HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-28-2022 City Council Special MeetingSaratoga City Council Minutes ~ January 28, 2022 ~ Page 1 of 3
MINUTES
FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022
SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING
At 9:00 a.m., the City Council held a Special Meeting via teleconferencing through Zoom.
Mayor Walia called the meeting to order at 9:06 a.m. via teleconferencing through Zoom.
Prior to Roll Call, the City Clerk explained the City Council meeting was conducted pursuant to
State law as recently amended by Assembly Bill 361, which allows the meeting to be conducted
entirely by teleconference. The City Council has met all the applicable notice requirements and
the public is welcome to participate. All Council Members, staff, and meeting attendees
participated by Zoom. Information on how the public can observe the meeting and provide public
comment was provided.
ROLL CALL
PRESENT:Mayor Tina Walia, Vice Mayor Kookie Fitzsimmons, Council
Members Mary-Lynne Bernald, Rishi Kumar, Yan Zhao
(All Council Members appearing via teleconference)
ABSENT:None
ALSO PRESENT:James Lindsay, City Manager
Richard Taylor, City Attorney
Crystal Bothelio, Assistant City Manager
Britt Avrit, City Clerk
Debbie Pedro, Community Development Director
John Cherbone, Public Works Director
Nick Pegueros, Finance and Administrative Services Director
Kayla Nakamoto, Administrative Analyst
Lauren Pettipiece, Public Information Officer
Nicole Johnson, Senior Planner
Christopher Riordan, Senior Planner
David Dorcich, Associate Civil Engineer
Mainini Cabute, Environmental Program Manager
(All staff members appearing via teleconference)
REPORT ON POSTING OF THE AGENDA
The City Clerk reported the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on January 25, 2022.
Mayor Walia noted the number of attendees and the number of people expected to address the City
Council on this item and asked if the City Council would like to consider reducing the public
speaking time to one minute per person.
Saratoga City Council Minutes ~ January 28, 2022 ~ Page 2 of 3
BERNALD/FITZSIMMONS MOVED TO CHANGE THE PUBLIC SPEAKING TIME TO
ONE MINUTE PER PERSON FOR THIS MEETING.MOTION PASSED BY VERBAL
ROLL CALL. AYES: BERNALD, ZHAO, FITZSIMMONS, WALIA: NOES: KUMAR.
ABSTAIN: NONE. ABSENT: NONE.
AGENDA ITEMS:
1. EIR Project Description for Housing Element and General Plan Update including
Housing Opportunity Sites Selection, Policies, and Programs
Recommended Action:
Provide direction on the Housing Opportunity Sites, distribution of units, and policies
and programs to include in the project description for the Environmental Impact Report
(EIR) for the General Plan and Housing Element Update.
Mayor Walia invited public comment on the item.
The following individuals spoke on this item: Cheriel Jensen, Petra Jacobskrueger, Linda,
Glenda Aune, Ling Shao, KP, Sujatha, Lynne Lampros, Brian R, Graham, Madhu Krishnan,
Mary Pat, Ellis, Emily, Sonya, Anoop Kumar, Vivian, David Anderson, Ying, Jose, Joy
Ciffone, Jayne Sonnenschein, Bill Mullen, Taras, Kylie Clark, KY, LaSandra, Rashmi
Shrivastava, Janet, Tista Kapoor, Khiem Hoang, Patricia Cowles, PS and family member,
Esther Kim, Surabhi Pathak, Sue, Tim McNally, Wing Au, Terry, Classica, Diana, Amy, M.
Robertson, Shuang, Terri, Dhans, James Lu, Kamath, Holly Anderson, Martin Snitow,
Mahajan, M, Lei Chang, Birmingham, Joe Ting, Hao Ge, Shu Han, Feng, Daniel Rhoads, Uday
Rau, Jean, Esther, Ralf, Ashok Madanahalli, Nipon, Anjali Mahajan, Tina and Gary, Zoom
user, Priya, Letitia Lam
Debbie Pedro, Community Development Director, provided a presentation for this item.
Mayor Walia stated she will be recusing herself from discussion regarding the Argonaut
Center, Blauer properties, and Pierce Road/Saratoga-Sunnyvaleproperties due to the proximity
of those parcels to her personal residence.
Vice Mayor Fitzsimmons stated she will be recusing herself from discussion regarding the
Village sites due to the proximity of those parcels to property her family owns and will recuse
herself from discussion regarding the Heritage Orchard sites due to the proximity of the parcel
to her personal residence.
Mayor Walia requested a recess and reconvened the meeting at 12:00 p.m.
Council Member Kumar stated “For the record, I’ve stated this, our staff members, Debbie
said, we have data that all the other cities are on parity with us they are at the same timeline
with us; that’s not true, it’s false. The Cupertino status is they are currently reviewing the sites
at the Planning Commission stage, so they are months behind us.”
The City Council identified tentative Housing Opportunity Sites that they would like to discuss
further.
Saratoga City Council Minutes ~ January 28, 2022 ~ Page 3 of 3
Council Member Zhao left the meeting at 1:10 p.m.
The City Council discussed tentative Housing Opportunity Sites in greaterdetail and continued
to refine the list of Housing Opportunity Sites to be further assessed.
Mayor Walia requested a recess and reconvened the meeting at 2:21 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Walia adjourned the meeting at 4:17 p.m.
Minutes respectfully submitted:
Britt Avrit, MMC, City Clerk
City of Saratoga