Cupertino Matters
- In the News
- UPCOMING – Planning Commission, July 14, 2026, 6:45 p.m.
- RECAP – City Council, July 7, 6:45 p.m., Study Session 5:45 p.m.
Despite peculiar interludes, summer is truly here with heat advisories and lots of out-of-office notifications!
Unsurprisingly, wildfires have become a significant concern in Cupertino, particularly on the western side of town abutting open spaces. Residents in high wildfire risk zones face special challenges retaining insurance coverage. To learn more, join the broader community at a workshop on wildfire readiness–complete with the opportunity to visit many resource tables staffed by local agencies to assist you in answering your wildfire preparedness questions: Wildfire Preparedness Workshop | Cupertino – 2026 at Cupertino Community Hall, Wednesday, July 15: 6 PM – 8 PM
Fraud and privacy issues are likewise of increasing concern to residents. The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) is a landmark privacy law that significantly expanded the consumer protections established by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). It grants California residents greater control over their personal information and created the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) to implement and enforce these privacy rights via DROP (Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform), a free service created by the state to remove your personal data from over 500 data brokers. The role of data brokers and your personal data garnered the attention of the front page of the Mercury News on July 12, 2026 in 322,000 Californians sign up to have data brokers delete their personal information: Californians have until Aug. 1 to join first data-broker deletion round. The Mercury News provides more details in: Delete Act: How you can request your personal information be purged by data brokers and A ‘big delete button in the sky’ comes Jan. 1.
In a followup to the previous news articles about the demolition of the Permanente cement plant in Cupertino, the Mercury News published a front page story with graphics demonstrating the quarry size on July 11, 2026: Demolition of cement plant begins at historic Cupertino quarry:Permanente Quarry, built in 1939, helped construct Shasta Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge, but struggled with environmental regulations and neighbor opposition in recent years.
UPCOMING – Planning Commission, Tues., July 14, 2026, 6:45 p.m.
Item No. 2: Study session on Permit Streamlining and Simplification for Small Home Upgrades City Work Program item. On March 18, 2025, the City Council approved priority FY 2025–2027 City Work Program (CWP) items. A priority goal that emerged at the suggestion of Commissioner Lindskog (and in response to resident complaints) was Permit Streamlining and Simplification for Small Home Upgrades with a stated goal to “develop a suite of improvements to (1) improve access to, and (2) speed the processing of permits for small home upgrades improving compliance and overall efficiency thus improving turnaround times.”
The current building permitting process is frustrating for residents. An extensive staff analysis identified two major issues:
(1) Residential building permit applications increased by 48% between 2021 and 2025, with 1908 permits in 2021 and 2828 permits in 2025, a reflection of the older housing stock in Cupertino. During the same period there has not been a proportional increase in planning staff, who are also managing other major projects.
(2) The quality of applications submitted by residents, which may not be prepared by qualified design professionals, often necessitates multiple resubmittals. Multiple departments and partner agencies including Building, Planning, Fire, Public Works, and the Cupertino Sanitary District have to review applications.
Item No. 3 Review of the Draft Active Transportation Plan and Provide a Recommendation to the City Council. This is the culmination of an over two year project to develop a comprehensive Active Transportation Plan (ATP), which combines recommended projects from the 2016 Bicycle Transportation Plan and the 2018 Pedestrian Transportation Plan to meet evolving community needs. This unified, citywide plan will align bicycle and pedestrian initiatives while accounting for the needs of drivers of motorized vehicles. This coordinated approach ensures consistency across policies and projects, avoids duplication, and addresses overlapping concerns. There have been multiple iterations of the plan as it has undergone review in the Planning Commission and Bicycle Pedestrian Commission, as well as City Council. Staff have also conducted extensive community outreach on the matter. Feedback from all of these sources has been incorporated in this draft to be submitted to the City Council. External funding–Transportation Development Act Article 3 (TDA3) funds–support this project, rather than city funds.
RECAP – City Council, Tues., July 7, 2026, 6:45 p.m. Regular, 5:45 Study Session
YouTube: Part 1: 3 hr. 37 min., Part 2: 1 hr. 16 min.
Special Session
Item No. 1 Study Session to Update the Health and Safety Element of the Cupertino General Plan: 2015 – 2040 Community Vision. This study session follows on a prior council study session that sought to incorporate additional, more detailed policy feedback. Staff have now incorporated that feedback from councilmembers and this session offered an opportunity for review and confirmation of direction. The proposed revisions will need to be submitted to various agencies for their approval, before coming back to the Planning Commission and City Council for final approval.
Vice Mayor Chao pulled Consent Item No. 4: Approval of the Exchange Agreement for 10480 Finch Avenue (“Finch Property”) and Allocation of $10.4 Million for Acquisition of the Finch Property (“Exchange Agreement”), and find the action to qualify for a categorical exemption from CEQA review. Her stated purpose was to bring public attention to this acquisition of land for a new city park in the eastern part of the city. Council approved 4-0-1 with Moore abstaining due to proximity to her residence.
Regular Meeting
Item No. 12: Receive a Report on Ballot Measure Survey Results and Provide Direction on Potential Ballot Measures for the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Election. The City’s Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget 10-Year Forecast identifies long-term structural budget challenges driven primarily by increasing public safety costs, overall reduced sales tax revenue based on an allocation decision from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA), and the anticipated expiration of the Utility Users Tax (UUT) in 2030.
There were two components to this action item, with Mayor Moore choosing to address the parkland measure separately from the utility tax. Council unanimously approved the parkland measure, with Mayor Moore and Councilmember Mohan delegated to write the ballot argument for the measure.
The utility tax discussion was long, with council debating whether to include streaming services and cable in the utility tax, as well as length of the tax. The final motion was to continue the tax at the current level of 2.4%, without any expansion to other services. Council narrowly approved 3-2 with Fruen and Mohan voting nay. Mayor Moore and Councilmember Wang were approved to develop the ballot statement.
Item No. 13: Consider approval of response to the 2026 Civil Grand Jury of Santa Clara County Report entitled “Convenience vs. Compliance: Brown Act risks in Cupertino’s meeting practices”. This was a required 90 day response to the May 4, 2026 Civil Grand Jury of Santa Clara County release of a report on various aspects of the use of remote meeting participation in the City of Cupertino that was highly critical of both the extent and manner of its use by Councilmember Wang. The city attorney responded to the findings of the Grand Jury, but did not address the precise details of actions that the council would take to address the concerns raised in the report. The council spent an hour and 16 minutes on this item, complete with a long-winded, inappropriate rant from Vice Mayor Chao. Council ultimately approved unanimously.
CUPERTINO COURIER: July 10, 2026
The front page photo and article on page 5 are entitled ‘Whole child’ philosophy: Action Day Schools to launch new preschool in Almaden Valley. Community briefs are (1) Music in the courtyard and (2) Caring leaders. The sole legal notice is the Notice of General Municipal Election on Nov. 3, 2026 for (3) members of the city council.
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor
