City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to the Saratoga City Council meeting of 03/18/2026. This is our regular session. I'd like to call the meeting to order and advise everyone that this meeting is being recorded, and the recording will be made available on the city website. And since our videos are the permanent record of our meeting, you can see them however long you live. They will be there.

Let's all please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Alright. Britt, would you please go ahead with the roll call and then let us know about the minute, agenda, and all that kind of stuff.

Pursuant to Saratoga City Council's remote public participation policy, members of the public may participate in this meeting in person at the location listed on the agenda or via remote attendance using the Zoom information listed on the agenda. Public attendees participating by Zoom are automatic automatically muted and are not viewable on camera. I will now call the roll. Council member Aftab.

Present.

Fitzsimmons. Present. Zhao. Vice mayor Wallia.

Present.

Mayor Page.

Present.

We have a quorum and the agenda was posted on March 12.

Excellent. Thank you. We have a report of closed sessions and study sessions that we did on March 4 and on March 10 the City Council held closed sessions. The first was on anticipated litigation, the second on public employment. And there are no reportable actions from those meetings.

Earlier this evening, we had a study session on the fiscal year twenty six-twenty seven capital improvement program. Staff reported that due to projected increases in the shares contract next year, the capital program has been constrained to help balance the budget. The final review of the CIP is scheduled for the May 20 City Council meeting. We also held a study session about that fiscal year '26, or the renewed contract that starts this year, the Sheriff's Office contract renewal. During the meeting we received updates from staff on how the negotiations are progressing since the last time the council met about this in January.

And we also discussed the counter proposal that was provided by the contract cities to the county this week. Next we have oral communications on non agendized items. Any member of the public is welcome to come and speak for up to three minutes on any item that is not on our agenda. The council can not make any actions, take any action on the item, but we may opt to give staff direction if something comes up. So Britt, do we have any speakers? And if you could explain the process we'd appreciate it.

If you would like to address the city council on an item that is not on the agenda and you're attending the meeting in person, now is the time to approach the podium. And there is a button. And this is for an item not on the agenda. Okay. Go ahead and if you would just push the button on. It's right there At on the

the base of the mic. Is correct. There you go.

Okay. All right. Good evening. My name is Michael Frank Martin, and I live on Fredericksburg Drive here in Saratoga. I'm here just to present a petition of, so far, 112 signatures to reopen the pedestrian crossing between Fredericksburg and Leidow, which we believe would be wonderful for the pedestrians and bicyclists in the community.

And my understanding is that we're a bit stalled with the Union Pacific Railroad. And so I just wanted to point out that we actually have some helpful precedents, including some that are in the Caltrans right of way manual that give the city rights to open an easement like that with the railway for an administrative settlement. So just wanted to present that for the council's attention. I understand that there are folks that are working on this and that they've been working with the city attorney. So just respectfully, I just wanted to submit that for your attention.

Thank you very much.

Mayor, I see no other speakers.

And nobody online. This break got their hand raised.

Well that would be later.

That's true. We don't have time. We forgot what we were doing. Thank you. All right. So next we have some announcements. So first of all, I'd like to invite everyone this Friday, if you're available. I will be having the first of my Coffee with the Mayor meetings at Sue's Gallery Cafe from nine to ten a. M. These community meetings will be held on the third Friday of each month at various local businesses.

It's a great opportunity for you to share your thoughts with the mayor and connect with fellow residents in an informal setting. Come and enjoy coffee, conversation, and community. So welcome you all on Friday, March 20 from nine to ten at Sue's Cafe and Gallery. Building communities, one neighborhood at a time. Saratoga is full of residents who go above and beyond to strengthen connections in their neighborhoods.

From organizing block parties and welcoming new neighbors, to supporting one another in times of need. The new Building Communities, One Neighborhood at a Time program celebrates these individuals in the ways that they make Saratoga stronger and more connected. Residents can submit nominations year round for neighbors who demonstrate leadership, foster inclusion, or create opportunities for connection. Honorees will be recognized quarterly through city channels and events. If you know someone making a difference in your neighborhood, please submit a nomination today at saratoga.ca.us/neighbor and help us honor the neighbors who are building Saratoga one neighborhood at a time.

SED talks for teens. The Saratoga Youth Commission and the Saratoga Library Teen Advisory Board will be hosting SED talks twenty twenty six, a speaker series event for our youth on Saturday, March 28 at 1PM at the Joan Pisani Community Center. The theme of this year's event is bridges to innovation. Whether connecting ideas or people, we are constantly building pathways that drive change. As our world continues to grow, it is important for us to celebrate these bridges to innovation found in everyday life.

Join this event for discussions for teens, fun fun activities, and insights from industry experts and professionals. Activities, raffle prizes, and snacks will all be included. Are there any other council members who'd like to make an announcement? Anybody? I'd just like to make one more then, and it's to when you're out there taking your walks now that the weather's well, summer's here. What the heck is that about? It's still spring as far as I know. But it's gotten warmer. The clock has changed. There's still, you know, a little bit of daylight.

I know everybody, a lot of people walk. Please make sure that when you walk, you walk against traffic. And if you're riding your bike, ride with traffic. You do that so that you can see the car coming at you. And they're not seeing only the back of you dressed in black with no reflector tape. So wear bright clothing if you can. Wear have a flashlight. Have some reflectors on you to make sure that we're we're keeping everybody safe in our neighborhoods. Alright.

Mayor Page, can I make an announcement?

Oh, I'll

throw an announcement. Is right now, the only month of Ramadan. So about 2,000,000,000 people globally are fasting, including myself right now, which is why you'll see me eating in a little bit once the sun sets. But this Friday is an Eid celebration. Eid marks the end of Ramadan. It's a celebration. And the West Valley Muslim Association is hosting an Eid celebration at West Valley College in Saratoga. You can learn more if you just Google West Valley Muslim Association and go to the website. You can RSVP there.

Thank you very much.

And Eva Mubarak, in advance.

What time is it, Paul?

Oh, it's at 9AM.

9AM. Yeah. Great. Thank you. Okay. So now we have a couple of ceremonial items. We have the reappointment of two planning commissioners. So is there a member of the City Council who'd like to make a motion adopting the resolution reappointing Clinton Brownlee and Ping Lee to the Planning Commission, and then direct the city clerk to administer the oath of office?

So moved.

I see a motion.

I second.

And I have a second. Britt, you get that? Alright, cool. Britt, can you please call for the vote.

All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? That passes unanimously.

All right, great. So now what we'd like to do is invite our newly reappointed Planning Commissioners up to the stage, and you're welcome to bring your families, your friends, you can bring anybody you want. Come on people, Don't leave them up here by himself.

They're they're too shy.

Oh my. Well then they better be taking a lot of pictures.

Constitution of the State of California,

the Constitution of the State of California,

against all enemies, all enemies, foreign and domestic, and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance,

That I will bear true faith and allegiance.

To the Constitution of The United States.

To the Constitution of The United States.

And the Constitution of the State of California. And the Constitution of the

State of California.

That I take this obligation freely. That I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation without any mental reservation for purpose of evasion and that I will well and faithfully discharge

that I will well and faithfully discharge

duties upon which I'm about to enter.

Upon which I'm about to enter.

Congratulations. Thank you.

Shake your hands. Now before you come over and shake our hands, I want you to turn to the audience, turn to your families, wave to them. See you in four years. If there's any member of the public who would like to comment on this item, please come up now. Or if there's anybody online.

Seeing none, we'll close the public comment period. And we will now move to our consent calendar. The consent calendar consists of items that are typically routine in nature and non controversial. Although there's always some controversy in everything we do. We welcome any member of the public to come up and speak. Items will typically be voted on in one motion, unless a council member asks to have an item pulled. Is there any council member who would like to have an item pulled before I move anybody up? Okay. Any member of the public like to make a Oh, I'm sorry, Tina. Oh, sorry. Didn't see it.

Didn't

know what you were doing there.

No, I was using my left hand. Sorry. I would like to pull just a simple question on item number 1.3.

1.3. Okay. All right. Now we'd like to ask members of the public and Britt, why don't you you're so much eloquent at this time.

If you would like to address the city council on the consent calendar and you're attending the meeting in person, now is the time to approach the podium. If you're attending via Zoom, now is the time to raise your hand. No? I see no speakers.

Okay. And we'll close the public comment period and we'll move. Anybody have a motion or cookie? Sure.

Move to approve consent items 1.1 to 1.5, excluding 1.3 at the moment.

Second.

Okay. We have a motion and a second. All in favor please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Any abstentions? Alright. So Item 1.3. Tina?

Thank you. Mayor? Leste, just a simple question I asked you the other day as well. Why are we doing this? We are in difficult budget time and so we are looking at everything a little more closely. It would be helpful to share with the members of the public what's happening here.

Sure. This item, we have an open position, the administrative analyst position. So that has been open for quite some time and this is kind of back filled for that until we fill that position. We are currently reevaluating the department to try to assess the needs of the department. And so this will go and carry over until the June.

Okay. Thank you.

I'm going to follow-up with another question. We talked about the different levels in their contract. What is the level of this staffing?

In terms of well, she's the role that the person's filling is for an administrative analyst role. But are you referring to kind of the Yeah,

so what level are we paying for? I mean they have, I don't remember seeing an administrative analyst in there. And I don't know if that person has the qualifications that the city would require for that. So I'm just curious what we're paying for.

Right.

I

would probably ask John Sherbone if you could come up just to identify some of the tasks that this person is fulfilling. Thank you, John.

They're fulfilling a lower level than the administrative analyst. It's the level that perhaps at the community development has used this person in the past for greeting the public that comes into the community development department. And so it's kind of at that level. So some of those tasks are being done by existing staff and myself right now to fulfill the higher level items, such as the Parks and Rec Commission and other items that the administrative analyst position was doing. But it's helpful to have some help, especially with encroach permits that they're helping staff do.

And so that's a very important position. We have a lot of work that the utilities are going through in the city. So we don't want that to, you know, fall between the cracks. So it's not, you know, it's lower level, definitely, than what we need. But it's helping.

Got you. Thanks. So when I'm looking at the list of people and their rates, I guess this falls into the administrative support category.

Exactly.

Okay. Yeah. Thanks. Thank you. Did I do public comment? No, I already did. Okay. Any, motion or further discussion or?

No discussion needed. I am happy to make a motion to move staff recommendation.

Second. And the motion and the second. All in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Okay. Thanks. That motion passes. Next we move to general business. And the first item is item 2.1. This is our 2025 general plan housing element annual progress report. Could we have a staff report please?

Good evening. The 2025 annual progress report includes information on the number of new residential planning applications submitted to the number of building permits issued for 2025 calendar year. Saratoga's progress toward meeting the city's regional housing needs assessment, or RENA, is based on a number of building permits issued. The city's RENA for twenty twenty three-two thousand and thirty one is seventeen twelve new housing units spread among the very low, moderate, and above moderate income categories. Since 2023, the city has issued 556 building permits for new residential units.

For 2025, the city added two fourteen new units, which included 36 ADUs as very low income, 36 ADUs as low income, seven deed restricted townhomes as low income, 36 ADUs as moderate income, and 99 new single family homes, townhomes and ADUs in the above moderate income category. After city council approves the APR, staff will file a report with the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Office of Planning and Research. This concludes my report. Thank you.

Do we have any questions of staff? Tina.

Thank you, Mayor. Chris, thank you so much for your report, staff report. I read this. And one of the things that the city has typically struggled with is meeting the requirements for the very low income category. And I noticed, thanks to this Berkeley, UC Berkeley study, the Association for Bay Area Governments allows us to consider 30% of ADUs as very low income and 30% as low income, 30% moderate, and 10% above moderate.

Above moderate, we typically are better placed comparatively in our housing elements. And there's a very aggressive number given to us by the state this time, seventeen twelve, that we need to meet. Do you feel let me preface that. I have long supported ADUs in Saratoga and the need we have to incentivize them. Seeing that we are able to count so many of these ADUs in the very low and low income category, Do you feel if we were to waive the fees for Saratoga, that would help us incentivize more ADU construction?

I think it would remove a barrier, and it would help incentivize them, yes. I would agree.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that. So mayor, I'd just like to share right now that when it comes back for discussion, I would like us to consider that. As I'd supported for need restricted ADUs, I think we need to consider that moving forward, how we meet our numbers in housing element.

Okay. And does the development manager have something she'd like to add?

So are you suggesting that we bring this back for further discussion at another meeting?

I can do that. If Richard allows us to give direction at the end of this item, I would be happy to even consider that. Richard, would we have your permission?

So yes, you can't decide that at this meeting. But you could direct staff to bring that back as part of the fee schedule.

Okay. That's kind of what I was thinking. I hadn't thought through till the fee schedule, but that's even more precise. I appreciate that. Thank you so much. Thanks Cindy. And thank you Chris. That's the only question I have.

Any other questions? I have one. So there are, a lot of people have built pool houses over the time, right? Build a pool house. I know over time many of those morph into, oh, I put a bedroom in.

They may have a kitchen. They may have had a kitchen before. But they're not counted as ADUs. Is there, well first of all, if somebody had done that and there was some incentive to them and to the city to define that as an ADU, would that then count towards our numbers? Because what hoping is that if there is a way to provide that incentive and it counted, then maybe there's things that we could do to incentivize people to define it as an ADU, and then, you know, whatever permit that they need to get for that, and define it in our inventory. I don't know if I explained that right, Chris.

But I think I understand. Your question is if they were to convert an existing pool house into an ADU, would they get the benefit for that? Again, I would say yes, because we count the ADUs as dwelling units where a pool house is not. A dwelling unit has to have a kitchen, a bathroom to count as a living unit. So if you convert it into an ADU that had those elements, then you would. So you'd file for a building permit, we'd get the credit for that.

Okay. Excellent. Thank you. Thanks. Anybody else? Alright. We'll now open the public comment period and invite people to give us your thoughts. Ask any questions. Let us know what you think about this item.

If you would like to address the City Council on this item and you're attending the meeting in person, you have not submitted a speaker slip. Now is the time to do so. If you're attending the meeting via Zoom, now is the time to raise your hand. Glenn.

Mayor, council members, I suggest the council accept and file the progress report as presented by staff. I'm not worried about Saratoga's progress against the current arena cycle. There are six reporting years left. If builders file applications for a 100 units a year, the city will meet its total goal of applications filed, so you're looking good. I am very worried about the next RENA cycle.

If Saratoga is allocated with same or greater housing target number in the next arena cycle, the city and the residents are, and mister mayor, I'm not gonna use all my expletives of what happens when that occurs. The city cannot absorb this much additional zoning while still maintaining safety for the public. I forget who said it first, but the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This is what the current RINA methodology is doing. The city and its council members need to start now advocating for new methodology for RENA allocation.

There are many other cities that have the same issue. You need to advocate with legislators, the Santa Clara County Cities Association, and the California League of Cities. Make this a priority for the city's association, similar to when they work together to create Silicon Valley clean energy. If the county can create a new cost accounting methodology for sheriff's cost, then the state can create a new allocation methodology for Rina. A methodology will take into account the public safety needs of the public and does not force housing into zones with public safety concerns like the WUI.

Someone needs to create a coalition to get the RENA methodology changed. I'm not asking you council members to take on this task alone. I do think your leadership with the West Valley cities, in the Cities Association, the League of Californias, would be a great place to start for these organizations for them to take leadership on this important topic. Something needs to change in the way just build housing anywhere mentality in the state. The need to build additional housing in California needs to be balanced against the need to accommodate common sense public safety concerns. I hope you can help get policy change on RHNA before the next RHNA cycle starts. Thank you.

Thanks, Glenn.

Mayor, I have no other speakers.

All right. Then we'll close the public comment period and bring it back to counsel. Tina.

Okay. Firstly, I want to thank staff for all the work they do. Not just the report, but every day when you work with the residents. When somebody comes to the planning department, to the counter, I know you have been encouraging them to try to add ADUs. Every unit counts, as has been said.

We have a very aggressive number given to us. And it is good to see the numbers that I'm seeing here today. Secondly, I would like to with the support of my fellow council members here, I'd like to give direction to staff that when the next fee schedule comes back to us to give us how the numbers look like, I'd propose a local fee waiver for the ADUs. We need those numbers. And I think, based on the dollar amount that I am looking at what each permit costs, even with the difficult budget cycle, overall it may be helpful for us, balancing the needs of the city.

Thirdly, I want to thank Glenn where is he? There he is. Glenn, thank you for bringing up what you did. In the last couple of years on the Cities Association Board, I have along with my colleagues from other cities, we have been concerned about this and we have been talking to the legislators. Senator Josh Becker, as I have shared with you and the others so many times, has heard plenty from me about the challenges.

And I have he's at least one person I find, in my experience, to be responsive towards understanding our pain. Two years ago as the legislative action committee chair, I supported all the bills that we needed to, to minimize our housing pain. As the Cities Association Board President this year, I am happy to hear what you have brought up in front of us today. I'm going to talk with you tomorrow morning on the phone to see what you can recommend, how we proceed forward. You're absolutely right.

There are other cities that are going through this challenge. Sunnyvale, the city that you're a former mayor of, just a few days ago was in the news. Sunnyvale that supports affordable housing is struggling to meet its RINA numbers. So maybe you can help me start that conversation in a different manner that may bring Us results. I can assure you that at Cities Association, as elsewhere, we all, quite a few of us, are struggling with this. How do we make the change happen at the state level? And I know you you are fully aware of the challenges there. So any insights you can share with me, let's talk tomorrow. Thank you so much. Those are my thoughts, Mayor. Thank you.

Thanks. Anybody else? Malone. Sure.

I just want to say thank you to staff for putting together the report. It's a lot of info to gather, across all the work that happens across Saratoga. Just wanted to say it's great to see some develop some movement here in terms of new applications and just housing being built. A friendly reminder that the median cost of a house in Saratoga is around $4,000,000 Right? And so it's increasingly out of reach for a lot of people. And so the construction helps all that. We've also got to balance that with maintaining the city's character. So I just wanted to say thank you for all the work that goes into this. Know it hasn't been easy.

I forgot one.

Okay.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. I wanted to add the pool houses idea that you have suggested. I think we should certainly consider that and find a way either I'm happy to give direction now that the planning CDD department worked with the Planning Commission to see what needs to be done there. Every unit counts.

And you're absolutely right. There are plenty of pool houses that the owners could be encouraged and incentivized, especially if we were to add the fee waiver, that would be a bigger incentive. Every resident wants to maintain Saratoga the way it is. And if somebody can afford to do this and we waive the fee, that would go a long way. So I want to add that to the direction, if my colleagues agree to that. Great idea, Mayor.

Okay.

Thank you. Cookie?

The progress report is pretty straightforward. I'm okay to move to approve staff's recommendation.

Do we have a second?

Second. Do we give direction separately?

We will. Let me Okay. Speak

Great. Thank you.

Yeah, I too thank staff for the report. It's a requirement. I'm glad we got it. It looks like we're making some progress. I would encourage every one of us to, the words that were used a lot when I was on council before were transit oriented development. That needs to come back. That of course will put pressure on San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, some of the cities that are struggling to make their numbers. But that is exactly where housing needs to be built. It needs to be built near transportation and near sources of employment. Saratoga doesn't have sources of employment.

1% of our property, probably less now, are zoned commercial. And that means we don't have a job base here. So when people buy a house here or get a residence, rent a place, they are jumping in their car and sitting in Route 85 traffic. Now if they got an electric vehicle, they may not be damaging the environment in terms of the air, but they are damaging the road. And then there's those batteries that have to be taken care of at some point in time.

So I think that we, now that that term is being used a lot more, I think we need to work with our legislators. And you know, the Cities Association is an organization that the city of Saratoga is typically not sided with on many things. But I think that's something that should be pushed with them. And I'd love to see them support that, because that is one way to do it. I do believe that taking existing pool houses, especially those that have been converted or had a bathroom added or had a kitchen put in them or can, there should be an easy path, a less expensive path perhaps, And certainly an ability to add that to our inventory.

I think that would be really good. So I'm looking for a low cost entry point in terms of permitting. I'm sure that they would need an inspection. So there should be some cost, I would imagine. But we want to make sure that we're encouraging that activity. So I'm in support of the resolution. And with that, is there any further discussion?

I'm supportive of what Tina mentioned, the two items on bringing the fee schedule back on a potential, taking a look at fees on ADUs. And then also evaluating how we can support pool houses or existing additional structures that have been added on and making it easier to make those official ADUs.

Okay. So I think staff has the direction about the two extra items. So we will move to a, we've got the motion to approve the resolution and the second. All in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? The motion passes four-zero. And unfortunately Yan can't be with us tonight. Okay.

We'll go to the next item, which again is a community development item. This is the cancellation of a Williamsonak contract, application number CPX25DashOOO4, and all the rest of those numbers that are there. Chester Avenue in Allendale. Brian, please give us a staff report.

Good evening, Mayor Page, Vice Mayor Wally, members of the City Council, and residents of City Of Saratoga. My name is Brian Swanson, and I serve as the community development director for the beautiful city of Saratoga. Staff's recommended actions this evening are twofold. One, hold a public hearing, and two, adopt the resolution approving the tentative cancellation of the Williams Natt contract. So some history and some descriptions on what's before you this evening.

The applicant requests cancellation of the Williams NAC contract on its property at Chester Avenue and Allendale Avenue. The contract requires that land be used for only agricultural and uses compatible with agriculture. As an alternative to use to agriculture, the applicant proposes to develop the land by subdividing it into 52 lots and seven parcels. The lots range in size from 5,722 to 18,496 square feet. Each of the 52 lots would be developed with a two story single family residence, ranging in size from 4,456 to 5,881 gross square feet, and 12 of these residents will include an attached four fifty one square foot accessory dwelling unit, ADU.

The seven newly created parcels will be used to meet other project needs, such as including private streets, storm water bio retention basins areas, and emergency vehicle access, an EVA. 34 protected trees are proposed to be removable. The Planning Commission approved the subdivision and granted design review approval for the residential development on 02/25/2026. Some further background. On 09/20/2023, the applicant submitted an application for a different multifamily residential development consisting of two thirty one dwelling units utilizing the Builders' Remedy Provision of the California Housing Accountability Act, which restricts the city's ability to deny a project for inconsistency with the site zoning or land use designation.

The applicant's builder's remedy proposal is still in process with the city. However, on 09/10/2025, the same applicant submitted the application underlying the Williamson Act cancellation request. The applicant in the city then entered into an MOU, memorandum of understanding under which processing of the builder's remedy application will be paused if the city approves the tentative map for the underlying project by 02/26/2026. The applicant will withdraw the builder's remedy application if the city approves the final map for the subject application by 04/15/2026. The Planning Commission approved the tentative map in February 25.

Williamson Act we don't talk about the Williamson Act a lot in Saratoga, so I'm just going to give you some history and some background on what that is. The Williamson Act, also known as the California Land Conservation Act of 1965, enables local governments to enter into contracts with private landowners to restrict specific parcels of land to agricultural or related open space use. In return, landowners receive property tax assessments that are much lower than the normal because they are based on farming and open space use rather than market value for more developed uses. The property owners entered into a Williams NAC contract with the city in 1972. On 09/25/2018, the owners submitted a request to the county to non renew the Williams Sonat contract for both parcels.

Based on the non renewal, the contract will expire in 2028. In order to proceed with the project before that time, the applicants have requested that the city cancel the contract. The Williamson Act requires that if a contract is canceled, the owners must pay a cancellation fee to the county equal to 12.5% of the appraised value. The city council must determine and certify the amount of the cancellation fee due based on an appraisal of the county assessor. The assessor has determined that a fee of $3,828,125 is due.

The tentative cancellation is the first step in the process of contract cancellation. Once approved, the applicant will notify the city when it has met the conditions and of the tentative cancellation. Upon the city council's ministerial determination that the conditions have been met, city staff must execute and record a certificate of cancellation of contract, thereby making the cancellation final. Conditions of tentative cancellation must include payment of the cancellation fee and the applicant's receipt of all permits necessary to commence the project. The final map for the underlying project, when approved by the city council, will satisfy all the permits necessary to commence the requirement.

This concludes staff's presentation. For any questions. I'd like to thank Gabe, Ross, and Cindy for all their help with staff report and working on the project.

Thanks, Brian. Any questions? Tina?

Thank you, Mayor. Brian, thank you so much for not just this report, but working with the applicant for quite a while on this item. It has taken different shapes. This question is likely either for finance or the attorney. And we may not even have the answer yet.

So I noticed the assessor has determined a fee of 3.8 plus million dollars. Richard, is that the is that to be considered likely a property tax that needs to be returned because it has been taking advantage of the Williamson Act contract?

I have not. That is something that is the money goes to the assessor's office, they have many, many rules. It's not something I've looked into.

Okay. I would love to hear later on if there is a way that is classified as a property tax, which means we, the city of Saratoga, have a fixed percentage that we know we can get back from there. Because that would be if it were not in Williamson Act contract, we would have been receiving some property tax from this. So just saying, and I wanted to understand that. And I think the owner can help me with the answer to that question. Mayor, would you permit? Or should I wait for public comment? I'm happy to wait.

We could have an answer I

think we should wait, because I also want to make clear to counsel that this isn't a factor for you to consider

in Agreed. Making the Agreed.

So if we hear an answer in public comment, great. If not, staff can look into it.

Perfect. And that works for me. Thank you so much, Richard. So in terms of the process, Brian, this is a tentative cancellation that, as laid out in the staff report, this will continue to come back. And that's when the final cancellation happens.

That's correct. So in April, the second meeting in April, we will be bringing back the final cancellation and the final map for the project.

And then ultimately, if we move forward with this, then the builder's remedy application expires ninety days after that?

CHAIRMAN That's correct. Ninety days.

