Cupertino Matters
- In the News
- UPCOMING – City Council, Tues. Feb. 3, 2026, 6:45 p.m., Public Facilities Corporation, 6:00 p.m.
- RECAP – City Council, Wed., Jan. 21. 2026, 6:45 p.m.
The Bay area is gearing up for Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 8, which will be played at Levi’s Stadium. Sadly, our local 49ers won’t be playing, but there will be plenty of fans spending money and boosting the Bay Area economy. The city of Cupertino has developed a roadmap for local activities: Explore Cupertino During Big Game Week.
Just prior to the Super Bowl, Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens, who represents our community in the State Assembly, will host an in-person District Update and open conversation at the Cupertino Community Hall on Friday, February 6, 12:30 – 2:00 in the afternoon, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce Legislative Action Committee. The event is open to the public without charge, though a lunch can be pre-ordered on the Chamber website. Participants may register at this link.
Oral Communications at the January 21 city council meeting was uniquely lively. The chamber was standing room only and filled with supporters of the Mary Avenue Villas project which is on the council agenda on February 3 (today). This project has been wending through the conceptualization and approval process for over ten years, and the site is included in the Housing Element. The speakers were eloquent about the need for housing for the IDD (Intellectual and Developmentally Disabled) population. Speakers were not just their parents and professionals, but the IDD adults themselves who want to live independent lives. Their voices have not been heard over the many years of meetings so this was an opportunity to hear their point of view at the beginning of the meeting, rather than late in the evening.
Council finally took action to address the abuse of remote meeting attendance by council members. Councilmember Wang had repeatedly used the Brown Act to shut down council meetings by terminating his remote connection. Local bodies can, however, invoke additional rules. The city has now adopted a policy requiring members of the public to notify the city clerk by noon if they wish to address a meeting from a remote location noticed in the agenda. Should a remote connection go down or the councilmember decides to exit the meeting (otherwise analogous to a councilmember walking off the dais), the meeting will continue with the councilmember recorded as absent.
In legal news, a much awaited decision regarding builders remedy projects was handed down January 29, 2026 by the Honorable Helen Williams. This case was brought by the Town of Los Gatos to determine how to correctly process such applications. The specific legal question at issue is whether applicants relying on Housing Crisis Act application processes (more commonly known as SB 330 applications) enjoy only one 90-day completeness review period or if the 90-day period renews with each incompleteness determination. The court concluded that the 90-day period renews with each incompleteness determination as succinctly stated on Page 34 of the order:
“In particular, the Town contends the statute affords only a single 90-day period as California is in a housing crisis and it makes little sense for preliminary-application vesting to continue infinitely. By contrast, defendants echo the expressed legislative concern that jurisdictions have used incompleteness determinations to attempt to free themselves from builder’s remedy projects that have garnered public opposition and thereby skirt and thwart the development of necessary housing at all levels of affordability while contributing to, instead of helping to address, the housing crisis that the Legislature is actively targeting. “
The judge ruled against the restrictive interpretation championed by the Town of Los Gatos. The city of Cupertino applied the same interpretation to the Scofield and the Linda Vista Heights projects, both of which are being challenged in court. Those cases are before the same judge, who should be expected to rule the same way in those cases.
UPCOMING – CITY COUNCIL, Tues., Feb 3 2026, 6:45 p.m.; Cupertino Public Facilities Corporation, 6:00 p.m.
Agenda and Presentations – Cupertino Public Facilities Corporation
Item No. 2: Follow-up on November 17, 2025 Management Report, Filing Requirements, and Regular Meeting Schedule. This is a pro forma meeting to satisfy questions raised during the previous annual meeting in November. The Corporation exists solely to support the 2020 Certificates of Participation (COPs) for financing the City’s Civic Center improvements. Staff performs administrative functions, including preparation of IRS filings, board reports, and coordination with bond counsel. There has been no recent activity.
Agenda and Presentations – Regular Session
The sole Ceremonial Item is the Recognition of STEM Winners from the City of Cupertino who participated in the Santa Clara County 2025 Synopsys Championship Science Fair. Oral Communications from the public on off-agenda items precede the Consent Calendar, which contains six routine items.
Item No. 8: Consideration of (i) an Architectural and Site Approval permit, (ii) adoption of a Notice of Exempt Surplus Land Act Declaration, and (iii) a Disposition and Development Agreement by and between the City of Cupertino, a municipal corporation and Mary Avenue, L.P., a California limited partnership in connection with the development of a 40-unit below market rate development (Mary Avenue Villas Project) on a Housing Element Site, of which 19 units are dedicated to the Intellectually Developmentally Disabled and 21 units reserved for extremely low, very low, and low income residents of the community, located on public property. (Application No(s): ASA-2025-006; Applicant(s): Charities Housing; Location: (APN: 326-27-053, Mary Avenue Right-of-Way). Recommended Actions 1. Find the project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 2. Adopt Resolution No. 26-016 approving Architectural & Site Approval Permit (ASA-2025-006) (Attachment A); 3. Adopt Resolution No. 2: Cupertino is required by the state to plan for and facilitate the construction of housing for all income levels. While the city has been moderately successful in producing market rate housing, it severely lacks low income housing. Over five years ago, through the City Work Program, the City Council initiated an effort to build housing to accommodate the Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled (“IDD”) population with Extremely Low Income (“ELI”) homes. The City subsequently issued a Request For Proposal (“RFP”) for such development. The Cupertino Rotary Housing Corporation, Housing Choices Coalition, and Charities Housing (a non-profit below-market-rate housing developer) were collectively the sole respondent to that RFP. In April 2025, the City authorized just over $4 million in funding for the Project. In July 2025, the City received an Article 34 allocation from the County of Santa Clara, satisfying the State Constitutional requirement that voters approve the use of public funds for such housing.
This project is a Priority Housing site included in the state-approved Housing Element. Approval of the staff recommendation would approve the project, and transfer a portion of Mary Avenue street parking to the project applicant for $1 pursuant to a disposition and development agreement (DDA). The agreement is for a minimum of 55 years. Six waivers and two concessions pursuant to the Density Bonus Law are needed to ensure project feasibility and reduce construction costs. Previous delays by city council have endangered this project, since the project faces deadlines to obtain tax credits for financing.
Item No. 9: Transition of Business License Administration to HdL Companies and consideration of a Business License Amnesty Program. Staff has identified an opportunity to modernize and enhance business license administration by outsourcing this function to HdL Companies at a cost of $10,000 to $15,000 per year. It is estimated that there are approximately 800 unlicensed businesses in Cupertino. If brought into compliance, these businesses would generate an estimated $580,000 in annual, ongoing revenue. This change would improve the accuracy of the City’s business database, support better revenue forecasting, and improve communication with the business community. When appropriately licensed, businesses could participate in and take advantage of official City promotions and programs, providing valuable visibility and resources. Several options for amnesty are presented for council consideration owing to existing issues involving communication from the city–including and especially a poor track record on renewal and penalty notices.
Item No.10: City Manager Report, (now submitted in written form).
Item No. 11: Council Reports (now submitted in written form) are provided by Mayor Moore, Councilmembers Fruen and Mohan. Vice Mayor Chao and Councilmember Wang did not submit reports.
Item No. 12 :Upcoming Draft Agenda Items Report
CANCELLED – Planning Commission, Tues., Jan. 27, 2026 2025, 6:45 p.m., Regular Meeting
RECAP – CITY COUNCIL, Wed., Jan. 21, 2026, 6:45 p.m.; Closed Session, 6:00 p.m. (Councilmember Wang absent)
YouTube: 3 hr. 25 min. Meeting ended at 10:35 p.m.
Closed Session
Item No. 1: Conference with Real Property Negotiators; California Government Code Section 54954.5 1. Property: 10480 Finch Avenue, Cupertino, CA 2. Agency Negotiators: Tina Kapoor, City Manager, and Floy Andrews, Interim City Attorney 3. Negotiating parties: City of Cupertino and Cupertino Union School District 4. Under negotiation: Price and terms of payment. No reportable action was taken.
Regular Session
Item No. 15: Consideration of a new residential development of 57 townhomes (Dividend Homes I), including 11 affordable units, to replace two office buildings on a 2.6-acre site, located close to the northeast corner of the intersection of Stevens Creek Blvd and Randy Lane. (Application No(s): DP-2025-001, ASA-2024-016, TM-2024-010, TR-2024-045, & U-2025-006; Applicant(s): Dividend Homes; Location: 20085 & 20111 Stevens Creek Blvd. (A.P.N.: 316-23-025, -026). This was a fairly straightforward approval, with council questions primarily clarification of the project. A business owner in the soon-to-be-demolished building was concerned about the financial impact on her business. Councilmember Fruen requested that the city Economic Development Manager work with displaced businesses and the property owner since the developer is not responsible. This project was approved 4-0-1 with Wang absent.
Item No. 16: Consider a new residential development of 32 townhomes (Dividend Homes II), including 6 affordable units, to replace three office buildings on a 1.77-acre site, located mid-block corner on Stevens Creek Boulevard between Randy Lane and Blaney Avenue. (Application No(s): DP-2025-002, ASA-2025-004, TM-2025-002, TR-2025-002, & U-2025-007; Applicant(s): Dividend Homes; Location: 20045 & 20065 Stevens Creek Blvd. (A.P.N.: 316-23-095, -096). This application for the adjacent property raised similar questions. A joint HOA is envisioned, as the sites are built out.
Vice-Mayor Chao requested an additional restriction that there would be no roof decks on the two story townhomes adjacent to single-family homes. The developer agreed based on the fact that the project application already did not include such roof decks. Council approved 4-0-1 with Wang absent.
CUPERTINO COURIER: Jan. 30, 2026
The front page photo and article on page 3 is entitled ‘Sense of connection’: Japan field trip in June provides opportunity for students growth; Music students from Saratoga and Lynbrook high schools will play in Japan Performance and Culture Exchange Tour in June. Community briefs on page 3 are (1) Community grants, (2) Coffee and Connection with League of Women Voters of Cupertino-Sunnyvale, and (3)Watershed art. There are no legal notices.
CUPERTINO COURIER: Jan. 23, 2026
The front page photo and community brief on page 5 is entitled The future is now: Teen tech symposium brings AI experts to Cupertino Library. Community briefs on page 5 are (1) Tuesday Travel Night and (2) Literacy Tutor Training. Page 5 is a previously published Mercury News article entitled City weighs new taxes while dealing with mounting financial pressures. The sole legal notice is a Public Hearing for the Mary Avenue Villas project to be heard at city council on Feb. 3, 2026.
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor
