Notice of Intent to Circulate PetitionApril 6, 2016
VL4 HAND DELIVERY
Grace Sclmudt, CMC
Cupertino City Hall, Office of the City Clerk
10300 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014
Re: North De Anza Gateway Initiative
Dear Ms. Schrnidt:
Wuv�DAPR — 6 2016
CUPERTINO CITY CLERK
Attached you will find the following documents relating to an initiative titled the North
De Anza Gateway Initiative (the "Initiative").
• Notice of Intent to Circulate Petition
• Initiative Text
• Certification of Initiative Proponent
• Authorization of Legal Counsel in Connection with Petition
In addition, this letter serves as a formal request for the City Attorney to prepare a ballot
and summary of the Initiative. (Elec. Code § 9203.) The names and addresses of the
proponents are:
Ruby Elbogen, Publisher, Cupertino News, C Magazine,
Cupertino, CA 95014
and,
Reed Sparks, Former Cupertino Mayor,
■��I�d Cupertino CA 95104
and,
William F. Hausman, Former Chief Business Officer Cupertino School District,
San Jose, CA 95125
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Grace Schmidt, CMC
April 6, 2016
Sincerely,
Ruby Elbogen,
4 ea�--
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NOTICE OF INTENT TO CIRCULATE PETITION
Notice is hereby given by the persons whose names appear hereon of their intention to circulate the
petition within the City of Cupertino for the purpose of qualifying and enacting the North De Anza
Gateway Initiative. A statement of the reasons of the proposed action as contemplated in the petition is
as follows:
A Goodyear Tire Service Station currently sits along the intersection of North De Anza Boulevard and
Homestead Road — a key intersection off of Highway 280 leading to the new Apple 2 campus. The best
use of this site should be much greater than a tire service station. The City recognized this when it
designated the Goodyear site part of the "North De Anza Gateway," in its recently adopted General
Plan.
In its CEQA analysis of the General Plan, the City analyzed the revitalization of this site to a boutique,
ftrll-service hotel and conference center. The Environmlental Impact Report (EIR) concluded that the
development of a hotel and conference center would have no significant impacts on the enviromnent.
After obtaining the necessary enviromrnental clearances, the North De Anza Gateway should have
elevated building standards in order to establish a visual impression along this key intersection.
The owner of the North De Anza Gateway property wants to act on this vision, to develop a full -service
hotel that will serve as a landmark point of entry into Cupertino. Unfortunately, a vocal minority of City
residents has opposed any development that will increase building height standards, even where those
increases are restricted to specific urban areas adjacent to Highway 280. If these restrictions remain, the
development of a full -service hotel will remain economically infeasible, and all City residents will miss
out on significant tax revenue and other community benefits.
The City's economic consultants concluded that a 270-room frill -service hotel would increase the City's
existing transit occupancy tax revenue by an estimated 50%, and would result in an overall, net annual
revenue of more than $2.5 million dollars to the City. This initiative proposes a scaled -back version of
the hotel, from 270 to 156 rooms. As such, the fiscal projection will likely be in the range of $1.5
million in net annual revenue to the City. This would directly benefit our schools, parks and roadways.
Over the long -terra, a frill -service hotel will reduce traffic congestion, as hotel patrons are currently
traveling from San Jose, Palo Alto and San Francisco to visit Apple headquarters. The increase in local
hotel occupancy will also generate positive economic impacts on all restaurant and retail locations in
Cupertino. Most importantly, the hotel and conference center location, right off of Highway 280 along
North De Anza Boulevard, will result in minimal impacts to local residents.
This initiative will amend the General Plan to allocate 156 hotel rooms to the North De Anza Gateway
area, while approving a hotel with a building height of up to 58 feet (with the inclusion of conununity
benefits). The initiative will also rezone the site to a new "Gateway" zoning district, as defined. Design
review will be required prior to developing a hotel on the property. This initiative is not about
bypassing the project review process — it is about supporting the City's vision for responsible growth, to
stea increase its tax base. Take a stand to support smart growth — vote YES on the initiative!
Reed S ap rks4 Ruby Mogen Win I;ran� wl ca�tSsmns�
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