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September 10, 2024 Newsletter

by | Sep 10, 2024 | Council Recap, Newsletter, Planning agenda | 0 comments

Cupertino Matters

September and October are packed with festivals. This coming weekend, the Silicon Valley Fall Fest will be held at Memorial Park from 10-6 p.m. This major festival is a partnership between Cupertino Rotary and the City of Cupertino, and a major draw for both residents and visitors to our city. It segues into the Night Market, from 3 to 10 p.m., at De Anza College which is partnering with the Chamber of Commerce. These are community events for all ages!

The city is celebrating final approval of its Housing Element (HE) by the state Department of Housing and Community Development, which means there will be no more Builder’s Remedy projects whereby the development applicant can legally submit a project that ignores local General Plan and zoning requirements, such as large apartment structures in single-family-only zones. Readers will remember that there are two controversial projects: 

  • 20739 Scofield Drive is a 20-home (reduced from 23) Builder’s Remedy project on a 1/3 acre lot on a lot zoned R1 near Faria Elementary School
  • Vista Heights is a 35-home Builder’s Remedy project consisting of single-family homes and seven town homes project located in the hills overlooking Linda Vista Park

There is a great deal of misinformation circulating regarding the city’s vulnerability to Builder’s Remedy projects. The basic requirement was that the city had to have adopted a state-APPROVED Housing Element by Jan. 31, 2023 to avoid Builder’s Remedy projects. Staff reports from November 15, 2022 show that staff did not anticipate being able to contemplate adopting an approved Housing Element any sooner than December of 2023.

Cupertino was not the only city to miss the deadline and become subject to Builder’s Remedy. The previous council and planning commission were well  aware of the timeline. The city was unable to secure a consultant until the start of 2022, due to the city’s poor reputation (there were zero responses to the city’s initial round of bids for a consultant), and churn of city managers. The interim City Manager, after extensive outreach, eventually managed to recruit a consultant based in a neighboring county. Council rejected the Community Outreach process recommended by the consultant. Instead, a Strategic Advisory Committee was formed, consisting of Councilmember Kitty Moore, Vice-Mayor Liang Chao, Planning Commission Chair Steven Scharf and Housing Commission Chair Tessa Parish, all associated with the Better Cupertino political organization. This effort didn’t launch until March 30, 2022. 

Housing Element revision is normally a three-year process, with multiple iterations for approval by the state HCD (Housing and Community Development). Each iteration requires about six months. Yet the prior council seriously delayed the process amid the turnover in city managers. Here’s the timeline after the first consultant was finally on board thus starting the process:

  • Oct. 22, 2022, First Draft provided for Public Review
  • Dec. 10, 2022: new councilmembers Sheila Mohan and JR Fruen sworn in, and Hung Hei chosen as mayor. As customary, city offices were closed between Christmas and New Year’s.
  • Feb 3, 2023: First Draft submitted to HCD as a placeholder to show progress.
  • May 4, 2023: within the full 90 days allowed for review, HCD provided 14 pages of comment requiring the city to basically redo the First Draft.
  • July 25, 2023: Council Study Session on the 6th Cycle Housing Element Update Council approved direction to staff to develop a Housing Element with additional sites and policies per HCD direction on a vote of 4-0-1 with Moore (inexplicably) abstaining.
  • Oct. 6, 2023: the Second Draft was submitted for public review under the guidance of a experienced replacement consultant
  • Oct. 16,2023: the Second Draft was submitted to HCD, then revised on Oct. 30
  • Dec. 15, 2023: HCD provided 6 pages of comments for revision. (Just in time for holiday shutdown)
  • Feb. 16, 2024: Third Draft submitted for Public Comment
  • Feb. 27, 2024: Third Draft submitted to HCD, then revised in March.
  • March 28, 2024: Final Third Draft submitted to HCD
  • April 10, 2024: HCD conditionally accepts the Third Draft, pending zoning revisions to ensure
  • May 14, 2024: Council adopted the Third Draft of the Housing Element on, on a 3-2 vote with Councilmembers Kitty Moore voting NO and Liang Chao abstaining.
  • July 16, 2024, associated zoning changes were approved by council on a 4-1 vote with Councilmember Kitty Moore voting NO.
  • Sept. 4, 2024 HCD officially certified the Housing Element, ending new Builder’s Remedy projects.

Developing a compliant Housing Element was expensive for the city, costing an estimated $1 to 2 million in General Fund monies. The prior council rejected $400,000 in grant funding to reimburse expenses, so the city had to pay everything. Failure to approve this three year effort would have meant starting over again, and incurring even more expenses, and leaving the city vulnerable to more Builder’s Remedy projects, litigation, and the potential for the city’s Housing Element be designed in court rather than through our public process. 

In other news, a minor public works project to improve De Anza Boulevard road safety became controversial with a public meeting now scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024 at Quinlan Center. Some sections of De Anza are three lanes, other sections are four lanes, which is quite confusing for drivers. This project would align the street and provide sufficient space for buffered bike lanes and allow for re-signalization of the intersection at Stevens Creek Boulevard–one of the most dangerous intersections in the city per the related staff memo.

UPCOMING – PLANNING COMMISSION – Tues., Sept. 10 , 2024, 6:45 p.m., Regular Meeting

Agenda and Presentations

Item No. 2: Conditional Use Permit to allow an arcade use in a 1,955 square foot unit within the Marketplace Shopping Center and associated environmental review. (Application No(s).: U-2024-001; Applicant(s): Kiddleton, Inc.; Location: 19720 Stevens Creek Boulevard. Kiddleton is proposing to occupy the same space as the former

Okaigan Dojo martial arts academy within the Marketplace Shopping Center, located adjacent to the Legends Pizza. Kiddleton proposes to install 64 mini-crane machines of various sizes. The applicant is not requesting any extended hours of operation beyond those allowed by the City’s Municipal Code and will not be serving food or drinks. Auto parking is adequate, but additional bike parking needs to be added.

General Commercial (CG) Ordinance requires that the Planning Commission review and approve requests for commercial entertainment establishments, such as any arcade with over four video game machines. Staff recommends approval.

Item No. 4: Proposed amendments to Municipal Code Chapters 19.04 (General Provisions), 19.08 (Definitions), and 19.60 (General Commercial (CG) Zones). (Application No. MCA-2024-002; Applicant: City of Cupertino; Location: City-wide)  Overall, this item updates the Municipal Code to reflect changes in business, particularly definitions of food businesses. One continuation relates to the restriction of outdoor dining to 20% of indoor dining seating. Is this a needful restriction?

RECAP – CITY COUNCIL – Wed., Sept. 4 , 2024, 6:45 p.m., Regular Meeting; 5:00 Closed Session

YouTube: 3 hr. 34 min. 

Agenda and Presentations

Report from the Closed Session was that council by a 4-0-1 (Wei absent) authorized the city attorney to enter into a settlement regarding Item No. 2: Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation pursuant to Government Code § 54956.9: National Opioids Settlement (Kroger Co.). 

Oral Communications was lively. Due to the number of speakers, the time was limited to 90 seconds per speaker, with 6 minutes for a group. There were over 40 speakers, primarily objecting to three potential housing developments: Vista Heights, Evulich Court, and Scofield Drive. There were also a number of speakers, pro and con, regarding the De Anza Boulevard improvements referenced previously.

The Consent Calendar was approved 4-0-1 with Wei absent. Councilmember Kitty Moore pulled Item No. 10 and Councilmember Liang Chao pulled Item No. 13 which were heard after the action item.

Item No. 14: Review City Work Program funding to develop new ELI (Extremely Low Income) and BMR housing units for Developmentally Disabled individuals (IDD) on City-owned property along Mary Avenue (APN: 326-27-053). The council action voted  to authorize staff to utilize the remaining budgeted amount of $250,000 to proceed with the project on a 4-0-1 vote.

Item No. 10: Amendments to the City of Cupertino Conflict of Interest Code for officials and designated employees per State law requirement on a biennial basis; 2024 Local Agency Biennial Notice. The city must meet a state-mandated deadline by October 1, 2024 so this should have been a routine approval, but took over half an hour of dais time. Certain positions are required to file a Form 700 Conflict of Interest Disclosure that notes specific economic interests of different types per each disclosure category. Due to organizational changes, departments determine which positions are subject to the filing requirements. Councilmember Moore proposed changes which would have required additional study and delay and which revealed a lack of understanding of which disclosure categories required which types of interests to be disclosed. Vice Mayor Fruen proposed instead approving the staff recommendation, with the staff returning a report on streamlining categories at the second meeting in November. Council then approved this motion 4-0-1 with Wei absent.

Item No. 13: Award of a construction contract for the 2024 Concrete Reconstruction Project to Duran Construction Group for removal and replacement of concrete curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and pedestrian ramps in the amount of $1,586,842. This was another routine item, prolonged by questions from Councilmember Chao that should have been answered offline. Council ultimately approved 4-0-1 with Wei absent.

CUPERTINO COURIER: September 6, 2024

The front page photo and community brief on page 5 is entitled Bridging imagination gap: Cupertino-based nonprofit Innovart Foundation completes new mural. Community briefs include (1) Chat with mayor, (2) Fall Bike Fest and (3) Library club card. Legal notices on page A15 is (1) Notice of Nominees for Public Office and (2) Notice of public hearing for CBDG and CAPER.

Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor
Cupertino Matters