Shadow could nix Saratoga parking garage

There’s no question the massive parking deck proposed by the City Center Authority will periodically cast a shadow over the Mouzon House located next door.

But the degree of impact the parking deck’s shadow has on a solar array on the roof of the restaurant located 70 feet away could mean the difference between the project advancing as planned or being scrapped altogether. The authority is seeking a variance from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals that will allow it to construct the deck, even though it impacts the nearby panels during daylight hours between fall and spring.

Without the variance, the authority could only build a parking deck no more than 28 feet high. And that kind of limitation would be a deal breaker, said Matt Jones, an attorney representing the authority.

“For us, that would mean no project at all,” he said Tuesday. “We would not have a viable parking structure at that point.”

The five-story, 483-spot parking deck between High Rock and Maple avenues took a major step forward last month, after the city’s Planning Board decided the project doesn’t require an extensive environmental impact study. A city zoning ordinance, however, stresses that any structure built cannot cast a shadow on a solar collector greater than one cast by a hypothetical 6-foot high wall along the property line between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. from Sept. 21 to March 21.

Members of the Zoning Board reviewed the authority’s proposal on Monday. They continued a public hearing on the matter until their meeting Jan. 26, at which time they could decide whether to issue a variance.

Even if a variance is granted, the authority still needs subdivision and site-plan approval from the Planning Board, in addition to an architectural review from the Design Review Commission. The authority also needs approval from the City Council, which would have to vote on a 20-year lease of the city-owned land.

The parking deck’s shadow wouldn’t impact the solar array until after 2 p.m. in September and March, according to a study conducted by the authority. But in December, the structure would cast a partial shadow on the Mouzon House until 2 p.m., when it would entirely eclipse the restaurant.

Jones said the Pedinottis — the family that owns the Mouzon House — were well aware that the city might develop the adjacent 2.62 acres when they sought to rezone the building in 2005 and that they didn’t object back then. He said the question now before the Zoning Board is whether the impact of the shadow will outweigh the authority’s need to build the deck where it is now proposed.

“It’s a threshold question in a sense,” he said. “If relief is not granted, the parking structure cannot be built at that location.”

Jonathon Tingley, an attorney representing the Pedinottis, said the authority created its own hardship by placing the parking deck so close to the Mouzon House. He said the Pedinottis didn’t object to something being built next to their restaurant provided it fell within the zoning code, not a building that is 250 percent larger than what is allowed by law.

“They’ve decided to place the building as close to the Mouzon House as they possibly can,” he said. “It’s effectively going to seal them off from the rest of the city.”

Tingley said the authority has also failed to show alternatives that wouldn’t impact the Mouzon House as drastically. He said the only design presented publicly is one that will be at the detriment of the Pedinottis.

“There’s just no evidence in this record right now if there’s an alternative available that would give the same benefit to the [authority],” he said.

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