

I hope the City Council will take heed of just how unpopular their initial proposalshave been, and scrap these initial plans in favor of a much more balanced and fair

approach distributed housing in Saratoga.

Thanks

Andrew and Isobel Morrish

From: Tina WaliaTo: Harry LeeCc: Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; James Lindsay; Debbie Pedro; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Last Chance [Re: Proposal to add Low Income Housing Units at Prospect Center]Date: Thursday, January 27, 2022 10:26:49 AM

Hello Harry,

Thank you for your thoughts on the Housing Element Update. Your comments will be included in the record. The Council will further study this issue in

a Council Workshop on January 28, 2022, starting at 9 am. You can access the meeting by using Zoom or calling in:


Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833

You can also learn more about the City’s efforts to update the Housing Element and subscribe to the Housing Element Newsletter to stay engaged on

this topic on the City website at www.saratoga.ca.us/housing

Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Harry Lee Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 9:20 AMTo: [email protected] <[email protected]>Cc: Yan Zhao <[email protected]>; Tina Walia <[email protected]>Subject: Fwd: Last Chance [Re: Proposal to add Low Income Housing Units at Prospect Center] CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especiallyfrom unknown senders.

To all city Council ,It would be best to choose option 1 namely Redesigning and Revitalizing the Saratoga Village which can house all required 1700Units .My 2nd option would be move the Saratoga City office to Prospect Center and use the current Saratoga City office space for Multi - storiedbuilding .Regards,Harry Lee and family

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Anoop KumarDate: January 27, 2022 at 12:26:23 AM PST

Subject: Last Chance [Re: Proposal to add Low Income Housing Units at Prospect Center]

Dear Neighbors, I hear that a lot of concerned residents have already emailed. If you haven't already done so, please do it tomorrow. I’m attaching theflyer again with this email. But we need to keep the pressure on. Friday is our last chance. Even more important would be to dial into the meeting on Friday to express your opinion. I am told that public testimony would startaround 10 AM. You might have to wait a bit to speak but it would be worth it. There is no other way to do this. We need at least 50people to speak against this proposal of using Prospect Center. Please do your bit to save Prospect Center. Here are the zoom details. Webinar URL: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82033650673Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673 Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833

From: Tina WaliaTo: nansen dsaCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: LOW INCOME HOUSING IN SARATOGADate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 12:12:13 AM

Hello Nansen,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: nansen dsa Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 11:59 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>Subject: LOW INCOME HOUSING IN SARATOGA CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Maam,I've lived in Saratoga for over 35 years in two separate locations. I moved herebecause of the low crime, good schools, and quality of life.I am very upsat by the decisions I hear you are considering in re: to the low incomehousing issue. I am particularly concerned about your decision to consider theProspect center as a potential location. There are already schools in this area, thereare shops/restautants in and around Prospect, rumor has it that San Jose is planningto open a COSTCO at prospect/Lawrence Expressway.....opening a major lowincome housing complex on Prospect will cause major traffic issues and possibleincrease the level of crime that's already growing in this great cityI would recommend moving the Saratoga offices to the Prospect center, which is ideal

for holding classes and setting up offices. And then I would recommend building thelow income housing in

1. the place of the current saratoga offices/ orchard area2. Argonaut shopping center3. In the Saratoga village area

Crime, traffic flow, congestion, quality of life for ALL Saratogans should be key driversof this decision.Thank you for considering this view.Best regards,Nansen D'Sa

From: Tina WaliaTo: Henry Tan; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Low income housing project on Prospect RoadDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 9:33:36 PM

Hello Henry,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Henry Tan Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 8:05 PMTo: Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald<[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>; Tina Walia <[email protected]>Subject: Low income housing project on Prospect Road CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

City Council of Saratoga Councils,

I am a Saratoga citizen for more than 25 years. My resident's address is on Saratoga. I see the city has been a beautiful and safe environment for our

home. We appreciate the community’s work for keeping the environment so well; in addition, the whole community and residents effort to work together to make Saratoga city to keep it’s value and tradition way of the town that our residences are proud of.

The community center on Prospect road is one of the important parts of our community living circle. We have many seniors and families who need to have this type of center for gathering purposes.








Sincerely,

ShaoKang Tan

Sent from my iPhone

From: Tina WaliaTo: Hank LuCc: Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; James Lindsay; Debbie Pedro; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Low income housing/prospectDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 1:36:19 PM

Hello Hank,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Hank Lu Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 1:06 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>Subject: Low income housing/prospect CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.I live in Saratoga for 32 years, and recently I learned that the City is considering adding theProspect Center to the list of low incoming housing project.I strongly oppose this idea. The Prospect Center is meant for public use only and is a preciousasset of the city. Furthermore, it is nested in residential area. The area was not designed tohandle high traffic, congestion and noise resulting from such a development.Please take my opinion seriously and do not put the Prospect Center on the list.

Sincerely

Hank Lu

From: Tina WaliaTo: Mohini Balakrishnan; Yan Zhao; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Kookie Fitzsimmons; James Lindsay; Debbie

PedroCc: Crystal Bothelio; Britt AvritSubject: Re: Please remove Pierce/ Sunnyvale saratoga intersection sites from possible housing opportunity list.Date: Thursday, January 27, 2022 10:24:40 AM

Hello Mohini,

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on the Housing Element Update. Your

comments will be included in the record. The Council will further study this issue in a Council

Workshop on January 28, 2022, starting at 9 am. You can access the meeting by using Zoom or

calling in:


Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Mohini Balakrishnan Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 9:35 AMTo: Yan Zhao <[email protected]>; Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald<[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons<[email protected]>; James Lindsay <[email protected]>; Debbie Pedro<[email protected]>Subject: Please remove Pierce/ Sunnyvale saratoga intersection sites from possible housingopportunity list. CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Dear council members,

We would first like to thank and commend the city officials and council for the arduous hoursand effort that they have put into the meetings to answer questions from residents. While weunderstand the pressures and challenges that you face from Sacramento to perform on thishousing bill, we also urge you to be creative and responsible in your choice of opportunitysites with minimum impact to residents.

1. Kindly remove the bagel/ pet shop strip mall and Argonaut shopping center at theintersection of Pierce Road and Sunnyvale /Saratoga Road from your potentialhousing opportunity sites list for the housing element.

We are sure that you are already well aware of the wild fire dangers and risks that exist in thehillsides, and the need and necessity to keep evacuation routes from Pierce road ontoSunnyvale Saratoga free.There are already traffic bottle necks and jams with Pierce road being a single lane countryroad and barely able to keep up with current resident traffic.We are sure you will agree that this would not be a good opportunity site and would not be aprudent choice given the risks it would pose to residents

2. We urge you in parallel to take the necessary actions and steps to push back on this billthrough ballot measures. The horrific impact to Saratoga’s already fragile infrastructure,water, traffic and environmental impact becomes a serious concern by overcrowding alreadydeveloped areas. Besides who are we kidding? ….these developments will never really beaffordable in our areas. Developers will meet the criteria by offering a token number of unitsat the lower price and then afterwards the developers will rake in the money!! This bill onlyempowers the developers…!!!

3. Finally we would urge the council members to have a united front and to remain focused onthe task ahead and avoid finger pointing. This is a herculean task ahead of you. This is not atime for political posturing. This is when your primary responsibility is to your residents andmaking judicious decisions should be paramount.

Thank you, Mohini and Balu BalakrishnanVilla Oaks Lane

From: Tina WaliaTo: Gloria Tan; Kookie Fitzsimmons; [email protected]; Rishi Kumar; [email protected]: Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; James LindsaySubject: Re: Proposal for Housing ProjectDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 9:02:20 AM

Hello Gloria,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Gloria Tan Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 8:35 AMTo: Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; [email protected]<[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Tina Walia<[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>Subject: Proposal for Housing Project CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.I have been a Saratoga citizen for all of my life - 19 years. My resident's address is on I see the city has been a beautiful and safe environment for our home. We appreciate the community’s work for keeping the environment so well; in addition, the whole community and residents effort to work together to make Saratoga city to keep it’s value and tradition way of the town that our residences are proud of.

The community center on Prospect road is one of the important parts of our

community living circle. We have many seniors and families who need to have this type of center for gathering purposes.








From: Tina WaliaTo: Anthony HoffmanCc: Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; James Lindsay; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Prospect Center housingDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 2:18:03 PM

Hello Anthony,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Anthony Hoffman Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 2:16 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>Subject: Prospect Center housing CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Dear Honorable Saratoga City Council person Walia;

Building housing at the Prospect Center site on prospect Road is not a good plan forthe City.This property was given to the city by the Methodist Church for a community center,and 75% of the voters voted to retain it as such.To now sell it to developers for housing construction, is to undermine the likelihoodany other group or individual would ever donate real estate to the City of Saratoga.Also, since over 70% of the proposed housing is to go north of Cox Avenue, this

community center will be needed by those new residents.Thanks for your consideration of this,Anthony HoffmanSaratoga resident

IMPORTANT CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This communication is the confidential property of the sender and is intendedsolely for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. It may contain information that is proprietary, privileged or confidentialor otherwise legally exempt from disclosure.If you are not the intended recipient, you are prohibited from reading, printing, disclosing, copying, distributing or using any of thisinformation. If you are not the individual or entity to which it is addressed, or have received this communication in error, please contactthe sender immediately and destroy all copies of the communication in its entirety, in any form it appears in whether electronic orotherwise. This communication could contain non-public personal information regarding consumers subject to restrictions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.Recipient is not to directly or indirectly reuse or re-disclose the information contained herein for any purpose except to provide thespecific reasons for which you are receiving the information.

From: Tina WaliaTo: Vinod Nagarajan; Yan Zhao; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Kookie Fitzsimmons; James Lindsay; Debbie

PedroCc: Britt Avrit; Crystal BothelioSubject: Re: Removing Pierce/ Sunnyvale saratoga intersection sites from housing opportunity list.Date: Thursday, January 27, 2022 11:19:38 AM

Hello Ramani and Vinod,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Vinod Nagarajan Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 10:50 AMTo: Yan Zhao <[email protected]>; Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald<[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons<[email protected]>; James Lindsay <[email protected]>; Debbie Pedro<[email protected]>Subject: Removing Pierce/ Sunnyvale saratoga intersection sites from housing opportunity list. CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Dear Council Members,

While we understand the pressures and challenges that you face from Sacramento to performon this housing bill, we also urge you to be creative and responsible in your choice ofopportunity sites with minimum impact to residents.

1. Please remove the bagel/ pet shop strip mall and Argonaut shopping center at theintersection of Pierce Road and Sunnyvale /Saratoga Road from your potential housingopportunity sites list for the housing element.

We are sure that you are already well aware of the wild fire dangers and risks that exist in thehillsides, and the need and necessity to keep evacuation routes from Pierce road ontoSunnyvale Saratoga open and free. There are already traffic bottle necks and jams with Pierceroad being a single lane country road and barely able to keep up with current resident traffic. We are sure you will agree that this would not be a good opportunity site and would not be aprudent choice given the risks it would pose to residents

2. We urge you in parallel to take the necessary actions and steps to push back on thisbill through ballot measures.

The horrific impact to Saratoga’s already fragile infrastructure, water, traffic andenvironmental impact becomes a serious concern by overcrowding already developed areas.Besides who are we kidding? ….these developments will never really be affordable in ourareas. Developers will meet the criteria by offering a token number of units at the lower priceand then afterwards the developers will rake in the money!! This bill only empowers thedevelopers…!!!

3. Finally we would urge the council members to have a united front and to remainfocused on the task ahead and avoid finger pointing.

This is not a time for political posturing. This is when your primary responsibility is to yourresidents and making judicious decisions should be paramount.

We would first like to thank and commend the city officials and council for the arduous hoursand effort that they have put into the meetings to answer questions from residents.

Thank you,

Vinod Nagarajan & Nandini RamaniSaratoga Heights Drive

From: Tina WaliaTo: William Fisher; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Rishi Kumar; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Yan ZhaoCc: Debbie Pedro; James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal BothelioSubject: Re: rhna plansDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 10:47:45 AM

Hello Phoebe and William,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: William Fisher Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 10:44 AMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar<[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Cc: Debbie Pedro <[email protected]>; James Lindsay <[email protected]>Subject: rhna plans CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Mayor and Council Members,

On July 17th, 2017, I returned home from work to find that the sheriff had cordoned off accessto Mt Eden and our community. I watched from a distance as helicopters made drops on afire that was raging on Mt. Eden. At the time there were fires burning all of the state andmany homes and structures had already been lost. Luckily, the fire departments had the MtEden blaze under control by evening and we could return to our homes, unblemished. Thesefire risks are not theoretical.

Most summer and fall evenings, when the Mountain winery events conclude, a stream traffictravels down Pierce and backs up at Sunnyvale Saratoga. This is a rather orderly exodus, not achaotic evacuation through smoke and fire. The traffic issues on our single lane road are nottheoretical.

We would ask that as you plan to satisfy the State's demands that consider the known facts ofour situation and not put our lives at risk.

Phoebe & William Fisher


Britt AvritCc: Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Saratoga Housing Element Compliance - Retain Prospect Center as a Community CenterDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 11:01:39 PM

Hello Nikhil,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: City Council <[email protected]>Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:42 PMTo: Mary-Lynne Bernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; YanZhao <[email protected]>; James Lindsay <[email protected]>; Crystal Bothelio<[email protected]>; Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons<[email protected]>; Britt Avrit <[email protected]>Subject: FW: Saratoga Housing Element Compliance - Retain Prospect Center as a CommunityCenter

From: Nikhil Kelkar Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:41:57 PM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)To: City Council <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Tina Walia<[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald<[email protected]>; Yan Zhao <[email protected]>Subject: Saratoga Housing Element Compliance - Retain Prospect Center as a Community Center

CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Saratoga Council Members,



Sincerely,

Nikhil Kelkar

Saratoga Resident


Britt AvritCc: Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Saratoga Housing Element Compliance - Retain Prospect Center as a Community CenterDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 11:02:13 PM

Hello Deepali,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: City Council <[email protected]>Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:45 PMTo: Mary-Lynne Bernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; YanZhao <[email protected]>; James Lindsay <[email protected]>; Crystal Bothelio<[email protected]>; Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons<[email protected]>; Britt Avrit <[email protected]>Subject: FW: Saratoga Housing Element Compliance - Retain Prospect Center as a CommunityCenter

From: deepali mhaiskar Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:45:41 PM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)To: City Council <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Tina Walia<[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald<[email protected]>; Yan Zhao <[email protected]>Subject: Saratoga Housing Element Compliance - Retain Prospect Center as a Community Center

CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Saratoga Council Members,



Sincerely,

Deepali Mhaiskar

Saratoga Resident

From: Tina WaliaTo: Lars Majlof; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; [email protected]: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Saratoga Prospect CenterDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 7:43:09 PM

Hello Lars,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Lars Majlof Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 6:29 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>;[email protected] <[email protected]>Subject: Saratoga Prospect Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear City Council member,I has been brought to my attention that the City Council is considering using the land on which theSaratoga Prospect Center on which the Center resides, to satisfy the State Mandated HousingElement.As a long time Saratoga resident, I do recall how the city at an earlier time tried to sell the propertyto developers. At that time the citizens of Saratoga voted overwhelmingly to retain the facility as acommunity center rather than have it developed into housing.

Today, the Saratoga Prospect Center is used nearly every day because it is one of only two suchvenues in the City.I feel strongly that the Saratoga Prospect center is a valuable resource that should be kept as such toserve not only the current residents but also the new families that will move into our city as a resultof the Housing Element. Best Regards,Lars MajlofResident of Saratoga.

From: Tina WaliaTo: Samir Mitra; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Rishi Kumar; Yan Zhao; Mary-Lynne BernaldCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: SB35 -- Another thought from the Douglass Neighborhood.Date: Thursday, January 27, 2022 1:34:55 AM

Hello Samir, Thank you for writing to the City Council. I believe that you are referring to the Housing Element.Consequently, I have asked staff to include your comments in the record. The Council will furtherstudy this issue in a Council Workshop on January 28, 2022, starting at 9 am. The workshopagenda and attached resources are available on the City’s website. You can access the meeting byusing Zoom or calling in:

Webinar URL: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82033650673Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833

You can also learn more about the City’s efforts to update the Housing Element and subscribe to theHousing Element Newsletter to stay engaged on this topic on the City websiteat www.saratoga.ca.us/housing Regards,Tina WaliaMayor, City of Saratoga

From: Samir Mitra Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 12:47 AMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar<[email protected]>; Yan Zhao <[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald<[email protected]>Cc: Samir Mitra Subject: SB35 -- Another thought from the Douglass Neighborhood. CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Hello Mayor Walia and members of the Saratoga city council,

I am the owner of a home on , Saratoga - Samir Mitra.

I wanted to record my comments to the city council regarding SB35 and it’s impact to ourSaratoga community.

We in Saratoga need to undertake actions that our sister towns like Los Gatos, Los Altos etchave undertaken to ensure Sacramento doesn’t mandate requirements to our local housingzoning, regulations and requirements. Our housing approach is our city business not

Sacramento’s.

It is time now we take a position to reject or fight any Sacramento enforced mandates on us. Iwould like to see this council undertake concrete actions in this manner, rather than spendingendless cycles of identifying locations for SB35, seeking comments etc, whose process ispitting a specific neighborhood against other specific neighborhoods in our city. Your SB35process underway is dividing our city DEEPLY. It can cause irreparable harm to theconfidence and trust in our city leaders and residents whose engagement, harmony and supportis paramount to building our future together.

Instead your energies should be spent on ending Sacramento calling the shots in our city, justlike other sister towns are doing. Just follow those examples and interact with those town’scouncils members so we can unite a coalition of towns to reject and fight Sacramentomandates. Thats what I expect our Saratoga city council should undertake NOW.

Thanks.

Best Regards,

-samir

Samir Mitra

This electronic mail (including any attachments) may contain information that isprivileged, confidential, and/or otherwise protected from disclosure to anyoneother than its intended recipient(s). Any dissemination or use of this electronicemail or its contents (including any attachments) by persons other than theintended recipient(s) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message inerror, please notify us immediately by reply email so that we may correct ourinternal records. Please then delete the original message (including anyattachments) in its entirety. Thank you

From: Tina WaliaTo: Ashok Krishnamurthi; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: BV Jagadeesh; Pravin Madhani; Navin Chaddha; Samir Mitra; Praveen Akkiraju; Chet Kapoor;

James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio;Debbie Pedro

Subject: Re: SB35 -- Thoughts of the Douglass Neighborhood.Date: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 6:02:19 PM

Hello Ashok, Happy New Year to you as well.

Thank you for writing to the City Council. I believe that you are referring to the Housing Element.Consequently, I have asked staff to include your comments in in the record. The Council will furtherstudy this issue in a Council Workshop on January 28, 2022, starting at 9 am. The workshopagenda and attached resources are available on the City’s website. You can access the meeting byusing Zoom or calling in:


You can also learn more about the City’s efforts to update the Housing Element and subscribe to theHousing Element Newsletter to stay engaged on this topic on the City websiteat www.saratoga.ca.us/housing Sincerely,Tina WaliaMayor, City of Saratoga

From: Ashok Krishnamurthi Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 12:05 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Cc: BV Jagadeesh ; Pravin Madhani ; Navin Chaddha

; Samir Mitra < Praveen Akkiraju; Chet Kapoor

; Deepa Iyengar

Subject: SB35 -- Thoughts of the Douglass Neighborhood. CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Mayor Walia and members of the city council,

Happy new year.

I want to voice my opinion along with the entire Douglas lane neighborhood.

The city council has approached the SB35 issue in my opinion, by essentially dividing theSaratoga community and pitting neighborhood against neighborhood.

I don't blame folks wanting to protect their neighborhood from buildings, it's only natural.

The real enemy here is Sacramento. Why is it that the city council is not putting up a unitedfront to fight Sacramento. We cannot have state politicians decide how and what we do in ourcity.

I am more than happy to fund a campaign to fight Sacramento like other cities have done, forexample Atherton, Los Altos or Los Gatos.

Please let's not have non interested Sacramento politicians divide and conquer us.

Regards

Ashok Krishnamurthi

This electronic mail (including any attachments) may contain information that is privileged,confidential, and/or otherwise protected from disclosure to anyone other than its intendedrecipient(s). Any dissemination or use of this electronic email or its contents (including anyattachments) by persons other than the intended recipient(s) is strictly prohibited. If you havereceived this message in error, please notify us immediately by reply email so that we maycorrect our internal records. Please then delete the original message (including anyattachments) in its entirety. Thank you


Britt Avrit; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Thoughts regarding Housing ElementsDate: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 7:42:31 PM

Hello Zongjun,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: City Council <[email protected]>Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 7:08 PMTo: Mary-Lynne Bernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; YanZhao <[email protected]>; James Lindsay <[email protected]>; Crystal Bothelio<[email protected]>; Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons<[email protected]>; Britt Avrit <[email protected]>Subject: FW: Thoughts regarding Housing Elements

From: Zongjun Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 7:07:25 PM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)To: City Council <[email protected]>Subject: Thoughts regarding Housing Elements

CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Hi,

I attended twice the Zoom meetings for Housing Elements. All those who spoke during that meeting werecalling for units to be more spread out, for fairness.

I just want to share my thoughts. Folks need to keep in mind that the house prices are public figures whenthey buy houses, these price tags are not hidden for them. So folks know the golden triangle area is muchmore expensive than say Gateway or Woods area. And there is a reason for that. People want to paymore for better living environments.

When folks talk, it feels like they have been betrayed or biased. I don't think that is the right perspective.For people to pay 1 million more money to live in an expensive area to share the same new building is nota fair solution. Maybe one way to get more fair is to compare the total property prices of each area andsplit the burden according to the ratio.

Also, I think there are a few folks being way too rude during the last two meetings, so much so aspersonal attack for some council members. This is wrong. I would like in the subsequent meetings, wereiterate the speech rules of being polite.

Thank you!Zongjun

From: Tina WaliaTo: Mona Kaur-Freedland; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Rishi Kumar; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Yan ZhaoCc: Debbie Bretschneider; James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal BothelioSubject: Re: Why include Pierce Road junction in the list of possible housing sites again?Date: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 7:43:51 PM

Hello Mona,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Mona Kaur-FreedlandSent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 6:12 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar<[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Cc: Debbie Bretschneider <[email protected]>; James Lindsay <[email protected]>Subject: Why include Pierce Road junction in the list of possible housing sites again? CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Mayor Walia and Council members,

I am very surprised to see that the City staff has decided to add the Pierce/Sunnyvale Saratogajunction again as a possible opportunity site for the housing element. Many of us here in thehillsides have time and again pointed out that Pierce is one of the key arterial roads that is oneof the escape routes for the hillside residents in case of wildfire. We all know that the dangerfrom wildfire has only increased in recent years and each year we are on tenterhooks andstandby June - November in case we have to evacuate. Wildfires move very quickly and can

leave little room for change of plans or maneuvering. Pierce is a single lane road and youcannot even make a right on Sunnyvale Saratoga without being stuck behind a single line ofcars. In case of a wildfire scenario, this junction would be jampacked single laned with peopletrying to flee. What makes you think this is a good idea again?

The council itself agreed unanimously on Jan 10 that Pierce would be removed as a possiblesite. Now you go back on your own word and decision? What do we trust from the councilthen?

I am also surprised that City staff has not mentioned the aspect that Pierce is a wildfire escaperoute for Saratoga Hills in the "Cons" aspect of each site even though we have spoken about itnumerous times and the council itself took a decision to leave this site alone for this reason.Why this serious omission?

I request you to please stand by your unanimous decision on Jan 10 (all 5 of you voted yes)on removing Pierce junction as an opportunity site and direct city staff to remove this site fromthe additional sites for the housing elements.

Sincerely,

Mona Kaur-FreedlandHeber Way, Saratoga

From: Vivek TiwariTo: Britt Avrit; City CouncilSubject: Allendale Vineyard Lot should not be Housing Element Opportunity ListDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 3:35:43 PM


Pursuant to what I wrote earlier before the Jan 19th meeting.First, thanks to the council for a broader look on the Housing Element issue in the Friday 28th meeting.As you may recall, Allendale Vineyard was added late, without opportunity for community comment, to theHousing Element List on Dec 14th. It is incorrect to say that the site has "No Cons" as the amended Dec14th materials say. Since we became aware of it, all the neighbors of this property are very concernedabout its negative impact. As the input from Saratoga citizens shows, there are lots of opportunities inareas which are already paved over. 24 high income homes in a heritage green space will do nothing tomeet the State's mandate. And if the current owner wants to develop the property, it should beconsidered as a separate decision by the Council with opportunity for community input and to keep itconsistent with zoning of the neighborhood south of Allendale, and with protection of Vasona Creek andheritage trees.

Thank you,Vivek Tiwari

PS: Prior noteI strongly urge the Saratoga City Council to reject the proposal to change the zoning of the AllendaleVineyard lot from Agriculture to R-1-20,000. This vineyard is one of the last remaining areas of Saratogathat preserves the unique agricultural heritage of Saratoga. Its places like this that make Saratoga sounique and the most desirable city in the whole of the Bay Area. Its one of the last reminders that we livein the "Valley of Heart's Desire". The reason Saratoga is so sought after is the unique quality of life itoffers, among the last few verdant, natural urban spaces. This lot has a creek at its boundary that is acorridor for wildlife from the foothills down to creeks further downstream. These natural wetlands make upthe special mosaic of Saratoga. All of that is in jeopardy if this rezoning is proposed. Our City will becomejust another cookie cutter city with no links to its rich past, or the opportunity for the future. It is a short-sighted move that will do lasting damage to the quality of life and unique environment of our beloved City.Please reject this proposal.

From: James LindsayTo: Crystal Bothelio; Britt Avrit; Debbie PedroSubject: Fwd: Input for City Council Workshop - Housing Element - Jan 28, 2022Date: Thursday, January 27, 2022 4:39:05 PM

From: Glenda AuneSent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 4:31:17 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; James Lindsay <[email protected]>Subject: Fwd: Input for City Council Workshop - Housing Element - Jan 28, 2022


Hi,

I just want to make sure someone sees my input for the Housing Element opportunities list.

I am very concerned about including any hillside properties on the opportunities list for highdensity housing. Allowing high density housing on just one property in our hillsides opens thedoor for more and more dense housing to be developed in these high wildfire areas. And youwill not be able to shut the door. And this will put lives at risk in an emergency evacuation. And this overrides the voters who voted fir low density housing in our hillsides.

Please do not allow this happen

Thank you,

Glenda Aune

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Glenda Aune Date: January 27, 2022 at 12:00:31 PM PSTTo: City Council <[email protected]>, James Lindsay<[email protected]>, Debbie Pedro <[email protected]>Subject: Input for City Council Workshop - Housing Element - Jan 28, 2022

Dear City Council,

I have lived in Saratoga for over 35 years, and I participated in theHousing Survey and Community Meetings last year.

I have three concerns regarding properties that you are considering forhigh density housing.

1/ The Council is on a very slippery slope, literally, if you consider hillsideproperties such as Pierce Road, Montalvo, Hakone, and the Country Clubfor high density housing. These properties are all in very high wildfireareas and all are located on narrow, winding rural roads that cannothandle additional traffic. How will you mitigate these risks - build newroads, for example?

If you allow high density development on just one of these hillsideproperties, you open the door for all the Hillsides and the Village tobe high density. How will you tell anyone "no" after you open thedoor? You will not be able to shut this door.

Saratoga Residents have voted to keep the Hillsides "residential lowdensity." You cannot just override the voters.

Wildfire season is now year round, not just in the fall. AND, studiesof recent wildfires conclude that clustered housing should beavoided in high wildfire areas because it puts large numbers ofpeople in harms way during a wildfire emergency and lives may belost if people cannot escape the fire.

2/ Residents have asked that Argonaut Shopping Center be zoned"commercial" in order to save the only grocery store and other servicesthat are close to many of us who live in this area. Zoning this property"mixed use" opens the door for SB 35 which could result in the closure ofthese important services.

3/ Residents of the Hillsides have asked that the intersection of Pierce andSunnyvale/Saratoga Road where the bagel shop is located be protectedfrom high density housing. This intersection is one of the very few exitsfor Hillside residents. Housing is okay, just not high density. Trafficgenerated by high density housing at this intersection can put residents atrisk in the event of an emergency evacuation from the Hillsides.


Glenda Aune





Your Name Vivek Tiwari

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Allendale Vineyard Lot should not be Housing ElementOpportunity List

Comments Pursuant to what I wrote earlier before the Jan 19th meeting.First, thanks to the council for a broader look on the HousingElement issue in the Friday 28th meeting.As you may recall, Allendale Vineyard was added late, withoutopportunity for community comment, to the Housing Element Liston Dec 14th. It is incorrect to say that the site has "No Cons" asthe amended Dec 14th materials say. Since we became aware ofit, all the neighbors of this property are very concerned about itsnegative impact. As the input from Saratoga citizens shows,there are lots of opportunities in areas which are already pavedover. 24 high income homes in a heritage green space will donothing to meet the State's mandate. And if the current ownerwants to develop the property, it should be considered as aseparate decision by the Council with opportunity for communityinput and to keep it consistent with zoning of the neighborhoodsouth of Allendale, and with protection of Vasona Creek andheritage trees.

Thank you,Vivek Tiwari

PS: Prior noteI strongly urge the Saratoga City Council to reject the proposal tochange the zoning of the Allendale Vineyard lot from Agricultureto R-1-20,000. This vineyard is one of the last remaining areas ofSaratoga that preserves the unique agricultural heritage ofSaratoga. Its places like this that make Saratoga so unique andthe most desirable city in the whole of the Bay Area. Its one ofthe last reminders that we live in the "Valley of Heart's Desire".The reason Saratoga is so sought after is the unique quality of

life it offers, among the last few verdant, natural urban spaces.This lot has a creek at its boundary that is a corridor for wildlifefrom the foothills down to creeks further downstream. Thesenatural wetlands make up the special mosaic of Saratoga. All ofthat is in jeopardy if this rezoning is proposed. Our City willbecome just another cookie cutter city with no links to its richpast, or the opportunity for the future. It is a short-sighted movethat will do lasting damage to the quality of life and uniqueenvironment of our beloved City. Please reject this proposal.







Your Name Jim Foley

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Unfair Housing Element Petition Update

Comments Honorable Mayor and City Council:

In a very short time we have garnered almost 1300 signatures onour Housing Element petition - https://chng.it/wHTCYqLy

Those of us north of the railroad tracks in The Gateway andSaratoga/Cox areas are looking forward to tomorrow’s councilmeeting. We are hoping that you will arrive at a fair, just, andequitable solution to the Housing Element Update that will notdump the problem into 2 small areas. Impact to our schooldistricts must also be minimized as well. There are many viableparcels of land throughout Saratoga that can share in the burdenof this state mandated obligation.

RHNA/ABAG requirements state that “sites identified toaccommodate the lower income RHNA must be distributedthroughout the community in a manner that affirmatively furthersfair housing.” So far Saratoga has not met this obligation.

Please be fair to all Saratogans and share this burden equally.







Your Name Patricia Moore

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Housing Element site suggestions and feedback

Comments Council Members,Like many, I was deeply troubled by the last meetings on theHousing Element proposal. First, I want to thank Congresswoman Zhao for being proactive and supportive to the entireSaratoga community. It is obvious that this is a tough decisionbut you do have to look at the big picture down the road.Saratoga/Quito area cannot support the majority of the housingproposed originally as everyone has said. It is unfair thatSacramento doesn’t take into consideration facts like cities withlittle commercial space to begin with. That is a moot point unlesswe can push back on them. In the meantime, we need equalimpact throughout the city and the school districts. Below aresome considerations that seem like good area to “spread thepain” without impacting any one area.

1) Jake’s of Saratoga, Coldwell Banker, Public Storage, andfuneral home sites seem to be perfect for mixed use housing. 2) I still think Saratoga Bagels site is also good for high-densityhousing. The Bagel shop would benefit from more foot traffic ifthey move to Argonaut or downtown. I am not clear why thatkeeps getting taken off the consideration list.3) Neal’s Hollow and adjacent commercial properties would alsobe perfect for mixed use. If senior housing, seniors would beclose to downtown. If family housing, the school district would getincreased enrollment which is declining. I believe this area couldbenefit from the added foot traffic. Again, why was this taken offthe consideration list?4) Downtown Village market site is perfect for mixed use and willbenefit the town that sorely needs revival. It is dying a slowdeath. Look how thriving Campbell is now.5) Since there is assisted living space going in behind the

pumpkin patch, the pumpkin patch could be “senior” housing. A“phase life approach”.6) I’m not sure about Gateway by Peet’s. It seems like it could benice mixed-use but the residents already live in high densityhousing. Across the street seems more feasible.7) I heard Villa Montalvo was suggested. We all know that won’thappen. Just the fire zoning alone will kill that. But is there spacealong highway 9 passed Villa Montalvo?

Spreading the load equitably among many areas might evenenable us to keep to a three story maximum and distributing thetraffic load on any one intersection. And you already know aboutwhat the Saratoga corridor is currently and what it will be onceCostco and El Paseo are developed. As Ron Leckie said, thesedevelopments alone “will stress Saratoga Avenue and ourneighborhoods beyond tolerance and safety. "

Coming to a fair and equitable decision would not only show “all”the citizens of Saratoga that you are supporting all of us andthinking of the long-term impact for all of its citizens.

Finally, as Mayor Walia has repeated several times, “the biggestchallenge the city of Saratoga has faced since its incorporation” -then why rush for closure to a self-induced early deadline on aclearly imbalanced plan that has generated an unprecedentednegative response from the citizens of Saratoga? Yes, it is hardbut we all love our community and want this to work for all itscitizens and its future managed growth.

Thank you for your consideration,Patricia Moore







Your Name Ron

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Low Income housing in our neighborhood

Comments While, as a 36 year resident of Saratoga, I'm not appeased toplacing additional housing in Saratoga, but the potential to usethe Argonaut Shopping Center as a site is most distressing. Thatshopping center is very important top the our residents. Safewayand CVS are vital to our community and the many seniors, Ibeing one of them. The loss of this shopping center with nonearby alternative would be a disaster to the town as many of usare dependent upon the resources that are there.







Your Name Heather Roberts

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Proposed apartment complex on Quito and Pollard

Comments I am a resident of this area for over 10 years I highly oppose aapartment complex to be placed on a small country road that isone way in and one way out , there’s already enough traffic withthe middle school and the high school I don’t see how we couldpossibly support a apartment complex with more cars ;the trafficwould be ridiculous and us the residence would be locked in forhours, please reconsider This would be absolutely insane andnot sustainable to pursue . Thank you







Your Name Lynn Telford

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Housing workshop Jan. 28. 2022

Comments 1) The agreement regarding the acquisition of Prospect Centerproperty should be followed. It was a special situation &allowance for Saratoga purchase. 2) I know the big projectsplanned for Prospect area (Lawrence, Saratoga Ave) are inanother city San Jose, & we can't control them. But it isnecessary for coordination for traffic, school. safety,environmental & infrastructure issues to have coordination &planning for the future. An area with constant too much traffic isnot an attractive site for shopping or buying a so-calledaffordable residence if it will take you a very long congested timeto get to work or to go shopping. And consideration needs to bemade to quality of life issues to residents already located in theseareas; even if not perfect, it shouldn't be made much worse forthem with deliveries etc. 3) Affordable housing does not seem tobe as automatic as politicians think it will be. Why woulddevelopers acquire & build if they can't charge going rates?There is already news from architect & developer that certain lotdivision in Palo Alto will result in homes in $5,000,000 range.







Your Name J. Sonnenschein


Email Address

Subject development of 3.5 acre parcel on Quito Rd at Pollard

Comments I am against increasing the scope & density of the property APN:403 22 016, 14076 Quito Rd. The property is zoned for 3 homes& that's all that should go in this unusual shaped site. Thedevelopment of 9.5b acres directly across the street wasapproved for 9 houses (with ADU's) & that's going to add to atraffic problem.Quito road is already a very narrow & heavily impacted by thetraffic from Marshall Lane, Rolling Hills & West Valley Collegeschools . It backs up to the San Thomas Aquinas Creek which isa protected area, the wildlife will be impacted by a developmentof more than 3 homes, Safety for pedestrians, commuters, andwildlife is not worth the risk.







Your Name Roberta Corson

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Housing on Quito and Pollard

Comments Totally oppose high density housing on this lot. Imagine thecongestion, the danger to school children, the destruction ofneighborhood feel. There are other places for high densityapartments. How about using existing shopping centers andbuilding up. (Like Bed and Bath center in SJ on Steven's Creekor Santana Row. Absolutely do not include any parks forhousing. They are part of our city treasures. Our neighborhoodwill vocally oppose this and oppose in the next elections any ofyou who vote for it. This is not for the good of Saratoga.







Your Name Wenchao Qian


Email Address

Subject New thoughts on housing elements

Comments Hi, I was thinking about the following few points on housingelements.

Root cause: The root cause of most people's concern about life quality, traffic,schools, crime and others is the housing density at eachcommunity. If we put more housing to a site that is already atvery high density, these problems will increase exponentially,and receive strong objections from the people in that community.

Solutions: One principal: Instead of evenly distribute the housing elements,let's evenly distribute the population density. This has thefollowing advantages: 1. For people in low population density locations, adding housingelements will minimize the impact on all problems mentionedabove. 2. For people in high population density locations, commercials,parks and other public sites are already highly utilized byneighboring people (which means life quality), will less likely tobe affected.

Additional solution: Partial allocation. Taking the orchard as an example, people aresaying this the icon of Saratoga. However, this site has big lotsize and the surrounding population density is low. Can weexplore the option of taking this site by part and keeping a smallportion of the orchard? If this is an option, can we also explorethis on other candidate sites?






Your Name Devyani Abhyankar

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Housing Element proposed sites

Comments HelloThis is an urgent appeal to not consider Argonaut shoppingcenter as one of the proposed sites for the Housing Element anddisplace the CVS or the Safeway or even the Pet Food Expressand Dr Dave's Vet office. These are essential places to have atwalking distance to this community and easy access for residentsof all ages. If removed, we will lose the option of walking to thisshopping center and instead will need to drive to San Jose orCupertino for basic amenities, This will increase the trafficdramatically for this area - especially with the proposed Costcoand Whole Foods and other big stores being proposed in the ElPaseo de Saratoga area. Additionally I would like to point out about the Dental office area -which is so small, it is impossible to design high density housingthat will fit with the rest of the community, also accommodatingparking in such a small lot.

Thank youDevyani AbhyankarNeighborhood Watch Group Captain for the Blauer-Regan AreaPlease consider this before any final decisions are made.







Your Name Rajendra Abhyankar

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Proposed sites for the Housing Element

Comments HelloThis is an urgent appeal to not consider Argonaut shoppingcenter as one of the proposed sites for the Housing Element anddisplace the CVS or the Safeway or even the Pet Food Expressand Dr Dave's Vet office. These are essential places to have atwalking distance to this community and easy access for residentsof all ages. If removed, we will lose the option of walking to thisshopping center and instead will need to drive to San Jose orCupertino for basic amenities, This will increase the trafficdramatically for this area - especially with the proposed Costcoand Whole Foods and other big stores being proposed in the ElPaseo de Saratoga area. Additionally I would like to point out about the Dental office area -which is so small, it is impossible to design high density housingthat will fit with the rest of the community, also accommodatingparking in such a small lot.

Please consider this before any final decisions are made.

Thank youRajendra Abhyankar







Your Name Elizabeth Grace

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Housing Proposal

Comments Please do not replace the Argonaut Shopping Center withhousing. This is the last grocery store and hardware store inSaratoga. Do we expect seniors to drive distances to the neareststore? Please distribute this burden to the southern parts of thecity as well. Thank you!

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Your Name Jody & Jon Sorensen

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Quito/Pollard development

Comments Please do not approve high density housing on the 3.5 acre lot atcorner of Quito Rd and Pollard. The landowners who onceproposed a school at this location are well aware residents donot want tall buildings or traffic congestion at this intersection.This is retribution from a couple bitter that they couldn't build aschool and are retaliating by proposing an even higher densityproject completely out of character with the neighborhood. I alsorequest that our little park not be sacrificed to a wealthy landlordwho doesn't even live here. Handing Friendship over to"Creekside" will be very degrading to the surrounding residentswho rejected their project the first time around.







Your Name Kevin Klemmick

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Housing Element Progress

Comments After attending several of the housing element meetings andreading through the various proposals, I wanted to offer somerare positive feedback regarding the progress. I feel that theproposals presented by your staff have been quite good,focusing largely on putting high density housing where there arealready larger roads and closer freeways and shopping. While Iunderstand people in those neighborhoods may not like thatdirection, it seems to this is the common sense way to add highdensity housing without adding the problem of increased traffic orhaving to widen existing roads. Since this is where the jobs andcommercial centers are, placing housing away from there willonly result in traffic throughout the city, impacting everyone.I'm happy to see various properties along Saratoga SunnyvaleRoad being considered (or reconsidered), as this seems likeanother good common sense place to put housing, particularlythe Saratoga Oaks Shopping Center which is close to a grocerystore and other multi-family homes.I know no one wants to change the nature of Saratoga or growunnecessarily, but we have to do our share and be goodneighbors to other cities who similarly are scared of change. Icongratulate your housing element staff at doing a good job sofar of thinking of practical places to put these new units which willminimize the need for commutes and is close to publictransportation.



Prospect Road: There is a large piece of empty property betweenthese two places of worship. Has this been considered forretirement community housing or other uses? Why has it notbeen placed into the plans?







Your Name Manish Pandey

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Housing element proposal


I have reviewed the proposed Housing Element Overviewdocument and am deeply concerned at the sites being chosenand the Pros and Cons comments. The process by which theanalysis is being done, and the factors which are beingconsidered are opaque or misinformed. 1. Omissions -- I do not see the pumpkin patch by Saratoga Avein the site list.2. Most of outskirts of Saratoga is a fire Hazard zone -- that isdue to the nature of the vegetation. Where is the analysis on anypossible mitigation measures that can be done for the site. Dothe state housing rules now require that new construction for thehousing element not be done here? If not, then these large areaswould be good new development areas, with suitable riskmitigation. There are many existing single family houses in firehazard zone. 3. Berrocal fault line --- minor faults that have perhaps lastmoved 10,000 years ago looks ridiculous. The Hayward and theSan Andreas present a substantially more risk.4. Montalvo Arts center -- why does the "Cons" include additionalanalysis to demonstrate feasibility of ? Why is this not true ofmost of the sites? Is there a bias towards not selecting specificsites?5. Argonaut Shopping Center -- this place is the only one inSaratoga where a safe reasonable grocery store and a pharmacyis available. Are we expecting the residents, especially theelderly to now go out of Saratoga to do shopping? I am troubledby the apparent watering down of the cons.

Much work needs to be done for the site selection and analysis,

and it is my sincere hope that the city council will put forward afair, transparent process to enable this.

Thanks,Manish







Your Name Eileen Zanardi

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject NO Building on Quito&Pollard!!!!!!

Comments This would destroy our small town neighborhood and beunsafe!!!!







Your Name Bhavesh B Patel

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Quito/Pollard: 4-Story Apartments

Comments Respected sir/madam,I believe this development is not a good idea. There is already alot of traffic congestion there as it is a single lane road. Also theaccess to Marshall Lane Elementary school is right across fromthis lot. This will put the safety of the kids going to school at risk.Please reconsider this proposal.Regards,Bhavesh Patel







Your Name CP Cherng


Email Address

Subject Quito/Pollard Proposed building

Comments Building four story apartment bldg in that already trafficcongested area is the worst urban planning possible. Expectincrease traffic fatalities, lower quality of living etc.







Your Name Peter Wyles


Email Address

Subject EIR Project Description for Housing Element - Quito/Pollard

Comments The idea of rezoning this plot of land to permit a significantnumber of duplexes to be built (40?) as well as the Citysuggesting converting Friendship Park for the same purpose, isbeyond ludicrous. This land is owned by an excessively wealthyex-Google executive who doesn't live in this neighborhood, andwho along with his former wife, tried to shove down our throatsan overbearing school campus on this same plot of land. Thatidea was defeated for all the right reasons, and the suggestionthat building a high number of duplexes is equally ridiculous andshould be rejected for all the same reasons. Nothing's changed.There will be issues with traffic (as there is now, which the Citybasically does nothing about), noise, destruction of heritage oaks/ trees, easement issues, parking issues, elimination of one ofvery few parks, more construction and congestion to an areaalready about to undergo significant development across thestreet and next to Marshall Lane, another large developmentwithin miles of the Quito Village and Westgate El Paseodevelopments. Should I even mention the Costco proposal?Where does it end? Everyone in this area has worked hard toobtain their small oasis from the madness around us, so why areyou determined to wreck it? Please be considerate and patient inthis process. The way the City is pursuing this issue is needlesslycreating division and anger among Saratogans. It's very sad. Itwill drive many away.







Your Name Elizabeth Zimmermann

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Proposed high density development at Quito/Pollard

Comments Esteemed Council Members, PLEASE evaluate the communityimpact of this proposal. There is a reason why a number ofprevious high density proposals on Quito between Highway 85and Pollard have been unsuccessful. I encourage you to visit therestful Friendship Park or any of our neighborhood intersectionsduring peak traffic hours (commute hours for residents and WestValley CC students/faculty/staff and regular school drop off andpick up Marshall Lane ES, Rolling Hills MS, Westmont HS). There is no opportunity to increase traffic capacity on QuitoRoad. Additionally the intersection at Pollard is multi-jurisdictional – dealing with these issues is something the citieshave been very poor at jointly navigating. Traffic-wise, we arealready severely impacted. Friendship Park is a valued walk-thrulocation and, as a named/official City park, preserves valuableCity space for OUR citizens and the children who use it to transitit safely to the local schools. We depend on YOU to represent allSaratoga fairly. There is no place along Quito Road betweenHighway 85 and Highway 9 that is suited for high density housingand the necessary traffic and school improvements.







