Saranap Village Study Moves Forward
MAY 21—A move by a small group of Saranap residents to derail the Saranap Village project (see next article) before it gets off the ground failed this morning as the board of supervisors approved a study of the project and agreed to consider a related General Plan amendment. Opponents had been lobbying Second District Supervisor Candace Andersen to prohibit the developer, Hall Equities Group, from filing a routine application for the amendment.
The SCA board opposed the move to deny HEG the right to file an application because doing so would deny the other Saranap residents the opportunity to express their views on the project. The board encouraged members to email the supervisor to encourage her to approve the study.
In a May 20 email to people who had contacted her in favor of the study, Andersen wrote, “I have not taken a formal position on the project itself, but I anticipate the General Plan Amendment Study on the board agenda passing. This is something routinely approved as a way to explore various options for a project.” During a visit to the SCA’s Toy & Clothing Boutique May 19, the supervisor said that her mail had been running five to one in favor of approving the study.
Mark Hall, HEG’s president and CEO, said favorable feedback his company has received outweighs negative comments by about seven to one.
The study and General Plan amendment were among 70 items on the supervisors’ consent agenda today, all of which were approved without oral comment from the audience. Approving the study and the application for a General Plan amendment doesn’t imply an endorsement of the project or the amendment on the part of the supervisors, only that they consider the matter appropriate for study.
The SCA board opposed the move to deny HEG the right to file an application because doing so would deny the other Saranap residents the opportunity to express their views on the project. The board encouraged members to email the supervisor to encourage her to approve the study.
In a May 20 email to people who had contacted her in favor of the study, Andersen wrote, “I have not taken a formal position on the project itself, but I anticipate the General Plan Amendment Study on the board agenda passing. This is something routinely approved as a way to explore various options for a project.” During a visit to the SCA’s Toy & Clothing Boutique May 19, the supervisor said that her mail had been running five to one in favor of approving the study.
Mark Hall, HEG’s president and CEO, said favorable feedback his company has received outweighs negative comments by about seven to one.
The study and General Plan amendment were among 70 items on the supervisors’ consent agenda today, all of which were approved without oral comment from the audience. Approving the study and the application for a General Plan amendment doesn’t imply an endorsement of the project or the amendment on the part of the supervisors, only that they consider the matter appropriate for study.
