Cupertino Matters
- Election 2025 Results
- UPCOMING – Planning Commission, Wed., Nov. 12, 6:45 p.m.
- RECAP – City Council, Tues., Nov. 4, 6:45 p.m.; Closed Session, 5:30 p.m.
The annual Veteran’s Day Ceremony on November 11 at the veterans memorial in Memorial Park was moving, honoring veterans, active-duty military, and first responders by recognizing their service and sacrifice. Veterans are very much part of our community, including De Anza College with 400 veterans as students.
Mark your calendar for the next speaker in the 2025 Science & Technology Speaker Series, featuring Dr. Parimal Kopardekar, speaking on Safely Enabling Large-Scale Drone and Electric Aircraft Operations on Wed., Nov. 19, 2025 from 6:30 to 8 at Community Hall, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino. Dr. Kopardekar is Mission Integration Manager, Advanced Air Mobility Mission, at NASA Ames Research Center.
The 2025 elections are NOT over! While state Proposition 50 and the Santa Clara County Measure A both passed, there will be a runoff election for the County Assessor scheduled for December 30. Neysa Fligor received 38% of the vote which is not a majority. As a result, she will face-off against the next-highest vote-getter in the November General Election, Rishi Kumar, who received just 24% of the vote. Campaigning has already begun with a widespread repeat of misleading statements about the jurisdictional authority of the assessor’s office:
The Assessor has the responsibility to locate all taxable property in the County, identify ownership, establish a value for all property subject to local property taxation, list the value of all property on the assessment roll, and apply all legal exemptions.
…
Contrary to popular opinion the Santa Clara County Assessor does not compute property tax bills, collect property taxes, establish property tax laws, set rules by which property is appraised, or set property tax rates.
This means the assessor can NOT exempt property tax for seniors, nor can the assessor reduce residential property taxes. The assessor does have a backlog of appeals, stemming largely from the pace of the legal system–a system that appeals procedures at the Board of Equalization–as owners of commercial properties seek to reduce their assessments due to the drop in value of commercial real estate in the wake of the pandemic.
For research, past issues back to January 2020 of Cupertino Matters are posted on the website. Encourage your friends who would like to become better informed about our community to subscribe to our email newsletter at CupertinoMatters.org.
UPCOMING – Planning Commission, Wed., Nov. 12, 2025, 6:45 p.m., Regular Meeting (rescheduled to accommodate the Veterans Day holiday)
Other than the approval of the previous meeting’s minutes, the sole agenda is Item No. 2: Consideration of a new residential development project consisting of 55-townhome-condominium units and 10 ADUs, housed within ten three-story buildings, on three contiguous parcels, totaling 2.72-acres, located on the south side of Stevens Creek Boulevard at the present location of the Idlewild Shopping Center/United Furniture. (Application No(s): DP-2024-004, ASA-2024-008, TM-2024-005, & U-2025-004; Applicant(s): Nick Kosla (Toll Brothers); Location: 10075 E. Estates & 19610 Stevens Creek Blvd. (A.P.N.: 369-06-002, – 003, -004). This project has been in the development pipeline since Feb. 2024, prior to certification of the city’s Housing Element. Under the state law procedures for filing qualifying preliminary housing development applications, this project “locked in” the standards in place at that time. Under the Housing Element, this site was rezoned for a minimum of 65 units per acre, but under the prior standards, the density was allowed to be any density up to a maximum of 25 units per acre. The project application sits at a density of 20.52 units. Since 20 percent, or 11 of the proposed 55 town homes, of the project’s units will be affordable to moderate and median income households, consistent with the City’s Below Market Rate (BMR) requirements, the project is eligible for a density bonus under state law, specifically to waive six requirements. The most notable waiver of standards is for ground-floor retail.
Curiously, this project also poses a new dilemma for the city. Because the project is so much smaller and less dense than anticipated under the city’s Housing Element, it will produce fewer affordable units than previously expected. As a result, in order to maintain a sufficient zoned capacity for moderate income housing in the city, the city will have to examine additional sites to add to the Housing Element in order to maintain compliance.
RECAP – CITY COUNCIL, Tues. Nov. 4, 2025, 6:45 p.m., Regular; 5:30 p.m Closed. Note: Councilmember Wang appeared remotely from The W Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
YouTube: Part 1: 1 hr. 49 min.; Part 2: 2 hr. 26 min. Item No. 13 was moved ahead of Item No. 12.
Closed Session Report: No reportable action.
Item No. 11: Introduce an ordinance for Municipal Code Amendments to Title 16, Buildings and Construction, of the Cupertino Municipal Code adopting the California Buildings Standards Code and Fire Code, for consistency with Assembly Bill 130 and making local exceptions as mandated by the State of California. Council spent approximately an hour on this routine public hearing regarding updates to the building codes in alignment with state law. The staff recommendation was approved with one minor correction, with additional direction for staff to investigate establishing an Appeals Board. Council approved 5-0.
Item No. 13: Study Session: Update on the development of the Active Transportation Plan, including a summary of Phase 1 activities and an overview of what to expect during Phase 2. This should have been a routine check-in for a project initiated in 2023 that is 70% complete. Instead, Council spent almost two hours hashing over the presented results and wandering well outside of the scope of the Active Transportation Plan (ATP) with little clarity. As Councilmember Fruen noted the ATP is not the Mobility Element and is not intended to cover every aspect of moving around the city. Still, Council seemed confused about the difference while attempting to provide feedback. Councilmember Wang (less than a year on the council) ranted about the methodology and even suggested cancelling the project which would require Cupertino taxpayers to return the Transportation Development Act Article 3 (TDA3) funding for this project and reimburse the consultant $220,000 out of the General Fund. Mayor Chao presented a laundry list of items, some seemingly out of the scope of the contract to prepare the ATP to be considered by the staff and consultant. She initiated a motion, even though this was a study session, which was approved 3-2 with Fruen and Mohan voting nay.
Item No. 12: Introduce Ordinance No. 25-2279: “An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Cupertino Amending City Code Title Five (Business Licenses and Regulations) to Establish Chapter 5.51 to Regulate Film Production. In a nearly empty chamber, the Council had to extend the meeting time to consider this straightforward item. While commercial projects would be required to obtain both a permit and pay a fee, the ordinance also requires student projects, and 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations to obtain a permit, but not pay a fee unless commercialized. The ordinance was amended to reduce hours of production from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m. and to require 72 hour notification. The fee schedule for film production will be brought to council separately. Council approved 5-0.
CUPERTINO COURIER: Nov. 7, 2025
The front page photo with community brief on page 5 is entitled Dancing with the vets: Cupertino Odd Fellows holding fundraiser for American Legion. The additional community brief is entitled Lu’s debut, a piano concert at De Anza College. Legal notices include (1) an Administrative Hearing on Nov. 20 to consider a lot split at 10621 Madera Drive, and (2) a City Council Public Hearing to approve an amendment to Schedule C of the FY25-16 Fee Schedule for a two lot split fee.
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor
