Cupertino Matters
- Local news – Housing Developments
- UPCOMING – City Council, Closed Session, 6:00 p.m.,
- RECAP – Planning Commission, Apr. 22, 2025, 6:45 p.m.
Where did April go? May is mere days away.
Governance is surfacing as a major issue with the City Council. Mayor Chao is proposing an emergency ordinance to block De Anza Community College from acquiring the McClellan Terrace Apartments and converting them from market rate housing to low income furnished housing, for faculty, staff, and students. The location is ideal since residents would not need a car, thus reducing traffic. A district survey shows that 40% of students are housing insecure. Almost 20% are actually homeless. This project directly addresses the issue of homeless students in a timely manner, rather than waiting for more expensive new construction. The Foothill-De Anza Community College District is a separate jurisdiction from the city. The mayor and council members have given lip service to improving life for the unhoused, so why is the city interfering with proactive actions by another jurisdiction?
Mayor Chao is failing to abide by the Municipal Code which requires council to approve any councilmember’s request that exceeds two hours of staff time. An oversized vehicle regulation ordinance brought to the Planning Commission last Tuesday was NOT brought forth as a result of council direction. It was a last minute addition to the agenda in apparent response to the Mayor’s demands, and the poorly written ordinance was drafted by a hithertofore unknown deputy city attorney. What happened to the commitment by this council to transparency? Even the Planning Commission members seemed confused by the presence of the item on their agenda and continued it to a later date pending the collection of additional information.
In the meanwhile, though new housing projects have made headlines recently, actually building housing in Cupertino is becoming increasingly difficult due to increases in financing and construction costs. The Canyon Crossing development permit for the site of the former Foothill Market has expired. Demolition is long complete, but the site is now a fenced-off vacant lot. This project received council approval in 2022 as a residential and retail mixed use project with 18 homes.
The same fate seems imminent for the project at 1655 South De Anza Boulevard (formerly Coach House Liquors), another mixed use site with 34 homes and 8000 sq. ft. of retail space. Approved in 2023, the site is currently for sale due to an inability to secure financing, and the few remaining tenants are on a month-to-month lease.
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UPCOMING – CITY COUNCIL, Tues., Apr. 29, 2025, 6:00 p.m. Closed Session
Item No. 1: Public employee performance evaluation; Title: City Manager; California Government Code Section 54954.5(e) and 54957(b). This follows a previous closed session on April 3, 2025. The city manager’s contract specifies that her performance review should occur in August. If council elects to dismiss the city manager, her contract calls for her to receive a full year’s salary as compensation.
RECAP – Planning Commission, Tues., Apr. 22 , 2025, 6:45 p.m., Regular meeting
YouTube: Part 1 – 1 hr.00 min.; Part 2 – 3 hr. 11 min.
Item No. 3: Update to Vehicle Parking Restrictions on Public Roadways, and Restrictions on Oversized Vehicle Parking in Residential Districts and Customer-Facing Retail Establishments. This ordinance was poorly drafted and overreaching. Public comment was unanimously against the ordinance as written. After discussion of the nuances of recreational oversized vehicles parking, the commission agreed to continue the item to be revised by staff.
Item No. 4: Modification to a previously approved Development Permit and Architectural & Site Approval for the Westport Development including, but not limited to, dwelling count and ground floor retail, Park Land Dedication Fees and minor changes to Building 1. (Application No(s): M-2024-003, ASA-2024-003; Applicant(s): Related California (Cascade Zak); Location: 21267 Stevens Creek Boulevard; APN #326-27-048). The Planning Commission spent nearly three hours considering this modification, which addresses the final unbuilt piece of the Westport project at the corner of Mary Avenue and Stevens Creek Boulevard. The project was first approved in 2020, and after review by over 60 lenders, the original plan has to be modified in order to get the project built. The developer, Related, submitted a modified design that (1) increased the number of assisted living units from 123 to 136 units, with no change to the 35 memory units, (2) reduced the retail component from 17,600 square feet to 4,000 square feet, and (3) eliminated the underground parking by 146 stalls, due to the reduction of retail space and reliance on a new state law, AB 2097. San Jose Spotlight summarized the hearing in an article entitled Cupertino development adds homes, shrinks retail space.
Retail space and parking were the biggest issues. After numerous failed motions, including a bizarre attempt to restrict the building to assisted living in perpetuity, a final motion was made to approve the staff recommendation, with the condition of a request to increase retail space to 8000 sq. ft. of retail in exchange for waiving the parkland dedication fee. This motion received unanimous approval. The project is now scheduled to come to city council on May 6.
Item No. 5: Review of the new projects proposed in the Fiscal Year 2025 – 2026 Capital Improvement Program for consistency with the General Plan. This pro forma review of the council-approved Capital Improvement Plan had only one new project: Storm Drain Outfalls Repairs. This item was quickly approved on a 5-0 vote.
CUPERTINO COURIER: April 25, 2025
The front page picture and photo on page 5 is entitled The beautiful game: E-Soccer event coincides with Autism Acceptance Month. Community briefs are (1) River Cleanup Day and (2) Bike skills workshops. Page 5 is a previously published Mercury News article entitled City agrees to pay Apple $12.1 million following sales tax revenue settlement. Legal notices include (1) Public hearing Fiscal year 2025-26 Fee Schedule, (2) Notice inviting bids for Senior Center fire alarm system replacement project, (3) Public hearing for interim urgency ordinance prohibiting conversion of multiple-family housing to student housing while city reviews adoption of new regulations, and (4) Second reading of ordinance establishing an Economic Development Committee.
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor
