Loading...
Director's Report OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CITY HALL 10300 TORRE AVENUE • CUPERTINO, CA 95014-3255 C U P E RT 1 N C�► (408) 777-3308 • FAX (408) 777-3333 • planning(a)_cupertino.org Subject: Report of the Comrnunity Development Director � Planning Commission Agenda Date: Tuesday, Apri113, 2010 The City Council met on April 6, 2010 and discussed the following item(s) of interest to the Planning Commission: 1. Heart of the City GPA and Housing Element- The City Council discussed these two items together. They adopted the General Plan Amendments for the 2007-2014 update of the Housing Element and the Heart of the City Specific Plan with relation to the Housing Element. They conducted the first reading of the Municipal Code Amendment Ordinance to update the General Plan to comply with the Housing Element update. The second reading of the Ordinance will be heard at the City Council meeting of Apri120, 2010. The City Council also conducted the first reading of a Zoning Ordinance for parcels impacted by the General Plan Housing Element update. The second reading of the Ordinance will be heard at the City Council meeting of Apri120, 2010. 2. Historic Preservation - The City Council postponed the item until Apri120, 2010 3. South Blaney T-Mat? - The City Council approved the application 4. CDBG - The City Council continued the hearing to Apri120, 2010 Miscellaneous Items: 1. Librar - Starting on May 3, Mark Fink will be the new Cupertino Community Librarian, taking the place of Rosanne Macek who is leaving to become the Director of the Mountain View Public Library. Mark has over twelve years of experience working in a variety of school, public and academic library settings. He served as the Library Director for The Athenian School in Danville for eight years, and has served as Library Specialist at Contra Costa County Library for the past two years, with responsibility for coordinating services for a joint use facility that provides both public library and community college library services. Mark has also served as an Acting Community Library Manager during his time with Contra Costa County Library. Upcoming Dates: Apri117Earth Day, City Hall P1aza,10 AM - 2 PM May 19 Plant Master Plan (San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant) Community Workshop for Cupertino and West Valley cities, Cupertino Community Hall, 6-8 PM June 9 CREST Awards Enclosures: News Articles � G: � Planning � AartiS \ Director's Report � 2009 � pd4-13-10.doc � ��������3.����� Cupertino council approves Bay Area's first international cricket pitch Ifernandez@mercurynews.com Posted: 03/18/2010 06:45:46 AM PDT Updated: 03/18/2010 09:02:50 AM PDT Cupertino will be the first city in the Bay Area to soon boast a own public cricket pitch built to international standards. In a 4-1 vote on Tuesday night, the City Council approved spending $3,000 on the turf pitch made of special clay six inches deep, located adjacent to the library. The council also approved spending up to $5,000 a year to mow the grass to the cricket specification of a half-inch high. The private California Cricket Academy, headed by Cupertino cricket advocate, Hemant Buch, agreed to pay the remaining $4,000 to $7,000 for the pitch, which is another word for field, and also cover any excess lawn mowing costs. Buch, the Western Region Chairman for the USA Cricket Association, hopes to have the pitch ready by ]une, just in time for a national women's tournament. "Everyone's excited," said Buch. "There's nothing quite like this in the Bay Area." In addition to the 55 youngsters enrolled in the cricket club who regularly play in a field just south of the Cupertino library at 10800 Torre Ave., volleyball and pickup soccer players use the same grassy patch.. Those sports will still be welcome to use the area for their games. No one from the public spoke out at the council meeting against the proposal. Only Councilman Barry Chang voted no. "I've got nothing against cricket," Chang said after the meeting. "And if they're willing to pay for all of it, fine. But in this economic uncertainty, and for such a small group of players, I don't feel it's fiscally responsible." Vice Mayor Gilbert Wong, however, said in the late 1990s, there was a small number of mostly Chinese-American residents who wanted the city to expand its badminton and table tennis opportunities. Now, the city of 52,000 residents has more than 30 percent of its residents identifying as Asian-Americans, and those two sports have exploded in popularity. Fees collected from those games are now producing a financial boon for the city, Wong said. He envisions the same happening with cricket, as the city's Indo-American population continues to grow. "We're such a diverse city," Wong said. "I see this as an investment in our community." The only other issue — safety — that was raised in the staff report, seemed to have been remedied at the meeting. The parks and recreation department noted that the varying heights of grass — half-inch that is required for the cricket pitch and two inches for the rest of the field — might pose a danger. But the council agreed simply to mow the grass all the same height — to half an inch. The Cupertino pitch will be built to the International Cricket Council specs for a field intended for children and women's game, smaller than the standard pitch for men's games. Buch is also working with De Anza Community College to hopefully build an international cricket pitch for men at the school's planned new multimillion dollar stadium that's at least a few years away. Cricket players of all ages do play on pitches throughout the Bay Area. But those fields are of makeshift turf, such as carpet laid over concrete. In Cupertino, they've been playing on a carpet rolled over clay bricks and running on grass that is too high for the sport, which was the forerunner to baseball and is wildly popular in India, Pakistan and England. This weekend, Buch is hosting an international tournament on a pitch'that doesn't meet international stuff. On Sunday, the prestigious Marylebone Cricket Club from England is playing in Santa Clara, behind the W. A. Wilson Adult Education Center on Benton Avenue, on a pitch made of clay that's too hard. Some day, that won't be the case. Nihalani Mahesh, who has worked with Buch to get the international pitch, said "We're slowly but surely getting there." <� rrs���.T � ��p � s�:r� f,: �[I�3�'Y�111{� _ �r�� ��T.�� �;���rd t �r� ,�. .. - � Steven� Cr+�ek BI�J. _ � �> � ��' � '-, �� +,�, . • � = ;� �,Ir,, �:s �'t��f I,�1��5 �..'£�. ���� �'i �� ��rt������r�ity Cup�rtin� �— H�11 �ivi� !��n��r =:; �— LiF�r�r�� -� � � ' . . rU ;' C ; «�. ,� ± G . �'`�)����y � .._.._ '� . . `��� �:�1 M�F2ui.;I�Y h�L�I�I� ����������� Cupertino launches 'Got fiber?' campaign to attract attention of Google By Matt Wilson mwilson@community-newspapers.com � Posted: 03/23/2010 06:09:22 PM PDT Updated: 03/23/2010 06:09:23 PM PDT City leaders are going all out to promote the high- tech merits of Cupertino in a push to stand out among other cities nationwide competing to host Google's experimental ultra-high-speed Internet service. The high-tech company plans to choose one or more communities with 50,000 to 500,000 residents for its "Fiber for Communities" project and is asking those interested to send in applications by March 26. The proposal by Google would bring fiber-to-the-home connections at speeds that are projected to be 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to in their homes. The project would involve installing new cable and infrastructure for a faster internet service. Google's invitation to communities to apply for the new project has caused a frenzy of publicity stunts by cities throughout the nation, including Topeka, Kan., which was temporarily renamed Google for the month of March. Cupertino, however, is taking a more subtle approach. The city launched a campaign on its website, YouTube, FaceBook and Twitter as well as in local media. Its ad reads, "Tired of Internet Irregularity? Help Cupertino get Google fiber" above an illustration of a spoonful of fiber. "We understand our chances are pretty small, but probably better than winning the lottery. We have a valuable demographic that would more than utilize a new data-carrying service," Cupertino city spokesman Rick Kitson said. Kitson said that Cupertino's residents have a high-tech day-to-day lifestyle, which naturally puts a strain on data transfer along networks. Residents are said to quickly embrace new technology and have consistently exceeded the carrying capacity of ISPs "We have a proven track record of putting ISPs to the test and putting significant demands and strains on providers. If Google wants the right customers who will really test out this service, they should consider us," said Kitson. "Fiber seems to have that untapped capacity to deal with the data gridlock in people's homes. As a city, economic vitality comes through having that capacity." The campaign is also stressing that the city is underserved by existing Internet service providers. Kitson said that two of the most common complaints by residents are slow Internet speeds and a lack of choice among ISPs. "We have access, but there just isn't enough choice," said Kitson. Beyond the need for speed, the city's campaign is running with the theme that the city is a technologically sophisticated and highly connected multicultural community. Kitson said Cupertino has an edge in that just about everyone in the city, regardless of age or generation, is using the Internet and moving lots of data. "The No. 1 activity at the senior center is browsing the Internet," he said. Kitson cites the 2004 biannual city survey, which showed that more than 90 percent of residents had Internet access. In 2006, the same survey found that 75 percent of residents had a broadband Internet connection. "There is no digital divide in this city," he said. Google will take into consideration municipal applications and support from individuals, who can nominate cities. Cupertino is in the process of completing the application. The city is sending Google information about the community and the type of Internet services in the city. In a bit of self-marketing, individuals need a Google user account to nominate a city. The nomination form asks residents various questions about their current Internet speeds at work and at home. The process also encourages creative submissions such as YouTube videos or links to other online sources that could persuade Google when making a final decision. Google has not put a price tag on the broadband network project, but said it plans to offer the service at a"competitive price. Google also said it could share the network with other service providers to give people more choice. The city council passed a resolution on March 16 to support the application effort. ��� : ������ ��� Air quality, traffic, Main Street among city's priorities By Matt Wilson C�community-newsqapers.com Posted: 03/23/2010 06:10:09 PM PDT Updated: 03/23/2010 06:10:09 PM PDT Air quality, traffic and the Main Street project are at the top of Cupertino's priorities list for 2010. The Cupertino City Council laid out the issues it would like to study in the coming year during a recent study session and will finalize the list in May when it approves the 2010-2011 city budget. Once a year the council meets to discuss extra goals that they would like to see city staff tackle in the coming year. About half a dozen residents spoke at the study session, many requesting the council do more to monitor emissions and activity at the Lehigh Southwest Cement Plant. Residents asked the council to play a larger role in making sure the facility is compliant with state and federal emission standards and to further regulate trucks that go up and down the city streets. Other issues that the council plans to look at include working with new Cupertino Square mall to increase tenancy there, completion of the Rose Bowl mixed project on Wolfe Road, the marketing of the upcoming Main Street Cupertino retail and keeping an eye on delayed projects at the Oaks Shopping Center, Results Way tech campus and a luxury hotel by Shashi Corp. The council also plans to look at traffic improvements near schools, improving parking at the Cupertino Library, investigating the possibility of having solar power panels in city-owned parking lots and improving the permit application process. Council members also asked city staff to try and secure a replacement for the recently retired director of emergency services. Upcoming projects include completion of the Sterling Park in the Rancho Rinconada neighborhood, completion of a neighborhood park at the Villa Serra apartment complex, demolition of the Quinlan Community Center fountain, extending the Stevens Creek trail to connect from Blackberry Farm to Stevens Creek Boulevard and installing a final set of improved filters for the civic center play fountains. The council also is looking into whether to continue pursuing a park projects at Lawrence Expressway and Doyle Road.