Planning commission backs parking-code change to ease events at regional parks

The Saratoga Springs Planning Commission unanimously recommended that the City Council approve a city-initiated amendment to Title 19 (Land Development Code, Chapter 19.09) to relax landscape-island requirements in parking lots that serve regional public parks where events are anticipated. Planner Joel Temple said the change is intended to make it easier to host food trucks, carnival rides and other temporary event uses without repeatedly repairing turf or reconfiguring circulation.

The recommended amendment would exempt off-street parking areas in city-owned regional parks — not homeowner-association lots or existing park phases — from the rule that currently requires a planted landscape island and tree for roughly every 10 parking stalls. Temple said the exemption is narrowly targeted to park lots where events are planned and to future phases of parks; staff cited Patriot Park and an upcoming Fox Hollow regional park as examples of where the exemption could apply in new construction phases.

Commissioner Mann moved that the commission forward a positive recommendation to the City Council with the findings and conditions in the staff report; the motion was seconded and passed by unanimous voice vote. The commission did not adopt the amendment itself; as a recommending body it forwarded the proposal to the council for final action.

What happens next: the item will be considered by the City Council. The planning commission record and staff findings will accompany the council packet so elected officials can review the proposed code language, the staff-recommended findings and any conditions before making a final determination.

(Clarification: references in the meeting transcript to “splash jays” are a transcription error; staff and park plans intend “splash pads” or similar splash/play features in future park phases.)