CHAIRMAN Thank you. I'm asking that because members of the public have reached out to me and have been inquiring. And that's what I have been sharing. I just wanted you to say it on the record. Thank you so much. Yeah. Thanks, Mayor. That's the end of my questions.

Any other questions? Okay. Then I will open the public comment period. And Britt, you're on.

Okay. If you would like

to address the City Council on this item, you're attending the meeting in person. Now is the time to approach the podium. You're attending the meeting Zoom. Now is the time to raise your hand.

Tom Wilson. Just to clarify, unfortunately the city nor the county gets that money. It goes straight to the state clearinghouse. And we've tried to track where it goes, but it goes to the state. So the county has made it very clear to us that they don't get any of the money. So I don't believe the city gets it either.

Thanks, Thank you.

Any other speakers in house want to come up and weigh in? Nobody's rushing the stage tonight. Don't know. Anybody online Britt? Nobody Okay. With their hand Then we will close the public comment period and bring it back to counsel. Bilal? You raised an eyebrow. That means you're going.

All right. I'm comfortable. I can move to support staff's recommendation on the tentative cancellation of the Williams Connect contract for Chester Avenue and Allendale.

We have a motion. Do we have a second?

I second. And I can make all the findings as well.

Okay. Any discussion?

I support this. And I want to thank staff as well as the property owner to try to find a resolution for our residents. I can make all the findings. One of the things I continue to be asked today is, but you can't change the zoning. It doesn't meet your general plan. Well, it does meet our general plan. I wanted to emphasize that. Thank you.

All right. Thanks. And I wish everybody's family well. And so with that, we've got a motion and a second. All in favor please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. Four-zero. Let's go. Thank you. Next up we have the village design standards. So we're instructed to introduce and waive the first reading of the village design standards.

So I will recuse myself because

Oh, I have property thank in the you.

Yes. Sorry about that.

Thanks.

We'll see you in a bit. Hi, Cindy. It's so nice to see you again.

Hello. I'll wait.

We'll wait for Cookie to, yeah, she might hear something that.

I'm here just to simply introduce this item today. I'm going to turn it over to Monica from Lisa Wise Consulting. And I want to thank Monica and her team for getting us to this point. And I want to thank the City Council, the Planning Commission, the Heritage Preservation Commission, the Historical Foundation Society for all of their input into this process, our downtown business owners, all of the stakeholders that completed the online questionnaire, the interviews, attended the workshop. Monica's going to talk about that in a minute.

But all of this input has got us to this point and made this a much better development standards. And so we're excited to present the draft to you tonight. And I'll turn it over to Monica. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Cindy, and good evening counsel. I'm Monica Sidlick, senior associate with Lisa Wise Consulting. I'm here with my colleague Jessica and Cal as well, who has joined us via Zoom. And we're really happy to be here before you again to present to you the council hearing draft of the village design standards. So we'll do just a brief background of the project.

We know you know about the project. We've discussed it a few times. So we'll do a quick overview of why we're here and the process since we began about a year ago. We'll briefly review the community outreach that led us to where we are, as Cindy mentioned. We'll do a brief overview of the standards. And then look to you all.

Okay.

So objective design standards for the Saratoga Village, as you know, follows previous projects that Lisa Wise Consulting has worked on with the city of Saratoga. So we began a few years ago with objective design standards for multifamily and mixed use development throughout the city. Then we looked at objective design standards for single family and duplex. And then our third project is standards for all, any and all village development in the village. And so specifically, we're here to implement housing element program 3.3-three which calls for the city to preserve the historic character of the village.

Specifically the task is to take the village design guidelines and translate them into design standards in the code. Which is to say we absolutely did not start from scratch. A solid set of design guidelines gave us our marching orders essentially for these code updates. So briefly, the project aims to preserve and reinforce the village character, reflect community input, and basically describe what the community wants to see in the village. It's worth noting that we are not modifying any land uses or basic development standards that are established already for each zone that appears in the village.

We're not modifying parking ratios. We're not looking at any public right of way. And we're not designating anything historic. It was advancing a moment ago. Okay.

Great. So the amendments that we're recommending today are in select articles of the code. The bulk of the amendments are in a new article that we're introducing into the code, which is fifteen sixty two. And then we've got some supporting amendments in a handful of other sections in the code to ensure that the new standards are adequately implemented. And to add references where needed, definitions to make sure they're solid and easily implemented.

Okay. So we'll just review briefly the project so far. We began about a year ago. We started with some community outreach right away with stakeholder interviews and an online questionnaire and a workshop. After which we released a detailed analysis and recommendations memo.

We came to, before all of you, a joint session with the planning commission and council in June. And then we worked hard with the city staff, with Brian and Cindy, and developed a set of administrative draft standards. Those were released to the community. And we were back before you again in November for a joint session with the Planning Commission and Council. We got a lot of great feedback.

And then working with the staff again, we developed a hearing draft. We were at the planning commission early this year. And we're very pleased to present the standards as they are tonight. Okay. So a brief reminder of where we're looking. The area within the red boundary, the heart of the city. You can see there are six zoning districts within the planning area. And we've got important places, right? We've got the creek, Blaney Plaza, some historic structures. And a lot of activity.

So when we began, we looked closely at the existing BUILT form. We looked at it with the community, with stakeholders, with workshop attendees. We documented what we saw. We talked about what we saw. We documented existing zoning. We like to say that design standards pick up where development standards leave off. So we wanted to know where we're starting from in terms of existing standards for development, overall building placement, and massing. And we looked at style. We looked at patterns. And we documented what we saw.

Again, the community engagement. We launched an extensive program, which included that joint session in June. And also included a meeting and input from an ad hoc committee, which was composed of two HPC members and three Saratoga Historical Foundation members. They reviewed an early draft and gave us a lot of helpful input on colors, on signage, on what they wanted to see for building step backs of upper stories, looking at a building holistically on all elevations, and some specific input about design details. And we took that.

And that all folded into the admin draft and the public review draft that followed. It was all this information, this input, as well as the community input and the survey and the interviews and the workshop was all extremely valuable in shaping the draft that we have tonight. So now I'll just do a brief overview of the amendments before you. So again, we'd like to point out that this material evolved largely over the last handful of months from the public review draft, the public review draft that we released, I think it was early fall. We talked about it in November.

We talked about it again with the planning commission in February, and again in February. And so the next handful of slides will show you what we're looking at tonight. Okay. So fifteen sixty two is the new article of the code. It starts out with a purpose statement consistent with other articles in the code.

