Cupertino Matters
- Local News
- UPCOMING – Planning Commission, Tues., July 8, 6:45 p.m.
- RECAP – City Council, Tues., July 1, 2025, 6:45 p.m.; Closed Session, 5:30 p.m.
Hope all of you had a relaxing Fourth of July. With vacations and school out for the summer, the city is quiet. The Parks and Recreation Department is busy with summer camps, activities for all ages and events. Free Summer Concerts return on Thursdays, from June 12 to August 21, 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Memorial Park Amphitheater. The popular free Shakespeare in the Park is also scheduled for three weekends starting July 19.
Buried in approvals for the Consent Calendar for the June 17 council meeting, city council approved an Amendment to a 2019 Agreement for street projects to include the I-280 / Wolfe Road Interchange project. This important $124 million project faced a shortfall of $4 million. Apple was not required to do so, but agreed to shift funds and provide additional funding to make up for this shortfall. This effort deserves praise for the staff and for Apple as an example of a public-private partnership which benefits all the residents of Cupertino. The San Jose Spotlight covered this item in Apple rescues Cupertino’s transit project. The agreement also garnered Mercury News headlines in Cupertino interchange project moves forward with Apple funding boost: The I-280/Wolfe Road Interchange, which leads into the area around the Apple campus, is eligible for grant funds from the company.
New state laws require the City to periodically update a number of its ordinances. The Housing Element is now compliant, but other Elements of the General Plan have to be updated as well.
As noted below, the Planning Commission will be considering amendments to the Safety Element (called the Health and Safety Element in the Cupertino General Plan) The Commission will also consider modifications to ADU ordinances to comply with California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) requirements based on revisions to state law that took effect on January 1, 2025.
UPCOMING – CITY COUNCIL, Wed., July 9, 2025, 1:00 p.m., Closed Session
Item No.1 Conference with legal counsel – anticipated litigation; California Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(4) and 54954.5(c): (one case)
This meeting was scheduled at the very last moment and occurs off-calendar. What new legal risk could possibly be so urgent?
UPCOMING – Planning Commission, Tues., July 8, 2025, 6:45 p.m., Regular meeting
Item No. 2: Study Session on a state law mandated update to the Health and Safety Element. (Application No(s): GPA-2025-001. Cities are required to update the Safety Element (called the Health and Safety Element in the Cupertino General Plan) concurrently with an update to their Housing Element. Though initiated at the same time as the update to the 2023-2021 Housing Element update, the timeline for update of the Health and Safety Element has slipped for a variety of reasons, including staff vacancies. The City contracted with Placeworks, a planning consultancy, to assist with the preparation of the statutorily required updates. The staff memo outlines topic areas for input for a public draft of the Health and Safety Element. The Public Safety Commission will provide input at its regular meeting on July 10, 2025. It is anticipated that a draft Health and Safety Element will be presented for consideration in late fall 2025. NOTE: Fire safety modifications are included.
Item No. 3: Proposed amendments to Municipal Code Chapters 19.08 (Definitions), and 19.112 (Accessory Dwelling Units) and Associated Environmental Review. The City of Cupertino submitted an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Ordinance No. 23-2254 (Ordinance), adopted February 23, 2024, to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on February 29, 2024. HCD reviewed the Ordinance and summarized their written findings in a letter dated April 24, 2025. HCD identified some areas that needed to be updated based on laws that became effective on January 1, 2025, well after the passage of the last city update. The changes largely impact how ADUs can be developed on multifamily properties. This item updates the City code to remain compliant with updated state law.
RECAP – CITY COUNCIL, Tues., July 1, 2025, 6:45 p.m. Regular; 5:30 Closed Session
YouTube: 3 hr. 59 min.
Closed Session Report: No reportable actions on the seven items under litigation. Two Items were pulled from the Consent Calendar for later consideration: Item No. 8 and Item No. 9.
Item No.12: Public hearing to consider a Development Permit, Use Permit, Tentative Map, Architectural and Site Approval, and Tree Removal Permit to consider the construction of a 59-unit townhome condominium development. The project utilizes Senate Bill 330 and provisions of State Density Bonus law. (Application No(s): DP-2024-002, U-2024-007, TM-2024-001, ASA-2024-005, TR-2024-024; Applicant(s): SummerHill Homes, LLC; Location: 20770, 20830, and 20840 Stevens Creek Blvd; APNs: 359-08-025, -026, -027, and-028 (partial).) There was general support for this project at the current Staples/Pizza Hut/Fontanas site, including the owner of adjacent Dish Dash restaurant who would welcome additional foot traffic.Concern with loss of retail surfaced again, but with current retail vacancies there is no point in requiring developers to build more unleasable space. Council was supportive of the project for-sale BMR units. Approved unanimously.
Item No.13: Approval of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-26 Fee Schedule Update (Continued from May 6, 2025). Council spent an hour hashing over the voluminous annual fee schedule. There have been some complaints about fee increases for permits. However, City policy is cost recovery of fees. Fees are adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Bay Area Construction Index (CCI) and labor costs. If these fees are not adjusted, the shortfall would be subsidized by the General Fund for all residents, and would benefit only a handful of residents with construction projects. After legislative maneuvering, the staff recommendation was approved 3-2 with Wang and Chao voting nay.
Item No. 8: Appoint a negotiator for the potential purchase of 10480 Finch Avenue, owned by the Cupertino Unified School District, adjacent to Sedgwick Elementary School. There have been mixed signals regarding the Finch property, adjacent to Sedgwick Elementary. School. While Rancho Rinconada residents have lobbied to purchase this for parkland, the school district is just exploring revenue options for the property, but is not pursuing any of them at this point. Council approved appointment of the city manager and city attorney to initiate discussions. Approved 4-0 with Moore recused due to proximity to her residence.
Item No. 14: Acceptance of FY 2025-26 Internal Audit Work Plan. Moss-Adams is the internal auditor for the city. The work plan was previously reviewed and approved by the Audit Committee. Approved 5-0.
Item No. 15: Introduce Municipal Code amendments to Cupertino Municipal Code, Title 2, Chapter 2.96, Sections 2.96.010 Established-Composition and 2.96.020 Terms of Office, pertaining to the Economic Development Committee This formally restructured the resurrected Economic Development Committee.. Councilmember Wang expressed concern over the size of the committee. The city has been advertising to fill the vacancies, but not getting much response (four as of council meeting – all for the technology position). Approved unanimously.
Item No. 16: Study Session regarding possible updates to oversized vehicle parking restrictions in the public right-of-way. This item was not considered due to time limits.
Item No. 9: Award of a design professional services agreement to DIALOG Design LP for the City Annex Improvements project (420-99-248) for the renovation of an existing building located at 10455 Torre Avenue for a total not-to-exceed amount of $493,243, a questionable expenditure authorized by the majority council, which does not address the full cost of city hall renovations/rebuilding. This item was not considered due to time limits.
CUPERTINO COURIER: July 4, 2025
The front page and article on page 5 is entitled Building lasting memories: New executive director is deeply rooted in local agriculture, regarding Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Management Corporation. Community briefs are (1) CREST Awards, and (2) Commission openings. Page 7 is a previously published Mercury News article entitled Cupertino Whole Foods remains closed for now. Page 8 is a previously published Mercury News article entitled Apple widens Cupertino footprint and I-280/Wolfe Road Interchange project moves forward. The sole legal notice is Second reading of ordinance adopting fire severity safety zone map.
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor
