Director's report
CITY OF CUPERTINO
10300 TORRE A VENUE, CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA 95014
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Subject: Report of the Community Development Di~ CUP E RT IN 0
Planning Commission Agenda Date: Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The City Council met on September 4,2007, and discussed the following items of interest
to the Planning Commission:
1. Resignation of Planning Commission Vice-Chairman: The City Council accepted the
resignation of Planning Commission Vice-Chairman Cary Chien, and set October 9,
2007, as the due date for applications and October 16,2007, as the interview date for
applicants seeking to fill the vacant seat.
2. Economic Development Report: The City Council received the staff report regarding
economic development (see attached report and power point presentation)
Enclosures:
Economic Development Report and Power Point Presentation
Newspaper articles
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City of Cupertino
10300 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 777-3308
Fax: (408) 777-3333
CUPEIQ"INO
Community Development Department
Summary
Agenda Item No. _
Agenda Date: September 4, 2007
RECOMMENDATION
Approve an ordinance containing a description of the Cupertino Redevelopment
Agency's program concerning the use of eminent domain in the acquisition of property
in the Cupertino Square Project Area.
BACKGROUND
Under California Redevelopment Law, legislative bodies are required to adopt an
ordinance that describes their redevelopment agency's program concerning the use of
eminent domain in the acquisition of property. Known as the SB 53 ordinance, this
statutory requirement applies to all existing redevelopment plans adopted prior to
January 1, 2007, including those that have no or limited use of eminent domain.
SB 53 also triggers a time limitation for the use of eminent domain - 12 years from the
date of adoption of the redevelopment plan. Once the agency adopts the ordinance, it
can only amend its program for acquisition of real property by use of eminent domain
by amending its redevelopment plan.
ANALYSIS
The Redevelopment Plan for the Cupertino Square Project, adopted on 8/21/00, states
that the Agency may acquire, but is not required to acquire any real property located in
the Project Area by any means authorized by law. According to the plan, it is
recognized that acquisition of real property could be necessary in order to achieve
redevelopment goals, however, it is also recognized that eminent domain is a method of
last resort when other methods fail (exchange, purchase, etc.)
The Agency is not allowed to acquire real property that contains existing buildings
unless one of the following conditions applies:
pte,...-:/
Cupertino Vallco Redevelopment Project
Page 2 of2
.
The building requires structural alteration, improvement, modernization, or
rehabilitation;
The site or lot requires modification in size, shape, or use; or
The owner fails or refuses to execute a participation agreement in accordance
with the plan provisions.
.
.
Finally, the Agency is not authorized to acquire real property owned by public bodies
without their consent.
Based on the date of plan adoption, eminent domain authority will expire in 2012 unless
an extension is granted based on blight findings.
Enclosures:
Ordinance
Prepared by: Kelly Kline, Redevelopment/Economic Development Manager
Submitted by:
Approved by:
I sl Steve Piasecki
Steve Piasecki
Director of Community Development
I sl David W. Knapp
David W. Knapp
City Manager
g:planning/ redevelopment! citycouncilstaffreport SB 53
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In Depth
20 THE BUSINESSJOURNAL
sanjose.bizjournals.com
AUGUST 17,2007
Green certification program criticized as costly, outdated
BY RYAN TATE
sanjose@bizjOllrnals.com
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Bay Area developers are increasing-
ly building environmentally sustain-
able structures, but in the process are
running up against some of the limita-
tions of the leading green certification
system.
City planning authorities in San
Francisco offer priority permitting for
construction projects registered with
the U.S. Green Building Council's cer-
tification system, known as Leader-
ship in Energy and Environmental
Design, or LEED.
That certification has become the
most widely recognized green building
designation nationwide. Local devel-
opers, architects and planners credit
LEED with greatly raising awareness
about green building and, through its
checklist of specific criteria, pushing
many developers to add green features
beyond what they were originally con-
templating.
But the LEED certification system is
not without its flaws, industry insid-
ers said. The process can be expensive,
time consuming and, perhaps most
worrisome in the progressive Bay
Area, out oftouch with the most recent
environmental building practices.
"It's already behind the curve of in-
novation of what people are doing out
there," said Paul Woolford, design di-
rector at San Francisco architecture
firm HOK. "Going through certifica-
tion is not as important as whether
a building is truly environmentally
(friendly)."
"I'm not discrediting LEED -'- it's a
way for people to have a kind of brand-
ing behind environmental solutions."
LEED was launched in 1998, with
new versions following in 2000, 2002
and 2005. The two- to three~year lag
time between new versions means the
certification is often behind the latest
advances, Woolford
and other architects
said.
Environmental fac-
tors that go beyond
the most recent LEED
standard include
carbon dioxide emis-
sions related to the
building's operation.
Woolford The Green Building
Council, a nonprofit
based in Washington,
D.C., that administers the program,
has discussed adding to the certifica-
tion. But the latest version of LEED
only addresses energy use in general,
an important but indirect indicator of
carbon dioxide output. .
LEED also does not award points for
earthquake survivability. If a build-
ing remains standing after an intense
earthquake, it does not have to be re-
built, thus conserving resources, said
Amy Tobin, who is executive direc-
tor of Berkeley's forthcoming David
Brower Center, an office building for
environmental nonprofits that hopes
to achieve platinum, the highest level
of LEED certification, when it is com-
pleted in 2009. (Below platinum are
gold, silver and basic levels.)
"One of the most important things
about this building is that it is de-
signed to heal itself," Tobin said.
A provocative and oft-cited critique
of LEED surfaced in October 2005 on
environmental news website Grist,
written. by Apsen, Colo., environmen-
talists Auden Schlender and Randy
Udall. Citing extensive personal expe-
rience on LEED projects and dozens
of footnoted secondary sources, the
duo argued that LEED costs too much,
is too easily gamed and is too bureau-
cratic.
LEED has also come in for criticism
fot its cost. Though registration is only
$500, consulting costs to meet the crite-
ria can add up, and required work and
inspections can mean a significant
delay.
Costs related to the process are why
some developers have decided to forgo
it. LEED certification can add $70,000
in prep work alone for a small build-
ing, they said, including fees for con-
sulting, extra design work, computer
modeling, certification, energy man-
agement and LEED paperwork.
Such costs are particularly brutal for
nonprofit developers, who start with
tight budgets and are not able to re-
coup costs from tenants.
"It really does get complex and expen- .
sive and it is tricky for us. We're social
services; we're not big spenders," said
Francis Aviani, a spokesperson and
staffer at community charity St. An-
thony Foundation in San Francisco's
Tenderloin, which is aiming for LEED
gold certification for the structure it
is building across the street from its
headquarters.
Despite'the extra work and cost of
LEED gold, including special consul-
tants, St. Anthony decided to get the
certification. It will ensure a healthy
climate for people and the foundation
expects to save roughly 25 percent on
energy and water.
Bay Area architects said extra LEED
costs are somewhat mitigated in Cal-
ifornia, thanks to state energy effi-
ciency standards, spelled out in title 24
of the California Code of Regulations
and regularly updated, most recently
in 2005. The rules are sufficiently tight
that many projects can attain the base
LEED certification at almost no cost,
architects and developers said.
Gabriel Metcalf, executive director
of San Francisco Planning and Urban
Research, said LEED has had a posi-
tive impact nationally but is not the
last word in environmental sustain-
ability.
New York City, which is not a leader
in LEED buildings per capita, "is far
away the greenest city in America, be-
cause people drive much less there and
the buildings have attached dwelling
units," Metcalf said.
RYAN TATE writes for the San Francisco Business Times,
an affiliated publication. Reach him at rtate@bizjournals.
com or at (415) 288-4968.
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Bay Area home prices steady,
sales stuck at 12-vear low
Bay Area homes continued to sell at
their slowest pace since 1995 in July,
while in most counties median prices
remain stable at near-record highs, a
real estate information ser-
.......... ......... vice reported on Aug. 15.
DataQuick Informa-
tion Systems said 7,423
0.0.. new and resale houses
> . and condos were sold
in the nine-county Bay
Area in July. That was
down 6.8 percent from 7,964 in June,
and down 12.4 percent from the 8,476
in July a year ago.
Sales have decreased on a year-over-
year basis the last 30 months, .and
July's sales count was the lowest for
Real estate digest
.
any July since 1995, when 6,666. The
strongest July in DataQuick's statis-
tics, which go back to 1988, was in 2004
when 14,258 homes were sold.
The July average is 9,800.
In Santa Clara County 1,910 homes
were sold, compared to 2,059 last year.
The median price was $700,000, com-
pared to $682,250 in July 2006.
In San Mateo County 728 homes
were sold, compared to 803 last year.
The median price was $800,000, com-
pared to $770,000 a year ago.
The median price paid for a Bay
Area home stayed at $665,000, a new
peak reached in June. That was up
4.1 percent from $639,000 in July last
year. The 4.1 percent increase was the
strongest since the median rose 5.1
percent one year ago.
The typical monthly mortgage pay-
ment that Bay Area buyers committed
themselves to paying was $3,222, up
from $3,219 the previous month and
up from $3,166 a year ago.
Adjusted for inflation, current pay-
i ments are 24.2 percent above typical
payments in the spring of 1989, the
peak of the prior real estate cycle.
They are 2.5 percent below the current
I cycle's peak in June last year.
South Bay leads U.S. in retail occupancy
At the close of the second quarter,
the South Bay/San Jose market had
the lowest overall retail vacancy rate
I in the country, according to a com-
mercial real estate information pro-
vider.
Bethesda, Md.-based CoStar Group
Inc. said the San Jose area's vacancy
rate of2.6 percent was 420 basis points
lower than the national average and
30 basis points lower than San Diego,
the next lowest market.
..
In addition, CoStar reported, San
Jose's average shopping center rental
rate of $42.56 per square foot ranked
as the highest in the country for the
same period.
After the South Bay/San Jose area,
the tightest retail markets were San
Diego, Los Angeles, Southwest Flor-
ida, Orange County, San Francisco,
Washington, D.C., and Broward Coun-
ty, Fla.
Apartment group offers insurance
The California Apartment Asso-
ciation (CAA) is offering members
major lines of insurance including
workers' compensation, commercial
property/liability, personal lines in-
surance, earthquake, renters' liabil-
ity, directors and officers, property
managers' pI:ofessional liability and
a broad range of health and employee
benefit plans.
Within the plan, members have ac-
cess to multiple, highly-rated carriers
(A.M. Best rating of A - or better),
including carriers specializing in the
multifamily housing industry. "This
allows members to be matched with
the carrier that meets their distinctive
needs. Additionally, coverage is avail-
able outside of California, regardless
of exposure history," said CAA CEO
Thomas K. Bannon.
The CAA represents more than
50,000 rental property owners, man-
agement professionals and apartment
builders who operate 2 million rental
housing units statewide.
Silverstone's Villagio sells out
Silverstone Communities says it has
closed the last of its sales at Villagio, a
development of 80 condominiums and
more than 19,000 sq. ft of retail space
in Cupertino.
Units at Villagio, located at 20370
Town Center Lane, ranged in size
from one to three bedrooms with be-
tween 740 and. 1,430 square feet. Sil-
verstone said they were priced from
the low $500,000s to the mid $800,000s.
Over 70 percent were reportedly sold
before the models opened.
County to buy Gilroy parkland for $700,000
The Santa Clara Board of Supervi-.
sors said on Aug. 14 it will purchase 10
acres to expand Coyote Lake-Harvey
Bear Ranch County Park near Gilroy
for $700,000.
The property was sold by a private
owner and is adjacent to the 4,595-acre
park, which includes a 635-acre lake.
The area, in the Diablo Ranch east
of Gilroy, provides camping and boat
launch facilities and 21 miles of horse,
bicycle and hiking trails.
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SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER I, 2007
Local News
Wildfire that has charred
150 acres nearly contained
By Sean Webby
Mercury NImJS
Firefighters had almost
completely contained a wild-
fire Friday night after it
scorched 150 bone-dry,
scrubby acres in the Santa
Cruz Mountains around Ste-
vens Creek Canyon.
Over the Labor Day week-
end, firefighters planned to
put out the remaining hot
spots inside its charred inner
circle.
In the end, the fire -
which began just before the
Thursday lunch hour and
may have been caused by
downed power lines
sparked two dozen precau-
tionary evacuations and
closed some roads.
But the blaze, which start-
ed near Montebello and Ste-
vens Canyon roads near Cu-
pertino, burned no homes
and caused no serious inju-
ries. Fire officials said it was
lucky that it did not spread
further or burn closer to a
residential area.
The hot, still air that lay
over the region like a wool
blanket was a major boon to
the 350 firefighters on the
scene, Cal Fire Battalion
Chief Ken McGeever said.
"Even though it was hot,
there was hardly any wind,"
McGeever said. "You get a
strong wind and that's when
the erratic fire behavior hap-
pens. This could h,ave been
far worse. Right now, it's
looking good." ,
McGeever and other state
fire officials were also giving
credit to the largest firefight-
ing plane in the country - a
DC-lO once used as a passen-
ger airliner - that was used
this week for the first time in
Northern California.
In two big sweeps Thurs-
day, the airliner - which was
grounded by safety concerns
earlier this year - dropped
24,000 gallons of fire retar-
dant D-75F in 50-foot-wide
swaths almost a mile long
around the flames. The mas-
sive . dump of retardant is
dropped just in front of the
flames, officials said, blunt-
ing the fire's path and allow-
ing firefighters to go in and
establish controlling lines.
"It did what we asked it to '
do, performed as adver-
tised," said Call"ire chief of
aviation Mike Padilla. "A
large fire like this, it had the
potential to go into a lot more
acreage." "
The state's smaller fire-
fighting aircraft - which
were also, used - carry
about 1,200 gallons of the re-
tardant. At that rate, the pr0-'
peller planes would have tak- '
en hours longer than the two
flights by the DC-lO, which
carries 10 times as much.
Based in Victorville, the
DC-lO tanker' costs about
$41,000 a day. It's been a
source of controversy over
whether it was safe to fly.
The tanker has been in use
since last year. It was
grounded earlier this year af-
ter it clipped'some trees dur:
ing a fire-fighting run along
the southern edge of the San
Joaquin Valley. .
Padilla said the plane and
pilots had been checked ~
and all was well.
"We wouldn't be flying it if
MERCURY'NEWS
it weren't safe," Padilla said.
"But it's new technology for
us and we are taking baby
steps with it."
Contact Sean Webby at
swebby@mercuiynews.com.,
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