Generally speaking, there are simple statements that tell us that what we're looking to do is reinforce the small town identity of the village and support active retail and civic activity in the village. So we start with the bigger picture and establish some standards for upper story step backs in the CH1, CH2, and the PA. After working through this with the Planning Commission and staff, we determined that the appropriate standard would be any story above the second story, and also any story that's over 12 feet in height would be stepped back from, any story over 12 feet in height except for the Ground Floor. It must be stepped back a minimum of six feet from the floor below. And that's for street facing elevations.

For interior side elevations in the CH1 abutting the R1, I'll mention that only applies to just a very small number of parcels, excluding the creek adjacent parcels. Any story above the second story must be stepped back a minimum of six feet or located within a sloped roof form. Then we looked at existing building form along Big Basin Way and other rights of way within the village. And develop standards for building modules. Essentially how long can a building be along the rights of way.

And then determine that long buildings must provide direct access, paseos, to any parking district that exists in the rear of the property. We looked at and made sure to give our attention to all building elevations in standards that require three sixty degree design. As we mentioned, ground floor commercial is required. We introduced standards for high quality roof design and facade design, all stemming out of discussions with the community, our experience establishing best practice standards in a range of cities. And really working with the decision makers here and the staff.

Okay. We looked closer at frontage. Frontages. And sort of the elevations facing rights of way that the pedestrians pass by. We looked at how to make the frontages porous and active and inviting and comfortable.

So we established standards for the design of frontages in all of the zones in the village. We limited blank walls. And introduced a few other standards that were important to the community. And then, so when we worked on the multi family and mixed use standards citywide, we introduced a palette of entry designs. And then when we zeroed in closely and looked closely at the village, we took a fresh look at how that palette of standards would apply in the village.

And added a few exceptions, a few modifications specifically for the village. So those are clarified in 1562 with references to other sections as needed to make it as easy as possible to follow these standards. And then new to the village, we looked at rear entry designs. Because the parking districts are such an important part of the fabric of the village. So we looked at the quality of the buildings facing those parking districts.

And in an effort to make sure the rights of way are comfortable and active, we required storefront transparency. And also established standards for the accompanying detail framing that transparency so that we know where we are. We know what we're next to when we're walking through the village. We looked carefully at awnings. We talked with the community about the awnings that work, the awnings that don't work so well, and established a tight set of standards for the kinds of awnings we'd like to see and some basic Dimensions and quality.

We talked a whole lot about materials and colors. And how prescriptive we want to be with color, with regulating colors in the village. We looked at some of the historic colors. We talked with the community about what is it that, how can color make a building feel like it's part of the village fabric and reflective of the character that we know and love in the village? And when does it seem like that's inconsistent with the historic quality of a building or with the village in general?

And we played around with some standards and ultimately established a few standards that are summarized here on this slide. And the consensus was to get quantitative about colors. So that's what's in the draft. And then we zoomed in even closer on details and thought about, okay, know there's historic buildings in the village. There are buildings that may not technically be historic, but they feel historic.

And they're demonstrative of a particular style that feels familiar. So we talked about building integrity. And how do we find a way to enforce that? And what we ended up doing is developing a few what we're calling architectural detail palettes. And the images on the right hand side of the slide are a collection of details that together create a building that is a familiar style and that we understand is reflective of the Saratoga Village character.

So we have palette A, a different set of details and features for palette B. The same with palette C. And we're looking at all kinds of features, roof, detail, color, accents, forms. And the same with palette D. And for all of these, there's at least one building that, oh yeah, that looks like this style. And we know and love that building. And it's part of the village. So we're trying to pick up on that. And then accompanying standards that basically say, if you're one of these, you've got to actually be this style. Right?

So the intent is to avoid pastiche picking up on different elements and design features from different styles and putting them together and hoping that adds up to something that the community wants to see. We want to avoid that. Some building placement standards. The content on this slide is really already in the code. It's just pulled over from another section.

And because it applies exclusively in the village, we picked it up from that section, I think it's fifteen fifty eight or 'nine, and dropped it into fifteen fifty two. And then we looked at the setback areas. We want to make sure that the setback areas, either front or side, are intentionally designed and part of the whole building design and add to the experience of urban design in the village. So we introduced standards for making sure that the front setback areas are usable, that they function as extensions of the public sidewalk, and that they frame the entrance and enhance the transparency and legibility of the structure in general. We added some standards for design of open spaces to make sure that they're comfortable and usable.

In a nutshell, goal is to avoid designing and building public spaces that aren't used. And some standards. So sort of working together with the standards for building massing where there's a recess, we have standards here that address the design of that recess to make sure that it's usable and well designed and sort of integral to the whole building and site design. And a few other standards. Picking up on what we've heard from the community, standards to make sure that unsightly areas are screened and screened well, that we're consistent with fire prevention standards, and that areas are maintained.

And the new article also includes references, cross references to other related parts of the code that basically help steer the applicant and inform the applicant and lead to a good design that checks all of the boxes. So I mentioned earlier supporting amendments. This is just sort of a variety of different stuff that makes the 1562 work. Wherever we introduced new terms to the code, we provided definitions. Again, a reference to fifteen sixty two, several references to fifteen sixty two so applicants know where to look.

So you've got a signed article, and there's a section within that article that signs in the village. Instead of putting that in 1562, we just added some content here in that sign part of the code. We added standards for awning signs and provided some best practice cleanup amendments elsewhere in this section. And not very substantive supporting amendments throughout the code. I'm going to turn the presentation back over to Cindy who will talk through the staff recommendation.

So the recommendation is before you we are asking that you waive the first reading and then bring it back to counsel in two weeks for adoption. And happy to answer any questions that you

have. Any questions? Tina's got questions.

One question. Thank you, Chuck. Cindy, you know my question. So we've talked about this a couple of times. And I really want to thank you for all the time you have taken.

We have gone through this close to what it seems like one year that the council has been working with CTD. And Monica has walked me through this the first time in a lot of detail. So my question is I know you have provided a lot of clarification. So I just want to ask you, when I look at Section fifteen-sixty 2.04, Site Design Standards. Within B there, which is setback areas, B2 on page 17, it says building setback where it is greater than 10 feet in-depth from the public right of way, outdoor dining or seating areas are required as a condition of approval.

This may be waived if outdoor dining is already included, so on and so forth. And then in subsection C of that, next page, it talks about publicly accessible open spaces on private property. Within number two, D for David there, within that, it says courtyards open to and facing public right of way must adhere to the following criteria, must include seating. Seating can be covered and can include built in or movable furniture. So I'm trying to connect two scenarios outdoor seating on private property, outdoor seating required if the setback is more than 10 feet, And outdoor seating on private property can be covered.

So what happens to outdoor seating, which may be in the public right of way? Only outdoor seating is required in the public right of way, or when they get permission. They are not required to provide a covered seating. If somebody were proposing

seating in the public right of way, that would come before the city council, we had like a limited program, if I recall, for that. So that would need to come back to the council. And we, other cities have developed design standards for parklets for outdoor dining. So that's one way to address whether or not it's covered.

So right now, what is allowed in terms of outdoor dining on nonprivate property, which is public right of way?

So we just have the pilot program, the two pilot program outdoor dining areas in the public right of way?

And they don't we did not allow any covered seating. Yes, no? I don't recall.

Well, the outdoor seating is adjacent to the building. And if the owner wanted to put an awning out or something over that, they could do that. They've got to follow existing building code and stuff. There's nothing excluding that. Of course, if they added something, they'd have to follow our village design guidelines to put that specific type of awning, the colors, etcetera.

Okay. Do you know the thank you, Mayor. Do you know the extent of that awning? I'm just trying to think of any possible scenario. I supported that.

And I support what is being proposed here in the publicly accessible open space and private property. What I'm trying to avoid is I'm thinking of a scenario where there may be seating in public property, public right of way, that has a large expanse of private seating and then we have this huge covered area which is taking advantage of the public right of way. Because that would not be fair from perspective. Somebody is taking additional benefit of that. Do you see any scenarios where this code could be used for that?

So to go beyond the two pilot properties that have the public right of way seating, that would need to come back to the council. Otherwise someone would be limited to their private property.

Happy to hear that. Thank you so much. You're welcome.

Bilal, any questions? I have a couple, Cindy. One is, has the color palette changed from the last time we saw this? I know there was some consternation about different things.

Yes. So it was reduced from 80 to 60. Monica can provide the exact range. It was in the PowerPoint presentation. I

just wanted to reiterate that part.

Was it 35 to 60?

35 to 65, think. Maybe 60 or 65, I can't remember.

It went from 80 to 60 to reduce the color palette.

Okay. Thanks. And then the other question I've got is the street facing setbacks areas. Are they the same in CH1 and CH2?

That I would have to look at.

Yeah. I'm not 100% sure. Do have any idea, Monica?

I want to confirm it with the code.

Yeah. Because it would be in another code. It would be in an existing code section. It's not changing.

That part's not changing. Correct.

Okay.

Thanks.

You're welcome.

Thank you. All right. So with that I'll open the public comment period and invite anyone that would like to speak on this item to please come forward. Or Britt can explain the rest of it.

If you're attending the meeting in person and you'd like to address the City Council on this item, now is the time to approach the podium. If you're attending via Zoom and your hand is not already raised, now is the time to raise your hand. Okay. We do have one remote attendee with their hand raised. Marilyn.

Can you hear me okay?

Yes. Sure can. Go ahead.

Great. Good evening, counsel and all. Marilyn Marchetti. I'm one of the people that was on the, design, the village design ad hoc. I was previous on the previously on the Heritage Preservation Commission for eight and a half years. I'm currently upon the Saratoga Historic Foundation, but I'm here representing myself. I wanna thank first of all, thank everyone involved in this really important project, especially Cindy McCormick who's been so dedicated to the project. I would, however, like to request that council consider removing figure 15 palette b on page 15 of the proposed ordinance draft. I'm kinda not sure how it ever even got there. The ad hoc voted no on it.

I'm the community meeting voted against it. I think the HPC did not approve it. And, when it came to the planning commission, it was on the plan, and the planning commission, voted for it to leave it on. However, I'm not sure that they understood the consequence. Hopefully, this ordinance is gonna be around for a very long time. And, buildings are gonna get old. They're gonna be redone. They're gonna be rebuilt. And, people would be submitting plans to build more modern buildings. And before you know it, if we get more and more, buildings that look modern like that draft on, Pallet B, the city is no longer gonna have that historic and, you know, quaint village charm that it has right now.

If if the if the if the number one purpose of the ordinance is to preserve the historic character of the village as it stated in the beginning of this presentation, I don't know how it can be achieved if modern style architecture is allowed to take over in the village. I understand, Yander, we, we welcome kind of eclectic looks and we already have a bit of an eclectic look. But all these looks pretty much don't take away from the historic character of the village. However, modern architecture will take away from the historic character of the village. So I ask you again to please consider removing palette b only on figure 15 page 13 of this proposed draft.

Thank you. And good evening.

Thank you.

Mayor, there are no hands.

Apparently we have a question for Marilyn. Marilyn, can you?

Hold on one second.

Come back on.

Thank you, Mayor. Because I heard three things. I heard palette. I heard palette B and page 15. 15 has palette D

for No, I'm sorry.

Page Page

It's figure 15, page 13.

Page 13 is also not modern. I believe it is page 11, which is palette b, b for boy.

Pulled up the I thought I pulled up the last one that was out on the agenda, but it's the one that says figure 15 dash 62.03 dash three c, building articulation and detail palette c. Three b. Oh, palette c. Did I say b? I don't. Oh, it is palette c.

No. C is also not historic. B is I mayor, I can just have Cindy respond. I just wanna make sure.

Okay.

Hold on. Let me let me let me my copy says that it's on page 13, and it's palette b. Which one is the one the modern looking one? Are you bringing it up on the screen right now?

Hi, Marilyn. It's Cindy. Yes. So I have palette b on the screen. I'm I'm 99% positive this is the one that you're referencing, palette B. It's the one that was modeled after Sue's gallery.

Yep.

Yes.

Yep. That's the one. That's the one. There was Thank a you. Lot of Thank And when Sue's gallery went up there was a lot of commotion about that looking too much.

Thank you, Marilyn. Thanks, Marilyn.

Mayor, thank you for, I just wanted to confirm that. And Cindy, thank you for answering the next question I would have asked later on. That it is Sue's gallery. Thank you.

We have no other hands raised.

Okay. So we'll close the public comment period and bring it back to the City Council for comments and sometime a motion. A motion, not emotion.

I mean, I I can't can't keep emotion out of it. Know? But I wish I could. I'll I'll keep my comments pretty brief. I think this is like a fantastic set of work that's taking place by a staff led by Cindy and and with Lisa Wise Consulting. I think it's been a a really hard thing to do to convert our design standards into objective language and text into our ordinances. This has been a very hard thing to do. I remember we had a lot of community meetings last year where it was just kind of crickets. And so you had a very hard job here. And so I just want to really commend you for that because this, I think especially there was a comment tonight about the housing element.

