Cupertino Matters
- Builder’s Remedy Housing Projects
- UPCOMING – City Council, Wed., Sept. 4, 6:45 p.m., Regular; 5:00 p.m. Closed Session
Hope you had an enjoyable and relaxing Labor Day weekend before the busyness of fall festivals and the election season. Cupertino Matters is resuming publication now that City council is back from summer recess.
After years of little housing production, our planning department is busy reviewing a number of housing projects. Mary Avenue Villas, a project for very low and extremely low income categories, including intellectually and developmentally disabled (IDD) residents is coming to fruition. Recent coverage in the Mercury News–A first-of-its-kind housing project comes to Cupertino: The Mary Avenue project will have 19 apartments designated for adults and families with children who have developmental disabilities and 20 for low-incomeresident–provides a good synopsis of where things sit. On the agenda for tonight’s meeting, Council will be asked to approve previously appropriated funds to further this project which sits on city-owned land.
Other recent housing projects are more controversial. These include two “Builder’s Remedy” projects and one as-yet-unapplied-for project on a Housing Element site as explained in a helpful staff memo:
- 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 adjacent to Linda Vista Park
- 10857 Linda Vista/Evulich Court is a Housing Element site that does not yet have any preliminary or formal application, but the owner/developer of the site had previously set a community meeting to present and discuss a potential plan for 52 townhomes, which would provide “missing middle” housing
Builder’s Remedy projects are often controversial because the development applicant can legally submit a project which would ignore local zoning requirements, such as the single-family zoning limitation for the Scofield project. Cupertino was subject to the Builder’s Remedy when this project application was made because the city did not have a state-certified Housing Element providing for 4,588 homes by the state deadline of January 31, 2023. This situation occurred as detailed below.
Why did this situation develop? Each potential project at issue here relates to the city’s Housing Element. The Housing Element is a state-required piece of the city’s General Plan. It is revised on an eight year cycle and details where and how a city will fulfill its fair-share portion of regional housing needs. It consists of two parts: proposed sites that the city expects to develop to meet housing needs, and policies to help ensure that such housing is built.
The city issued an RFP (Request for Proposal) in late 2021, following a county-wide kickoff in April 2021. There were NO responses due to Cupertino’s poor reputation, and the turnover of city managers and senior staff. The interim City Manager, after extensive outreach, eventually managed to recruit a consultant based in a neighboring county who started in early 2022. 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 strongly connected to the Better Cupertino political organization. This effort didn’t launch until March 30, 2022.
The eventual result of that effort was half of a First Draft (one with only proposed sites–including the Evulich Court site noted above–and no policies) and the departure of the consultant–all under the leadership of Councilmember Kitty Moore and Planning Commissioner Ray Wang. The state swiftly rejected this draft. Progress was finally being made with a new city council, a new city manager with a strong planning background, and a new consultant–Placeworks–which has one of the strongest reputations in the state. Upon analysis of the state’s response to the First Draft, findings were presented to council in a Study Session on the 6th Cycle Housing Element Update on July 25, 2023. At this meeting Council approved direction to staff to develop a Housing Element with additional sites and policies on a vote of 4-0-1 with Moore (inexplicably) abstaining from the final vote.
This Second Draft was submitted to HCD on October 16, 2023. HCD noted that it met most of the statutory requirements, but still required revisions for missing middle housing, among other small items. The subsequent draft received HCD’s conditional approval, which required adoption and rezoning. Council swiftly adopted the Third Draft of the Housing Element on May 14, 2024, on a 3-2 vote with Councilembers Kitty Moore voting NO and Liang Chao abstaining. The associated zoning changes were approved by council on July 16 on a 4-1 vote with Councilmember Kitty Moore voting NO.
Note that Councilmember Kitty Moore consistently voting AGAINST required housing measures, leaving the city vulnerable to Builder’s Remedy projects. As Vice-Mayor Fruen noted “a vote against the Housing Element is a vote for more Scofields.” Councilmember Moore voted against the Housing Element anyway and every time.
This is irresponsible behavior and poor governance—voters ought to understand the real damage that Councilmember Moore and former Planning Commissioner Wang have caused by refusing to comply with the same rules that every City across California is expected to follow. Cupertino deserves leaders who prioritize the rule of law and housing community members above their own personal political agendas.
In other news, the San Jose Spotlight highlighted a promotional program for the summer to encourage usage of the SV Hopper as alternative transportation: Silicon Valley ride-share service offers free summer rides.
UPCOMING – CITY COUNCIL – Wed., Sept. 4 , 2024, 6:45 p.m., Regular Meeting; 5:00 Closed Session
The Closed Session agenda is Item No. 1 Public Employee Performance Evaluation (Gov. Code § 54957(b)(1)); Title: City Manager and Item No. 2 Conference with Legal Counsel – Existing Litigation pursuant to Government Code § 54956.9: National Opioids Settlement (Kroger Co.)
The Regular Session begins with Ceremonial Items: Item No. 3 Recognition of September as National Preparedness Month and Item No. 4 Recognition of National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15- October 15) followed by two Presentations:
Item No. 5 Annual Report of the Audit Committee and Item No. 6 Annual Report of the Bicycle Pedestrian Commission.
The Consent Calendar contains seven routine items. Members of the public may speak on any or all consent calendar items when the mayor asks for public comment on the Consent Calendar. If an item is pulled from the Consent Calendar, it will be addressed after all regularly scheduled action items. Members of the public may comment on that item when it is considered.
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). Since 2019, the City Work Plan has prioritized engaging with philanthropic organizations to develop extremely low-income housing(ELI) for the intellectually and developmentally disabled (IDD) community–an especially underserved population in Cupertino. On February 6, 2024, the City Council approved an Exclusive Negotiation Agreement(“ENA”) with the nonprofit public benefit corporations Cupertino Rotary Housing Corporation, Housing Choices Coalition for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, Inc., and Charities Housing Development Corporation of Santa Clara County for a city-owned site on Mary Avenue.
These organizations have developed a proposal for a 100% affordable, 40-unit, two-story, apartment development. The individual apartments will be a mix of studio, one-, and two-bedroom units with one three-bedroom staff unit. The proposal is structured as a Special Needs project which requires a minimum of 45% (18 units) to be reserved for a special needs population.
The council action is to authorize staff to utilize the remaining budgeted amount of $250,000 to proceed with the project.
Item No. 15 Council Reports, (now submitted in written form) are provided by Mayor Mohan, Vice-Mayor Fruen, Councilmember Chao, and Councilmember Moore.
CUPERTINO COURIER: August 30, 2024
The front page photo and community brief on page 5 is entitled Live on Main: Main Street Cupertino extends summer season with free concert series. The sole legal notice on page 26 is a Public Hearing for Municipal Code Amendment to Title 19: Zoning scheduled for the Planning Commission on Sept. 10.
CUPERTINO COURIER: August 23, 2024
The front page photo and article on page 5 is entitled Live on Main: Main Street Cupertino extends summer season with free concert series. Energy project generates concern: School district in process of installing solar panels, EV charging stations: Cupertino Union School District installing solar panels. Community briefs are (1) Hidden treasures sought for event and (2) Chronic fatigue syndrome hearing.
CUPERTINO COURIER: August 16, 2024
The front page photo and article on page 5 is entitled Sound off for peace: Bell-ringing ceremony commemorates WWII bombing. Community briefs on page 5 are (1) Aging in place and (2) Expressway upgrades. Page 10 is the previously published Mercury News article entitled Housing project provides first-of-its-kind opportunity: About half of Mary Avenue development will be set aside for residents with developmental disabilities.
CUPERTINO COURIER: August 9, 2024
The front page photo and article on page 5 is entitled Farmers market under new management: Vendors, market regulars hope change wont impact their usual operations. Community brief on page 5 is Midpen board elections.
CUPERTINO COURIER: August 2, 2024
The front page photo and article on page 3 is entitled Summer showcase: San Jose Jazz Summer Fest features South Bay teens. Community briefs on page 3 are (1) Council race off and running and (2) CREST Award nominations. Page 18 is a notice of Elections for Special Districts. In addition to county special districts, there are three seats on the small Rancho Rinconada Recreation and Park District in eastern Cupertino.
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor
