CC 08-30-2022 Late_Written CommunicationsCC 08-30-2022
Item No. 2
6th Cycle
Housing Element
Update
Written Communications
From:Hannah Estolano
To:City Clerk
Subject:De Anza students for an ambitious housing element
Date:Tuesday, August 30, 2022 9:53:18 PM
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City Clerk Kirsten Squarcia,
I am a student at De Anza College. I heard about the Cupertino housing element update
process and have been trying to stay engaged. I strongly support an ambitious housing
element, so that we can (1) meet the housing needs of De Anza students, faculty, and workers,
and (2) meaningfully address racism and segregation in the South Bay. The current status of
the draft housing element is not sufficiently ambitious to accomplish this.
As a De Anza student, I have seen my fellow peers deal with housing insecurity and
homelessness. We should plan for more homes at all incoming levels near the College to meet
our needs. Home and rental prices in Cupertino have risen dramatically over the past several
years, making it impossible for most young people to move back here after college.
The median home price has more than doubled in the past decade, at nearly $2.5 million
dollars. Rents are typically above 3,000 a month, meaning that even a household making over
$100,000 annually would be cost-burdened to rent a typical apartment in Cupertino.
These numbers make it clear—students and our housing needs must be part of the housing
element conversation. The programs, policies, and zoning that Cupertino advances should
therefore be tailored to our needs.
77% of the homes planned to account for Cupertino's 6th Cycle RHNA come from pipeline
projects. Two pipeline projects in particular account for the bulk of that figure: 2402 homes at
Vallco/The Rise, and 600 net new homes at The Hamptons. Combined, these two projects
constitute some 84% of all pipeline project homes. Both have been approved for a number of
years (2018 and 2016, respectively), but, to date, neither has built a single new home.
In effect, this is allowing Cupertino to avoid having to plan for affordable housing on several
sites near De Anza College, by falling back on thousands of pipeline units—many of which the
city is unable to demonstrate are likely to be built during the planning period.
The City must do all three of the following to realistically meet the housing needs of our
cherished community college:
Optimize Planning for the Community
Plan our city around people. Reduce burdensome costs, fees, and unnecessary requirements
that make it difficult to build and scale affordable housing projects.
Promote Sustainable Housing
Incentivize mixed-use, efficient, walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented housing options by
strengthening our Heart of the City Plan—which dictates what can be built on Stevens Creek
Blvd.
Protect our Communities
Center the housing needs of those who already work, play, and teach in Cupertino, but cannot
afford to live here. Protect our vulnerable renters and homeowners.
Upzoning: As a young person, I am OK with taller buildings being part of Cupertino’s future,
and I also do not believe Cupertino is “full”. If we allow developers to build up and out, we can
make much better use of limited land and allow for more families of all backgrounds and
incomes to be here.
Hannah Estolano
hannahmestolano@gmail.com
2332 A Fulton Street Apt. 4
Berkeley , California 94704
From:Jean Bedord
To:City Clerk
Subject:Oral Comment for August 30, 2022 Agenda Item #2
Date:Tuesday, August 30, 2022 6:48:07 PM
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Please put in written public comment for this meeting
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Good evening, Mayor Paul and council members
My name is Jean Bedord and am a long time Cupertino resident. I amcommenting tonight on the Housing Element sites in the Monta VistaArea.
The first issue is the assigning a higher density to the Linda Vistaparcels than the resident and property owner is willing to accept. He iswilling to build housing that fit the neighborhood of single-family homes.The Planning Commission arbitrarily increased the designation from 15units per acre to 30 units per acre, over the opposition of the propertyowner. What is the incentive for a resident to build housing, when thecity ignores their property rights?
The second issue is that, even at lower housing levels, neighbors havealready expressed concern about increased traffic. The dreaded BubbRoad crawl is back. This area has to contend with traffic from not justone school, not just two schools, not just three schools, but fourschools. The closure of Regnart Elementary is contributing to this trafficcongestion. The area gets gridlocked at current levels of housing. Whatwould happen if a thousand more units of housing were added on BubbRoad? In addition, there is a major Apple campus on Results Way withone entrance in and out. For years, the city has tried to mitigate trafficat Bubb and McClellan. There isn’t a solution.
The third issue is that Bubb Road is the only area of the city zoned lightindustrial which allows light manufacturing in the city. Cupertino has ahigh tech image, but it is far too dependent on Apple. I moved herewhen Lockheed and Hewlett Packard were a major presence. Whathappens when Apple declines? The city needs to nurture newmanufacturing companies, not just retail, hospitality and the plethora oftutoring and special schools. Durect is the last biotech company in that
area; there used to be more.
Years ago, a major developer proposed housing in the Bubb Roadarea. The community emphatically turned the project down, citing theneed to provide space to develop new companies, not hindered by allthe limitations of housing.
Land use has multiple dimensions, not just housing. Please considerthese factors in finalizing the draft of the Housing Element.
Thank you.
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Council Comments from August 29.
Potential actionable items for this meeting are indicated in red text below.
(Italicized text include staff responses/clarifications)
Map A - North Vallco Park
• Maintain existing retail square footage but residential can be added (Chao) – staff can make
zoning recommendations as part of the subsequent process to ensure that no more than 323 units
with a minimum amount of retail is retained on site.
• Drycleaner concerns (Moore) – Soil cleanup is required by the City prior to issuance of building
permits, pursuant to Chapter 17.04 of the Cupertino Municipal Code.
Map B - Vallco Shopping District/Simeon Property only
• “Step-down” or increased setback on west side (residential) of Simeon site (Mayor, Moore,
Chao). – staff can propose general plan/zoning recommendations as part of the subsequent
process to address this concern.
• Sound wall (Moore) – environmental review on mitigations related to noise and other matters
will occur as part of the subsequent process to ensure City standards are met.
Map C - North Blaney/Mini-storage and adjacent single-family residence
• Remove single-family lot due to negative owner response (Wei).
• Remove both mini-storage and single-family lot (Chao).
Map D - South Blaney
• Increase density for site 11a (Tintin Market and adjacent strip mall) from 20 du/ac to 30 du/ac
(Mayor/Chao). – As previously mentioned, 20 du/ac would invite townhouse style development
with no retail development. Higher densities might incentivize the provision of a commercial
component within the project.
• Increase 11b (Former Taco Bell and adjacent residential lots) from 30 du/ac to 50 du/ac (Chao).
• Maintain buffer with residential (Chao).
Map E- HOC East
• Remove sites 18a (United Furniture) and 18b (gas station) from inventory (Chao)
• Move Tier 2 office sites 18c and 18d to Tier 1 due to owner interest (Chao).
• Upgrade site 18c (HSBC Bank and others) and site 18d (Keller Williams) to Tier 1 from Tier 2
(Moore).
• Remove HOC-East altogether until Bubb Rd. area is considered (Willey). – Elimination of sites
from the inventory should be accompanied by adequate replacements to ensure appropriate level
of realistic capacity for sites, and in the event HCD does not permit the City to use certain sites
Map F- HOC Central
• Consider Bubb Rd. ahead of HOC Central (Willey) – Elimination of sites from the inventory
should be accompanied by adequate replacements to ensure appropriate level of realistic
capacity for sites, and in the event HCD does not permit the City to use certain sites.
Map G-HOC Crossroads
• Add site 15e (Staples), site 15c (Fontana’s) and site 15g (Staples parking lot) to inventory as Tier
1. Remove the remaining Crossroads sites (Moore).
• Move site 15a (Lei Garden Restaurant), site 15b (Mr. Sun Tea), and site 15c (Fontana’s) from
Tier 2 to Tier 1 (Chao) – A portion of site 15c (Fontana’s) serves as the ingress/egress and
parking for the Staples building.
• Remove site 15d (Sprouts to Party City/Pizza Hut), site 15e (Staples), site 15f (Dish’n’Dash), and
site 15g (Staples parking lot) from the Tier 2 inventory to preserve retail (Chao).
• Increase density to greater than 35 du/ac for site P5 (Marina) (Wei) – This site could be suitable
for development at 50 du/ac.
Map H-Homestead Road
• Move site 20b (Homestead Bowl and adjacent strip malls) from Tier 1 to Tier 2 (Chao).
Map I-HOC West
• Increase density for site 14a (Mary Avenue R-O-W) from 30 du/ac to 50 du/ac (Chao).
• Look at earlier proposal for housing that showed more units (Willey)
Map K - Jollyman
• Potential for additional units at P8 (Moore, Chao)
Map L – Monta Vista South Neighborhood
• Viability of Dorthy Ann Way property (potential historical resources issues) (Paul)
Map M - Monta Vista North Neighborhood
• 7a – APN 001 30 du/ac or more – average ~25 du/acre (Moore)
• 7a – reduce density to 20 du/acre (Willey, Wei)
• 7a – keep density the same, design differently (Chao)
Map N – Bubb Rd. Special Area
• Include empty office building as Tier 1 ((10100 Bubb Rd) and remove east side of Cupertino sites
(Willey) – 13 of the 20 sites in this area are occupied by Apple. Two sites are Corporate
Headquarters for Durect Corporation. One site is a CalTrans Corporation Yard. One is a
Church. Apple is considered the “gold standard” tenant and uses these concrete tilt-up buildings
as flexible space. They have recently contributed to make significant improvements to the right-
of-way to improve the pedestrian/biker experience on Bubb Road and other infrastructure
improvements to support its shuttle services and the Transportation Demand Management efforts
for the workforce. In addition, there might be environmental concerns in this area since these are
historically industrial/manufacturing sites. However, as mentioned earlier, soil clean-up is
required as part of the City’s Municipal Code. Bubb Road serves as a major point of ingress and
egress for the Monta Vista South neighborhood and is currently a one-lane street in each
direction. Adding increased density would not be ideal. Staff recommends that any sites, if added,
be considered Tier 2 sites.
• Consider some/all sites on Bubb Road (Moore, Chao) – see note above.
• Zone for 15-30 du/acre, with higher density closed to Hwy. 85 (Moore) – Note existing density is
20 du/acre.
• Add 10040, 10080, 10100 Bubb to Tier 2 (Paul)
• Attempt to acquire Caltrans corp yard (Moore, Willey)
• Add 10100 Bubb (Willey)
• Potentially add some sites as Tier 2 but be cautious (Wei)
Map O – Homestead Rd. Special Area
• N/A
Map P – Creston-Pharlap Neighborhood
• N/A
North De Anza
• Include Former Outback Steakhouse site in inventory as Tier 2 site (Moore, Paul, Chao, Wei) –
This site is the subject of an ongoing land swap negotiation with the Simeon property, as
presented to the City Council on June 18, 2021. Materials and video available online at:
https://cupertino.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4988595&GUID=0E378293-FF42-
4CE7-8EA9-2B4E8D0045CF&Options=&Search=. The Simeon site is more than three times
larger than the Outback Steakhouse site and has the potential to accommodate more additional
affordable housing. Staff recommends including the site as Tier 2.
• Include former Outback Steakhouse site as Tier 1 (Moore) – staff recommends 35 du/acre if
Council chooses to rezone.
• Include former Outback Steakhouse site as Tier 1 at 75 du/acre (Chao)