Future arena cycles will likely require even more housing numbers. And so having these objective standards in place, I think will make a really big difference in terms of preserving the character of the village in a way that I think is really important. Also, it just makes Saratoga feel special. We're not any of our neighboring cities. We're not Europe. We have our own special downtown charm. And as someone once said, it's a good scene out of a postcard. And I really appreciate that. And that takes a lot of effort and work. There's been extensive community input here, so many meetings with all of us here.

And so I really appreciate that. I also appreciate the insistence on open spaces as well, just having more gathering areas inside the village, especially as we think about potential places changing within the village. I do think ordinances have multiple purposes, not just historical preservation. I think we do have an eclectic village when it comes to design standards. I think there's like we can all we could probably spend a whole meeting debating what modern means.

What I would say is when I would say the business that I most commonly hear very positive reviews about from people, not in Saratoga, but even in Saratoga, is SUS. I think I hear overwhelmingly positive consternation, frankly, for how beautiful a building it is and how well that's done. So I'm supportive of keeping pallet B in while recognizing that it's one of several options. And I I think it does a nice job of balancing that. I also recognize we might look at I'll I'll look at those things a little bit differently.

So I'd be supportive of moving forward with the staff recommendation and can make a motion to introduce and waive the first reading of the village design standards and then to place the ordinance on the consent calendar for adoption at our next regular meeting.

Excellent. Do we have a second?

I would like to second that motion and a couple of quick comments. In addition to what has already been said, we have had multiple reviews. Council has seen this numerous times. CDD, Community Development Department, has done a fabulous job. Cindy, once again, thank you so much.

Brian, thank you for leading this effort. And Lisa Wise Consulting, Annika, you have been very, very thorough with this. All the engagement with the community, with the Ad Hoc Committee and all other residents, Marilyn Marquette, you and your other members of the committee, current former Heritage Preservation Commission members, everybody has literally looked at every single line on every diagram, as well as read every word very, very carefully. This is apart from the legal team that has looked at every word very, very, very carefully. I am very happy to see that we are here at the point where we need to move this forward.

And well, we needed to move this forward one year ago. But today we are in an excellent place to move this forward, as my colleague just said, to convert subjective design standards into objective design standards is a very difficult task. As a planning commissioner, I have been a part of the team where we reviewed many applications in the village, looking at the subjective design criteria and making a lot of changes as needed. I think this is an excellent piece of work. And I fully support the Pallet B detail.

It is a part of our village. The village does not have one specific style. And just a comment, even beyond the village in Saratoga, we have always said we like all styles. We welcome all styles in Saratoga as long as there is design integrity. That's what we request. Because that's what makes Saratoga, Saratoga. And so with that, I as I said, I support the work. And I second the motion. Thank you.

Okay. And I'd just like to add that I think this took a long time to get to. In one way, I wish a whole lot more people had weighed in. That doesn't happen. And I suspect the next time that people will weigh in is when a project comes before the Planning Commission to redo a building downtown. And they want to add to the eclectic mix of whatever was in vogue at the time that that building was built. Now we'll have another one. So that's my, I'm putting on my Kreskin, the magnificent hat. I know many of you don't remember Kreskin, but I would have an envelope and I'd tear it open. But not going to do that. That's my prediction. So with that, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No abstentions and one recusation.

How's that for a word? Forget it. I've been practicing. Let's invite council member Fitzsimmons back here. Alrighty. Next up are council assignments.

Malal? I have two things to report on. For the Saratoga Historical Foundation, the Blossom Festival will be held on June 13. So that's an exciting update. We're also at a meeting for the Interfaith Ministerial Association. Last year we had an Interfaith Day of Understanding, and they're in the process of working on one for this year as well.

That's all. Thank you. Cookie?

Thanks. Nothing new to report. Thanks.

All right. Tina?

I attended one meeting, which was the Cities Association of Santa Clara County Board of Directors meeting. We had an automated license plate reader study session within the Board meeting. There was a survey given to all the 15 cities in the county. The survey results were summarized. We also had two guest speakers from the County Sheriff's Office Assistant Sheriff Adam Oberdorfer was there.

And from Los Gatos Police Department, Chief Jamie Field presented. They talked about specifics about the ALPR programs as well as some of their insights from law enforcement perspective in the region or within their community. We also received a public comment and had a Board discussion. It was a fact focused discussion as a study session at the regional level. The other guest speaker within the same meeting was a county assessor who addressed the board sharing her perspective.

She, assessor Nisa Flieger talked about very high level things from the assessors Santa Clara County assessor's office, how they maintain 99.4% accuracy in their roles. They do regular audits. And she talked about the role that Santa Clara's property tax role, ROLL, has in the state. It's one of the topmost counties. And within the county, it's the residential properties that are driving the increase.

And she talked about specific numbers. And Saratoga is in the top five cities driving that for the current year that they are working on. Thank you. And that's the end of my report.

Okay. I had one meeting. I had the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Board meeting. They approved, we approved $6,000,000 additional to the home rebates program. For those of you unfamiliar with the rebate program, please remember that you've got to register first to make sure that you can get those rebates.

It's not like where you just go out and buy stuff and then apply for the rebate. You've to make sure that you apply first and show what you're going to do to make sure that it meets the qualifications. The board also approved the addition, approves the, what do we do, the 2026 legislative platform, which supports the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant Extension and nuclear development. We also had a review of the budget and the financial levers because they are predicting some significant losses. The good news is this year's loss is only predicted now to be $48,000,000 And next year it's 131,000,000 And with prices and PCIA the way that they are, it's going to be very tough.

I did ask the question about, you know, in 2045 all energy has to be clean in California. So every producer, every generator of electricity. So we need to find sources that are actually going to produce that amount of energy. I read a great article about the fact that energy may become the of monetary device of the future. That may be the coin of the future.

And if you take a look at China, they've invested heavily in nuclear and other renewable sources, clean energy, that are going to last for a long, long time. So hopefully we can send the rest of America to move along and get these things going. So that's it for me. Do we have any council communication, or council items first, I guess? No? No? Any council communications? Seeing none. City Manager's Report?

Just one quick thing. Just to piggyback off Vice Mayor Wallia and the Cities Association ALPR. We are having a study session here April 1 in the Council Chambers at five p. M. Before our regular meeting. Thank you.

Okay. City Attorney's report.

Nothing to report.

Britt, do we have any oral communications on non agendized items from our remote attendees?

If you would like to address the city council on an item not on the agenda and you're attending the meeting via Zoom, now is the time to raise your hand. Mayor, I see no hands raised.

All right. With that, I will adjourn this meeting to a closed session, which we're going to have in the City Hall in the Linda Kellen Conference Room. Richard, do I need to say what it is? Or we just go to the closed session. And then I'll report out of that probably at our next council meeting. Thank you all very much.