Your Name Aslihan Celik


Email Address

Subject Saratoga City Housing planning comments

Comments 1. Argonaut shopping area needs to remain zoned as shopping.Saratoga cannot risk losing it to SB-35

2. People who will live at dense housing needs open spaces,parks and recreation facilities near by. They won’t have abackyard to escape to. You have to consider this.

3. We need a vision and a growth strategy for Saratoga. Thenthe criteria for choosing sites and zoning changes can follow.

4. West Valley College housing and SUSD/SHS employeehousing - this is win-win for the Saratoga community. Please doeverything you can to make it happen.







Your Name Eric Kies

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Development of Quito & Pollard

Comments I am absolutely opposed to the redevelopment being proposedand the changes to zoning at the corner of Quito and Pollard. Willamsolutely change the character of the neighborhood. I havelived on Ravenwood Dr in saratoga for approximately 30 years.







Your Name Xuenian Wang

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Against high density housing on Quito and Pollar corner

Comments Esteemed Council Members, PLEASE evaluate the communityimpact of this proposal. There is a reason why a number ofprevious high density proposals on Quito between Highway 85and Pollard have been unsuccessful. I encourage you to visit therestful Friendship Park or any of our neighborhood intersectionsduring peak traffic hours (commute hours for residents and WestValley CC students/faculty/staff and regular school drop off andpick up Marshall Lane ES, Rolling Hills MS, Westmont HS).There is no opportunity to increase traffic capacity on QuitoRoad. Additionally the intersection at Pollard is multi-jurisdictional– dealing with these issues is something the cities have beenvery poor at jointly navigating. Traffic-wise, we are alreadyseverely impacted. Friendship Park is a valued walk-thru locationand, as a named/official City park, preserves valuable City spacefor OUR citizens and the children who use it to transit it safely tothe local schools. We depend on YOU to represent all Saratogafairly. There is no place along Quito Road between Highway 85and Highway 9 that is suited for high density housing and thenecessary traffic and school improvements.







Your Name Gretchen Sand

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Parcel APN 403 22 016 - Parcel at Quito and Pollard not suitablefor such use

Comments Saratoga City Council,

Please do not consider parcel APN 403 22 016 for an apartmentbuilding (4 story?). It not make sense for this parcel on QuitoRoad near Pollard which is already heavily congested with threenearby schools and their traffic traffic (Marshall Lane, RollingHills and Westmont). There are days I cannot safely turn ontoPollard road for long periods of time with the existing traffic -automobilesl children on foot, Bicycles - it is a dangerouslycongested area now. Please, carefully study the traffic use in thisneigborhood before such a decision.Gretchen Sand







Your Name Wei Wang


Email Address


Comments Esteemed Council Members, PLEASE evaluate the communityimpact of this proposal. There is a reason why a number ofprevious high density proposals on Quito between Highway 85and Pollard have been unsuccessful. I encourage you to visit therestful Friendship Park or any of our neighborhood intersectionsduring peak traffic hours (commute hours for residents and WestValley CC students/faculty/staff and regular school drop off andpick up Marshall Lane ES, Rolling Hills MS, Westmont HS).There is no opportunity to increase traffic capacity on QuitoRoad. Additionally the intersection at Pollard is multi-jurisdictional– dealing with these issues is something the cities have beenvery poor at jointly navigating. Traffic-wise, we are alreadyseverely impacted. Friendship Park is a valued walk-thru locationand, as a named/official City park, preserves valuable City spacefor OUR citizens and the children who use it to transit it safely tothe local schools. We depend on YOU to represent all Saratogafairly. There is no place along Quito Road between Highway 85and Highway 9 that is suited for high density housing and thenecessary traffic and school improvements.







Your Name Orchid Plescia


Email Address

Subject High density housing on Quito/Pollard

Comments We are strongly opposed to building high density housing on thecorner of Quito and Pollard. This will drastically change ourcommunity in a negative way, reduce home values, increasenoise on an already noisy Quito, and increase trafficconsiderably. Single family homes are ok, but do not bring highdensity housing to this area. Thank you.







Your Name Faisal Haq


Email Address

Subject Housing Element: Too much concentration North of 85


In over 3 meeting updates, I have not seen any changes by theCity Council to distribute the new low-income housing moreequitably across Saratoga. Most of the new housing isconcentrated North of 85. I hear that now the Prospect Centersite is being considered for this purpose! Not only does thatfurther concentrate new housing only in the North, but this site isright amidst Single Family Homes! I feel the City Council isunfairly burdening its citizens located in the North with trafficcongestion, parking difficulties and now Single Family Homevalue drops.

I respectfully ask the Mayor and Housing Element Team to bemore fair in locating new low-income Housing. Alternative sitessouth of Hwy 85 include The Village, The Argonaut Center andThe Orchard Area. All of these sites can and should share theburden with us.







Your Name David Scott


Email Address

Subject Housing Proposal Friendship Park & Adjoining Parcel

Comments One of my neighbors has already commented and I quote herbelow. I've lived just south of Friendship Park on Quito for 34years now. The traffic on Quito is bad during the rush hours andin the afternoon when the various schools let out. It will get worseonce the El Paseo project is completed. There were trafficstudies done when Creekside School was proposed and theintersections received poor or failing grades when factoring inadditional traffic from Creekside, which, IMO, would be similar ifhigh density housing goes on on this site. And I quote Ms.Zimmerman: "There is a reason why a number of previous highdensity proposals on Quito between Highway 85 and Pollardhave been unsuccessful. I encourage you to visit the restfulFriendship Park or any of our neighborhood intersections duringpeak traffic hours (commute hours for residents and West ValleyCC students/faculty/staff and regular school drop off and pick upMarshall Lane ES, Rolling Hills MS, Westmont HS). There is noopportunity to increase traffic capacity on Quito Road.Additionally the intersection at Pollard is multi-jurisdictional –dealing with these issues is something the cities have been verypoor at jointly navigating. Traffic-wise, we are already severelyimpacted. Friendship Park is a valued walk-thru location and, asa named/official City park, preserves valuable City space forOUR citizens and the children who use it to transit it safely to thelocal schools. We depend on YOU to represent all Saratogafairly. There is no place along Quito Road between Highway 85and Highway 9 that is suited for high density housing and thenecessary traffic and school improvements."







Your Name Vipin Mehta

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Housing element

Comments Dear Saratoga council members,

I live next to friendship park and wanted to express my concernabout the proposed residential site at the Quito and Pollardintersection. The intersection is already very crowded duringschool/office hours. It takes me almost 15 min to get to Saratogaavenue in the morning hours. On the way back, it is difficult toeven turn into our residential lane due to congestion in this area.It is unfortunate that you are even considering replacing cityparks. May I suggest you look into reusing the commercialcenters for mixed use.







Your Name Han Wen


Email Address

Subject tomorrow’s housing element workshop

Comments Will the Council provide information for how the additionalhousing sites were chosen? I think that will be essential for theresidents’ potential buy-in so that they can judge for themselvesthat this process has been transparent and hopefully unbiased. Iappreciate that the list of sites in that link (as of 5:50 pmThursday) is considerably larger than the handful of sites thatwere identified in the last council meeting. I see that even theOrchard has made the list.

Will the council also disclose which area of Saratoga that theylive in, to better understand potential conflicts of interests forwhich they should recuse themselves from providing opinions oncertain candidate sites that they live near? It is unfortunate thatmany residents will not be able to attend most if not all of thisworkshop due to work commitments. Why not take a Saturday orSunday? As one of the council has mentioned, this is the mostimportant decision/issue that the city of Saratoga is facing sinceits inception. I think all of us can sacrifice one day in a weekendto help us get to some common ground.

In terms of a process or methodology for dealing with this list,what ideas have been proposed? Could for example, we workbackwards… Assume we can use all of the sites listed up to a 2-story maximum, with the assumption that some percentage willhave to be somehow sold under market to meet the low incomerequirements. Where does that get us in terms of meeting theRHNA numbers? If we cannot meet it, what about a 3-story max?I assume the answer will be something in between 2-3. Ok, thenwhat’s the minimum number of 3-story units in combo of 2-storyunits using all the sites that still meet our RHNA numbers? Nowyou have a base for which to start negotiating and considering

other factors, such as school, traffic and fire hazard, developerinterest/viability… etc.

I just hope the workshop isn’t going to be the council membersjust haphazardly trying to debate which site should be in or outby random reasons. You have hopefully city planners that aretrained in this that can hopefully provide some kind of guidanceand methodology for how to consider this list. From myperspective, I would like to see the thought process, theassumptions and the reasons for how the list of candidate sites isnegotiated to try and meet these RHNA numbers. We can seehow well this effort tries to accommodate the requests from thecommunity for equity, traffic mitigation, school distribution, firehazards, preservation of valued sites.







Your Name Chin chong


Email Address

Subject Save Saratoga Prospect Center

Comments We use the Saratoga Prospect Community Center daily forJazzercise and others activities. Please don’t remove it, if not,where do we go for Jazzercise? This is the only communityCenter in Saratoga and we really need it.







Your Name Shing Li


Email Address

Subject Save saratoga Prospect Center

Comments Please keep/save our Saratoga prospect center! I use it daily forexercise. It is part of my community. Thanks!







Your Name Ken Tan


Email Address

Subject Saving Saratoga Prospect Center

Comments Please do not remove Saratoga Prospect Center as it is part ofthe community and only center close to my house. Thanks! It isok to remodel but Not to change it to residential housing.







Your Name Sunny Sun

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Save Saratoga Prospect Center

Comments I strongly oppose adding Prospect Center to the HD Housingproject. Prospect Center is an integral part of the communityhosting recreational and religious events. With more and moreyoung families moving into the area, which is critical toSaratoga's tax revenue, the need for large community centeronly grows greater. As the only large community center on thehighest density area of the city, please preserve prospect centerjust like we will preserve community parks and schoolsthroughout the city.




BothelioSubject: Online Form Submittal: Council Comments FormDate: Friday, January 28, 2022 7:34:03 AM



Your Name Kevin Bilger


Email Address

Subject Proposed Housing at corner of Quito/Pollard Roads

Comments I AM OPPOSED TO THE 4-STORY APARTMENTS NOWPROPOSED ON THE CORNER OF QUITO/POLLARD ROADS

It makes no logical sense whatsoever to put high density housingin the middle of single family homes and on a narrow 2-lanecountry road. This is negligent urban planning" that will scar ourcity forever by reducing existing residential property values,further exacerbate traffic congestion and strain the schoolsystem.

I URGE THE COUNCIL TO RECONSIDER!







Your Name Bruce Schaefer

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Expand city limits for RHNA?

Comments There is considerable push-back (NIMBY) from City residents re:the RHNA housing requirements and their location. Has anyonelooked at expanding the city limits of Saratoga and locating thenew RHNA requirements in the expanded areas? There wouldbe significant infrastructure costs but this approach may providean acceptable solution to all.







Your Name Han Wen


Email Address

Subject methodology/criteria - housing element sites

Comments I’d be happy if the council spent most of the workshop just ironingout a methodology and the criteria for determining which sites toconsider. That’s something that can then be explained to ourcommunity and defended, no matter what the end result is.

One possible result of this exercise is that the council realizesthat they don’t have the expertise or tools to fully apply themethodology and tools, but can then start to identify how to bringin that expertise and/or tools to make further progress.







Your Name Terry Barron


Email Address

Subject High density housing (please excuse typos as it is hard to typeinto the tiny window on this form).

Comments Please curb the high-density development craze that is going onin this town. Like all such overheated things, this too will pass ina few years.

I grew up in and around Saratoga and I am so very pleased tohave moved back recently. I went to El Quito Park school, OakSt. School, Saratoga High School and West Valley. I vividly recallall the orchards and how wonderful it was to live in the villagewhere most people knew you.

It is very SCARY so read how PRO High-densityDEVELOPMENT the current Council Members have become. Iget there is a directive from the state to build more housing, butall the current projects are just way, way overkill to full-fill thoseneeds. Zoning changes should be more carefully vetted andbalanced.

Impacts will be wide ranging just from San Jose’s over zealousdevelopment. Traffic from San Jose’s massive newdevelopments at El Paseo and Prospect alone will really dragdown the quality of the environment. It is just not responsible norgood for the future of our community to jump two feet first intothese massive developments without considering how to mitigatethe impacts both from outside Saratoga and in Saratoga.

You cannot undo the loss - it will be permanent and regrets won’tcause anything but tears.






Your Name Jerry Kleinberg

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Property at Quito & Pollard

Comments We strongly recommend that there be no high-density units puton this corner. Obviously, there will be an increase in traffic on analready busy intersection. But, more important, is the safety ofMarshall Lane students who may be walking to and from school.







Your Name Khiem Hoang

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Development at Quito and Pollard

Comments Dear Saratoga City Council:

I'm a resident of the Saratoga and Los Gatos community.

I opposed any development at the Quite and Pollard corner nearFriendship Park. Please keep our community and open spacesgreen.

Thank you,Khiem Hoang



From: Tina WaliaTo: Anil GuptaCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Oppose high density housing in Saratoga Prospect center - in midst of residential neighborhoodDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 5:00:28 PM

Hello Anil,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Anil Gupta Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 4:26 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>Subject: Oppose high density housing in Saratoga Prospect center - in midst of residentialneighborhood CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Ms. Walia

I hope you are doing well.

We have lived near the Prospect area for 20+ years, and now enjoy quiet neighborhood andwalks in Kevin Moran Park as senior citizens. We strongly oppose high density housing inSaratoga Prospect center, in the midst of a residential neighborhood. We hope alternate sites,such as commercial sites, can be considered for such high density housing.

Thanks for your consideration.

RegardsAnil Gupta

From: Tina WaliaTo: Jonathan LiuCc: Crystal Bothelio; Britt Avrit; James Lindsay; Debbie Pedro; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Please keep Prospect Center as a community centerDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 5:08:46 PM

Hello Jonathan,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Jonathan Liu Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 5:07 PMTo: Jonathan (Jun) Liu Subject: Please keep Prospect Center as a community center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Saratoga city council members,

As a resident of Saratoga, I am writing to say "No" on the proposal for additionalhousing at Prospect Center.

Prospect Center was voted by 75% of Saratoga voters to retain as a communitycenter, and it's against the majority of our residents' wishes to change that. And over70% of the newly proposed units are already slated in the area north of Cox, whilethis is less than 20% the area of Saratoga, this is extremely inequitable!

I'll strongly urge you to consider the following alternatives for low-income housing:

Saratoga VillageArgonaut Shopping CenterOrchard by Saratoga LibrarySaratoga city office (expand and build additional capacity for housing)

Would really appreciate to hear back from you on how you voted on this topic.

Thanks!JonathanSaratoga resident on Saraglen Dr

From: Tina WaliaTo: Yiwen TengCc: DL - Council; James Lindsay; Crystal Bothelio; Britt Avrit; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Please remove Prospect Center from the list of HCD opportunity sitesDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 4:47:29 PM

Hello Yiwen,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Yiwen Teng Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 4:35 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>Subject: Please remove Prospect Center from the list of HCD opportunity sites CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Mayor Walia,

Prospect Center is one of the ONLY two community centers in Saratoga, it is very import to residents ofSaratoga. And it is 100% nested into the resident area, adding the high density housing doesn’t brand into theneighborhood at all.

City council needs to publish a process and criteria for why the following sites are not being considered,which are reasonable as opportunities and provide more equal distributions1) Argonaut center with small scale mixed user, including Bagel shop, which would provide the priority tothe employees who work in these shops, such as Safeway. This will be a win-win solution for theresidents and service industry staffs.2) Move the city hall to Prospect/Lawrence site, and use the current city hall space for multi-story building.

Again this will benefit the West Valley staffs and students. Another win-win situation.3) Scale down version of Orchard and pumpkin patch plan.4) Downtown re-design or other vacant lotsIn summary, remove the Prospect Center which is 100% nested in the residential area, publish the clearcriteria, remove the conflict of interests, and address the inequitable high-density housing distributionthroughout the city.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Yiwen Teng12 years of Saratoga resident.

From: Tina WaliaTo: Prasad AluriCc: James Lindsay; Crystal Bothelio; Britt Avrit; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Prospect CenterDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 4:44:44 PM

Hello Prasad,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Prasad Aluri <Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 3:41 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Prasad Aluri Subject: Prospect Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Hi Tina,

As a resident of Saratoga, I am very concerned about converting Prospect centerinto an housing complex. As a resident this will be a very needed facility and losingthis will have serious consequences on our lives in Saratoga. Please do consider tokeep this facility intact to support the newly coming homes also as this will be verymuch needed.

-- Regards,Prasad Aluri

From: Tina WaliaTo: drean luCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Prospect CenterDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 4:52:39 PM

Hello DL,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: drean lu Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 3:50 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>Subject: Prospect Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when openingattachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.

Dear Mayor Walia:

Over 15 years ago, Saratoga voters overwhelmingly decided to dedicate the Saratoga Center forcommunity use, instead of selling it to developers. The voters’ decision need to be respected whenmaking the choices for high density housing project.

I have a few questions hope you can answer: 1. Is City of Saratoga accepted 1700 units in an unfair way? Potentially this will bring in additional6,000-7,000 people which is a 25% increase in our population. This can stress out our resources.

2. The Prospect Center is a precious city asset, serving as the community center. With additional

population, we need more community facility than ever. If we give it away now, we will lose itforever.

3. Majority of the city resources are concentrated in a small area in the south (police, fire, city hall,library, etc.), which are not available to the neighborhood in the north. Converting the ProspectCenter to a low income housing project will add more congestion to the already heavy traffic in thenorth. I have noticed police activity at the Prospect Center, we should expand their activity furtheron the site, so the northern neighborhood get get fair share of police protection. We absolutelyshould preserve the center for our future use.

Best regards,DL Lu

From: Pravin MadhaniTo: Tina Walia; Ashok Krishnamurthi; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan ZhaoCc: BV Jagadeesh; Navin Chaddha; Samir Mitra; Praveen Akkiraju; Chet Kapoor; Deepa

Iyengar; James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: RE: SB35 -- Thoughts of the Douglass Neighborhood.Date: Thursday, January 27, 2022 5:58:14 PM


Dear Mayor Walia and members of the city council, I echo what Ashok said here on behalf of the Douglas lane neighborhood. Saratoga city has been one of the most sought after cities in the bay area because of its well thoughtout residential zoning and great schools. Saratoga City council should plan to fight Sacramento andlet us know how we can help with this. Also, we need to have neighborhood voice heard in any planning process as it has been done overthe years. Please let's not ruin the city we love. Regards, Pravin Madhani

Saratoga, CA 95070

From: Tina Walia <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 6:02 PMTo: Ashok Krishnamurthi >; Kookie Fitzsimmons<[email protected]>; Mary-Lynne Bernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar<[email protected]>; Yan Zhao <[email protected]>Cc: BV Jagadeesh >; Pravin Madhani >; Navin Chaddha

; Samir Mitra >; Praveen Akkiraju>; Chet Kapoor >;

Deepa Iyengar James Lindsay<[email protected]>; Britt Avrit <[email protected]>; Crystal Bothelio<[email protected]>; Debbie Pedro <[email protected]>Subject: Re: SB35 -- Thoughts of the Douglass Neighborhood.

Hello Ashok,

Happy New Year to you as well.

Thank you for writing to the City Council. I believe that you are referring to the HousingElement. Consequently, I have asked staff to include your comments in in the record. TheCouncil will further study this issue in a Council Workshop on January 28, 2022, starting at 9am. The workshop agenda and attached resources are available on the City’s website. Youcan access the meeting by using Zoom or calling in:


You can also learn more about the City’s efforts to update the Housing Element and subscribeto the Housing Element Newsletter to stay engaged on this topic on the City websiteat www.saratoga.ca.us/housing

Sincerely,

Tina Walia


From: Ashok Krishnamurthi <Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 12:05 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>Cc: BV Jagadeesh >; Pravin Madhani ; Navin Chaddha

>; Samir Mitra Praveen Akkiraju; Chet Kapoor ;

>; Deepa Iyengar

Subject: SB35 -- Thoughts of the Douglass Neighborhood.


Dear Mayor Walia and members of the city council, Happy new year.

I want to voice my opinion along with the entire Douglas lane neighborhood. The city council has approached the SB35 issue in my opinion, by essentially dividing the Saratogacommunity and pitting neighborhood against neighborhood. I don't blame folks wanting to protect their neighborhood from buildings, it's only natural. The real enemy here is Sacramento. Why is it that the city council is not putting up a united front tofight Sacramento. We cannot have state politicians decide how and what we do in our city. I am more than happy to fund a campaign to fight Sacramento like other cities have done, forexample Atherton, Los Altos or Los Gatos. Please let's not have non interested Sacramento politicians divide and conquer us. Regards Ashok Krishnamurthi This electronic mail (including any attachments) may contain information that is privileged,confidential, and/or otherwise protected from disclosure to anyone other than its intendedrecipient(s). Any dissemination or use of this electronic email or its contents (including anyattachments) by persons other than the intended recipient(s) is strictly prohibited. If you havereceived this message in error, please notify us immediately by reply email so that we may correctour internal records. Please then delete the original message (including any attachments) in itsentirety. Thank you

From: Tina WaliaTo: Jim FoleyCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie Pedro; DL - CouncilSubject: Re: Unfair Housing Element Petition UpdateDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 5:02:38 PM

Hello Jim,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Jim Foley Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 3:54 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>Subject: Unfair Housing Element Petition Update CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Mayor Walia; In a very short time we have garnered almost 1300 signatures on our Housing Element petition- https://chng.it/wHTCYqLy Those of us north of the railroad tracks in The Gateway and Saratoga/Cox areas are lookingforward to tomorrow’s council meeting. We are hoping that you will arrive at a fair, just, andequitable solution to the Housing Element Update that will not dump the problem into 2 smallareas. Impact to our school districts must also be minimized as well. There are many viableparcels of land throughout Saratoga that can share in the burden of this state mandatedobligation.

RHNA/ABAG requirements state that “sites identified to accommodate the lower incomeRHNA must be distributed throughout the community in a manner that affirmatively furthersfair housing.” So far Saratoga has not met this obligation. Please be fair to all Saratogans and share the burden equally.

Thanks, Jim Foley

From: Tina WaliaTo: Sam Taherian; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi KumarCc: James Lindsay; Britt Avrit; Crystal Bothelio; Debbie PedroSubject: Re: Villa Montalvo Art CenterDate: Thursday, January 27, 2022 4:25:00 PM

Hello Sam and Mana,





Webinar ID: 820 3365 0673

Call In: 1.408.638.0968 or 1.669.900.6833




Regards,

Tina Walia


From: Sam Taherian Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2022 4:00 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>Subject: Villa Montalvo Art Center CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution whenopening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.Dear Town of Saratoga Council Member:

My wife and I have become aware that the Town of Saratoga is considering adding theMontalvo Art Center to the list of low-income high-density housing sites.

My wife and I oppose this idea. The Villa Montalvo is in a zone with a very high fire risk, andlimited ingress and egress. Moreover, a high density development will materially degrade thequality of the trails and the environment.

Aside from our concern regarding this particular area, we have a general concern regarding

high-density housing. Does California have any plans to build additional water reservoirs toaccommodate the numerous high-density housing proposals being considered by the variousmunicipalities?

Very sincerely yours,Sam Taherian, Mana Nahavandian

Saratoga, CA 95070





Your Name Lynne Lampros

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject potential housing development at Friendship Park/Quito andPollard

Comments Dear Council,This small three-acre lot is not well suited for a multi-housingdevelopment. It is zoned for three single family homes andshould stay that way. This is a particularly difficult intersection -small, a narrow road on Quito and yet a very busy thoroughfare,and a choke point in that there are multiple schools in the areaand many small children and families walking to those schools.What is being contemplated at this lot? 6 homes? 12? 20? 40?This lot should stay 3 or go at most to 6. It is just too tight alocation to accommodate the amount of people and traffic alarger development would bring. Also - access to this lot is tough.I am sure an EIR would find that the only access can be offQuito. Trying to put a road in off Pollard would be exceedinglydangerous. It's a blind drop down that hill to the intersection ofQuito and Pollard. Creating a road into the lot at that point,parallel to the creek, would cause accidents to happen as carssailed down the hill and encounter slowed/stopped cars trying toturn into the lot. Finally - if any land at that intersection wassuitable for a zoning change to a larger development, it wouldhave been the Marshall Lane 10 acre plot. That area remainszoned 1:1 (one home on one acre.) This three acre/Friendshippark area should also remain as originally zoned. Thank you.




Britt AvritSubject: FW: City Council Retreat Day - Dedicated to CA Housing Element Site LocationsDate: Friday, January 28, 2022 9:44:02 AM

From: Marcella Browning Sent: Friday, January 28, 2022 9:44:06 AM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)To: City Council <[email protected]>Subject: City Council Retreat Day - Dedicated to CA Housing Element Site Locations


Re: the revised list of sites.

The Prospect/Lawrence location:

I STRONGLY OPPOSE the exclusion of the Prospect / Lawrence location from arigorous criteria based evaluation because of its proximity to a major roadway /Lawrence Expressway. The same logic is applicable to all the sites near 85. Due tothe high percentage of the mandated development being proposed for the Prospect /Lawrence location, it needs the utmost criteria based evaluation for itsdevelopment will be the most impactful of all the projects.

In the City Council Meeting of Jan 21, Debbie Pedro, the Community DevelopmentDirector of Saratoga, and you stated this 10 story proposed project is a fit to the areabecause of the highly contested, MERELY, proposed development at El Paseo DeSaratoga. I find the argument invalid since the outcome of El Paseo's development isunknown, to be determined AND highly contested. Saratoga city council members allknow that existing buildings are EXCLUSIVELY one and two stories. The City ofSaratoga has listed the Lawrence Expressway project at 10 stories, which iscompletely out of character for this area.

The total development proposals at Saratoga Ave, Lawrence Expressway, andProspect Ave currently a triangle at the entry of Saratoga with beautiful scenic hillsbackdrop enhancing its esthetics are: El Paseo De Saratoga, 1770 Saratoga Ave withtwo 12 story buildings and NO parking, 5220 Prospect the vacant Jack in the Boxredevelopment by the new owner West Gate Church, West Gate West Malldeveloping a large Costco. I expect these projects to attract many businessesproposing more redevelopment here.

Because the City of San Jose City Council is attempting to build a high percentage oftheir state Housing Element mandate along Saratoga Ave at Prospect, which isoverwhelmed with its current population, in the proposed projects noted in the first

paragraph, the City of Saratoga needs to avoid exacerbating the foreseeable resultingproblems by excluding Prospect and Lawrence from the list of sites.

FIRE ZONE:

As much as I'd like to spread the state mandated development throughout all ofSaratoga, I believe the fire risk regions need to be banned from further developmentand redevelopment. Unfortunately, when a disaster strikes, the community bearsmuch of the negative consequences in addition to those that the private owners bear. This results from ensuing legal action for the city permitting development in areasknown to be high risk. It is inhumane to anyone who would reside or work in the firezone, and poses high risk of future harsh costs to the public at large.

Sincerely,Marcella Browning95070

From: James LindsayTo: Crystal Bothelio; Britt Avrit; Richard S. TaylorSubject: Fwd: additional comments: Please read - Saratoga Housing - North of 85Date: Sunday, January 30, 2022 10:55:55 AMAttachments: Screen Shot 2022-01-30 at 10.03.58 AM.png

From: Tami Modiri Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2022, 10:21 AMTo: Tina Walia; Kookie Fitzsimmons; Mary-Lynne Bernald; Rishi Kumar; Yan Zhao; JamesLindsay; Debbie PedroSubject: additional comments: Please read - Saratoga Housing - North of 85


Additionally, we would like to bring to your attention the feedback from theSaratoga Community Development Director, Debbie Pedro, to the City of San Jose inresponse to San Jose's El Paseo mixed use project dated November 18, 2021(https://www.saratoga.ca.us/DocumentCenter/View/2760/El-Paseo-EIR-Comment-Letter-11-18-21?bidId=). There are many facets, like Visual resource impact, butsticking to traffic for a minute:

"... Without a comprehensive transit, bicycle and pedestrian network, Saratoga’sstreets and intersections will likely be inundated with traffic.

"... Compounding matters, we understand that San Jose now intends to approve aCostco within the Village boundaries. The DEIR does not even acknowledge thislarge-scale project, let alone analyze the cumulative effects from the Village Projectand the Costco project.

"... In addition, CEQA requires evaluation of “the whole of an action, ... CEQAmandates that “environmental considerations do not become submerged by choppinga large project into many little ones”.

"... The Project will have a significant adverse impact on the intersection of QuitoRoad/Cox Avenue, particularly when trip distribution is corrected."

In short, it suggests that the traffic on the Saratoga corridor between prospect and 85will become unbearable. It also infers that any proposal by the Saratoga city councilto add additional housing w/in that corridor (pumpkin patch, prospect/lawrence ... )must be made in conjunction with the El Paseo and Costco projects.

By that logic, the pumpkin patch and other projects north of 85 should be taken off thetable in order to keep the traffic and environmental impact evenly distributed.

Finally, I want to bring your attention to the following visual. 93% of the housing isbeing targeted to 20% of the area which already has (1) a higher density (since thelots in other parts of Saratoga are larger to being with), and (2) more businesses inthat area. These two factors add more traffic to the area and you need to rememberthese two factors when you look at the image below.

Please reply to acknowledge receipt of both my emails,Tami Modiri

On Saturday, January 29, 2022, 06:01:36 PM PST, Tami Modiri > wrote:

The citizens for Saratoga elected the current city council to serve the community. It was anoath and a pledge to do right by every citizen, be impartial and not favor anyone over another.

Two weeks ago a petition on change.org was signed by 1300 residents -- apopulation that can shift the result of any election in Saratoga. The crux of that openletter is that you, the city council, are on a path to betray the trust that the communityhas placed in your hands. WE ARE CLEARLY DISMAYED! Perhaps notintentionally, but by succumbing to your unconscious bias towards a favorite shop,glen, your neck of the woods, you are moving forward with a proposal which is clearlyunfair and unpalatable to a very large section of this city. Frankly, I am beinggenerous by still giving some allowance that your partisan approach to the currentcrisis is not intentional. And let's be clear, this crisis is completely the result ofmismanagement.

Very few people want a lot of new housing near them. But the mishandling of theplanning is pitting neighborhoods against each other instead of bringing our citizenstogether to solve the situation as a community. Following this path will create atoxic environment. All this stems from a clearly flawed plan and the council's mis-management.

Our message is very clear. The current draft has a disproportionately largepercentage of new housing North of 85. We want to see a fair distribution aroundSaratoga. Your plan also needs to consider the impact of San Jose's developmentplan. You have to recognize that part of your constituency is already impacted by theEl Paseo and Costco plans.

After all the outcry, how could you add any new sites north of 85 to the HousingElement list on January 28 meeting?! For example, Saratoga-prospect center got 3out of 5 votes to be considered for more discussion. Unbelievable!

Secondly, it looks like you are just playing an elaborate shell game. A lot of peoplejustifiably pointed out Saratoga-Cox numbers were too high. So some numbers wereshifted to Gateway. Next meeting people complained that you increased Gateway'sallocation and it looks like you are leaning to reduce Gateway and shift the numbersback to the other North Saratoga locations. Don't shuffle the numbers betweendifferent sites north of 85.

If you can't block out your personal emotions and view the problem from others'vantage point, then please recuse yourselves from the entire project, not only the

site close to your residence (it seems like you are covering for each other tokeep your colleague neighborhood out of the list). Alternatively bring an impartialthird party to do a study and make recommendations. If you don't, the community willmake this decision for you. To the minority of you who are are listening and trying tofix the situation, thank you.

In closing, no one is happy to see dense housing near them. But when it is done in afair and equitable manner they will understand even if they are not happy.

Tami Modiri

From: James LindsayTo: Crystal Bothelio; Britt AvritSubject: Fwd: Please read - Saratoga Housing - North of 85Date: Saturday, January 29, 2022 7:14:28 PM

From: Tami Modiri Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2022 6:01:36 PMTo: Tina Walia <[email protected]>; Kookie Fitzsimmons <[email protected]>; Mary-LynneBernald <[email protected]>; Rishi Kumar <[email protected]>; Yan Zhao<[email protected]>; James Lindsay <[email protected]>; Debbie Pedro<[email protected]>Subject: Please read - Saratoga Housing - North of 85


The citizens for Saratoga elected the current city council to serve the community. It was anoath and a pledge to do right by every citizen, be impartial and not favor anyone over another.

Two weeks ago a petition on change.org was signed by 1300 residents -- apopulation that can shift the result of any election in Saratoga. The crux of that openletter is that you, the city council, are on a path to betray the trust that the communityhas placed in your hands. WE ARE CLEARLY DISMAYED! Perhaps notintentionally, but by succumbing to your unconscious bias towards a favorite shop,glen, your neck of the woods, you are moving forward with a proposal which is clearlyunfair and unpalatable to a very large section of this city. Frankly, I am beinggenerous by still giving some allowance that your partisan approach to the currentcrisis is not intentional. And let's be clear, this crisis is completely the result ofmismanagement.

Very few people want a lot of new housing near them. But the mishandling of theplanning is pitting neighborhoods against each other instead of bringing our citizenstogether to solve the situation as a community. Following this path will create atoxic environment. All this stems from a clearly flawed plan and the council's mis-management.

Our message is very clear. The current draft has a disproportionately largepercentage of new housing North of 85. We want to see a fair distribution aroundSaratoga. Your plan also needs to consider the impact of San Jose's developmentplan. You have to recognize that part of your constituency is already impacted by theEl Paseo and Costco plans.

After all the outcry, how could you add any new sites north of 85 to the HousingElement list on January 28 meeting?! For example, Saratoga-prospect center got 3out of 5 votes to be considered for more discussion. Unbelievable!

Secondly, it looks like you are just playing an elaborate shell game. A lot of peoplejustifiably pointed out Saratoga-Cox numbers were too high. So some numbers wereshifted to Gateway. Next meeting people complained that you increased Gateway'sallocation and it looks like you are leaning to reduce Gateway and shift the numbersback to the other North Saratoga locations. Don't shuffle the numbers betweendifferent sites north of 85.

If you can't block out your personal emotions and view the problem from others'vantage point, then please recuse yourselves from the entire project, not only thesite close to your residence (it seems like you are covering for each other tokeep your colleague neighborhood out of the list). Alternatively bring an impartialthird party to do a study and make recommendations. If you don't, the community willmake this decision for you. To the minority of you who are are listening and trying tofix the situation, thank you.

In closing, no one is happy to see dense housing near them. But when it is done in afair and equitable manner they will understand even if they are not happy.

Tami Modiri

From: Emily ChanTo: Britt AvritSubject: my letter to the City CouncilDate: Friday, January 28, 2022 11:35:30 AM


Hi Britt,

I wasn't sure if my letter to the City Council got successfully submitted through the City's webportal. So, I would like to re-submit just in case there were glitches in the process. I have alsoadded the last paragraph (highlighted in yellow). Below please kindly find my letter. Pleasekindly confirm that this email has been received and will be forwarded to all members of theCity Council. Thank you very much!

Honorable Council Members,

While I appreciate different people having different opinions, I cannot agree with the commentsfrom Council Member Kumar in last week’s meetings (week of Jan 17, 2022).

First, I think the staff has done a wonderful job reaching out to every single resident in the HousingElement update. Any comments that discredit that effort are completely baseless.

Second, while the notion of building small units as small as 700 square feet in order to minimize theheight of the development may sound appealing to Mr. Kumar’s constituents; he is business-savvyenough to know that the finance simply would not work for the developers (without having toconduct a pro-forma). I respectfully request that Council Member Kumar stop putting out unrealisticideas in the public’s mind. Doing so is very counter-productive and disruptive, and it would onlyfurther divide our City.

Third, I would like to ask Council Member Kumar to stop spreading the misinformation that theHousing Element update is being conducted in an ad-hoc manner. It is evident that the staff andPlanning Commission developed a plan in the beginning of the process and they have been followingthe plan. They have worked diligently to get to where we are. I would urge Mr. Kumar to pleaserecognize their effort and respect their professional judgment in public.

Finally, RHNA allocation and SB 35 exsit good of our communities. We need a diverse housing stockfor the economy to thrive. We need to keep our teachers, firefighters, restaurant workers, grocerystore workers, and many other non-high tech workers in our region. Every city has the responsibilityto make that happen. I would like to ask Council Member Kumar to stop pointing fingers to thelegislators in Sacramento for his own political agenda.

Respectfully,

Emily





Your Name Emily


Email Address

Subject Comments for Council Member Kumar (please have it read out atthe meeting)

Comments Dear Honorable Council Members, While I appreciate differentpeople having different opinions, I cannot agree with thecomments from Council Member Kumar in last week’s meetings.First, I think the staff has done a wonderful job reaching out toevery single resident in the Housing Element update. Anycomments that discredit that effort are completely baseless.Second, while the notion of building small units as small as 700square feet in order to minimize the height of the developmentmay sound appealing to Mr. Kumar’s constituents; he isbusiness-savvy enough to know that the finance simply wouldnot work for the developers (without having to conduct a pro-forma). I respectfully request that Council Member Kumar stopputting out unrealistic ideas in the public’s ears. Doing so is verycounter-productive (even disruptive) to the meetings andHousing Element process; and it would only further divide ourCity. Third, I would like to ask Council Member Kumar to stopspreading the misinformation that the Housing Element update isbeing conducted in an ad-hoc manner. It is evident that the staffand Planning Commission developed a plan in the beginning ofthe process and they have been following the plan. They haveworked diligently to get to where we are. I would urge Mr. Kumarto please recognize their effort and respect their professionaljudgment in public. Thank you.







Your Name Vivian


Email Address


Comments I would like to make suggestion.i’ve seen park rangers live in government housing inside thepark.

why don’t we build condos on every school ground for teachersand staff? How about build high density low-income units on thecity owned properties, like the city hall and library, for cityemployees, fire fighters, police, and maybe the veterans whoonce was saratoga residence or saratoga school alumni? Thisway the city has 100% control to make sure these buildings arebuilt to meet the state mandate, and we know all the residenceare good people and likely cares about and love our city like theway we do?

Talking about equality, I’m not an expert but I’ve studied someurban design classes in my college years. normally when a city isgrowing, the high density zoning is placed along high wayintersections and major corridor to reduce traffic on smallerroads. How about changing the residential zoning to multiple unitresidential zoning along any 4-lane roads or roads that hasenough shoulder for 4-lane roads such as Saratoga Ave,Saratoga-Sunnyvale Rd., and Hwy 9, Quito Rd, Prospect andCox. Lets save our commercial property as commercial to servethe increased population. Lets save Villa Montalvo and theSaratoga Country Club for the citizens to enjoy.







Your Name Daniel Rhoads

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Housing Bills

Comments Hi Council Members:I want to again write and express my gratification for your effortsto preserve Saratoga in these challenging times of state takingaway our city governance in housing. I've attended all the callson the City housing elements, the RHNA appeal meeting and theSan Jose planning meeting on the El Paseo disaster plan for 994unit, 10+ story buildings. I care about preserving our city's urbancharacter and small town appeal.I continue to encourage everyone concerned about the flawedRHNA housing process and bad housing bills like SB9,10,828and more to come, to join Rishi's growing team of signaturegathers for Our Housing Voice initiative for this years ballot. Weneed to keep city planning at the city level managed by our cityelected members. I'm writing this while on the 1/28/22 all daymeeting on Housing :-)Many Thanks for all your great work in Saratoga.







Your Name Emily


Email Address

Subject feedback on Current Housing Opportunity Sites

Comments Good Morning, City Council Members, I have been a happyresident of Saratoga for over eight years. My family live in asingle-family home within a few minutes’ walk from the VillageEast site. I also happen to have worked in the profession oftransportation and landuse planning for over two decades. I haveworked on statewide, regionwide, countywide, as well as localplanning studies and projects throughout my career. I applaud the great efforts of the Planning staff and the PlanningCommission in our City’s Housing Element Update. The housingopportunity sites they selected make a lot of sense from differentperspectives, especially from the perspective of traffic impact andpreservation of the natural environment and wildlife. The majorityof the units are located along or near major arterials, which wouldminimize any new traffic being spilled over to residentialcollectors. This also minimizes the associated noise impacts andgreenhouse gas emissions on neighborhoods. Sites further awayfrom the major arterials (Saratoga-Sunnyvale Ave, Saratoga Ave,Prospect Rd, and Hwy 9) would only generate more traffic, notless, and more residents will be impacted. As some of you may already know, SB 743, which becameeffective in 2020, requires that transportation impacts in CEQAbe measured by vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT). This measure,which better estimates project impacts, replaces intersectionlevel-of-service (LOS) in traffic impact analysis. It appears thatmost of the opportunity sites selected were strategically selectedto minimize VMT that would be generated by new housingdevelopments. Generally speaking, the further away housingunits are from job locations, the more VMT would be generated.It is important to keep this perspective in mind.I also want to share my thought on some public comments thatthe Heritage Orchard be on the list of Opportunity Sites. In my

opinion, it is important to preserve the orchard. Not only is it asignificant heritage of our city, it is also a great asset to thecommunity. On the other hand, from the perspective of traffic,that segment of Saratoga Ave is already very congested duringthe morning commute hours because of the three schoolslocated in that area. Adding more housing in that area would alsoendanger the safety of the middle school and high schoolstudents who cross, either as pedestrians or bikers, that part ofSaratoga Ave to go between their homes and schools.The majority, if not all, of these units are also located far awayfrom the ecologically-sensitive areas and areas prone to wildfirehazard. I think that represents a conscientious and deliberateeffort on the part of the staff and Planning Commission to protectnot only our natural environment, but also protect our futureresidents.In summary, I am in full support of the proposed housingopportunity sites as they stand right now (not including CountryClub and Montalvo). I also agree with two council members that itwould be worth considering the sites near Friendship Garden andProspect Center, if they have not been studied by the PlanningCommission before.







Your Name Thiru Sinnathamby

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Pollard + Quito building

Comments Hello there, I live at and it makes 0 senseto me as to how we're considering to build a 4story buildingwhere we have only a single lane road for ALL the residentsliving off of Sobey and Quito.







Your Name Donald Bonnett

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Quito/Pollard project

Comments High density housing does not belong on this residentialproperty. Saratoga has too many high density projects in theworks already and I am not in favor of any of them.




BothelioSubject: Online Form Submittal: Council Comments FormDate: Friday, January 28, 2022 12:16:03 PM



Your Name Vivian


Email Address

Subject housing element

Comments The staff didn't answer the question brought up by councilBernard that the Saratoga Country Club president told thecouncil that they are not interested in development for housing.Does it automatically taking the club off of the potential list?







Your Name Bibhu Kalyan Das

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Quito/Pollard Apartment planning

Comments Hello Council members. The proposal for apartments in quitopollard junction is going to affect many families in a negativeway. The quito road which is already overwhelmed and not a big2 way road. There are kids walking to marshall lane and otherschools. Having this apartment does not seem to comply withurban housing planning as well. Sincere request to please cancelthis proposal.







Your Name Melissa Sudan

Phone Number

Email Address

Subject Prospect/Lawrence, Quito/Pollard, Gateway sites

Comments I am watching the workshop today and I cannot follow the logicbehind your discussions. Council's opposition to excludingQuito/Pollard site included the impact on traffic, yet Council'ssupport of Prospect/Lawrence did not include impact on traffic;Council supports putting 80 units/acre on a 5 acre property atProspect/Lawrence, but Council questions spreading the painover the larger 7 acre property of Gateway. Council does notapply equal considerations to all properties. If Council considersthe impact of traffic at one site, Council needs to consider theimpact of traffic on ALL sites. If Council considers spreading thepain over 7 acres, Council must equally consider spreading thepain over ALL sites. As a council, you must follow a more fairprocess. The current process is extremely flawed. I voted forMayor Walia and Vice Mayor Fitzsimmons and I am extremelydisappointed in their logic. I will not repeat my mistakes in thenext election.







Your Name Anne Paulson


Email Address

Subject Rejecting the Quito/Pollard site for low income housing

Comments I'm not a resident of Saratoga, but I am someone who sometimessends comments to HCD on housing elements, and who readswhat HCD says about housing elements. While composing aletter to my own planning commission (I live in Los Altos) I'vebeen watching your City Council consider sites. I watched yourcouncil reject the Quito/Pollard site for low income housing onthe basis that it is surrounded by single family housing.Quito/Pollard is perfect for below market housing: it's near aschool and a grocery, it's a good size for denser housing, and it'son a major street. Rewarding NIMBY neighbors by banning lowincome housing from their neighborhood is a problem forAffirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. The letter to HCDpractically writes itself. I urge you to take your AFFHresponsibilities seriously, because HCD is taking them seriously.Moreover, residents who live north of 85 will be justifiably furiousthat you apparently think that their residential neighborhoods arenot worthy of "protection" but the single family neighborhoods are"protected." I urge Saratoga to reconsider this decision. And Icommend your city council for doing this selection early and inpublic, so all can see.







Your Name Virginia Good

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Subject High density housing on Quito/Pollard creates a problem forcitizens.

Comments Area lacks parks; take more land to make the park more useful toresidents. Traffic now on Quito is becoming difficult during peakhours.



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