San Jose: Neighbors say six-story apartment proposed for Almaden Road is too big

A trend I've been seeing a lot of here in the Silicon Valley is developers coming in and building mega apartment buildings and then charging as much as they can for the rent on those units. Well now it seems at least some local residents in the Almaden Valley neighborhood are fed up with it.


A developer's proposal to build a six-story apartment complex on Almaden Road has drawn the ire of some Willow Glen residents who say it's too big and dense for their neighborhood.

However, city staff said during an Oct. 13 public meeting hosted by the developer, Cypress Group, that the project is needed to help ease San Jose's housing shortage.

Cypress Group wants a one-acre parcel at 1777 Almaden Road rezoned from multi-family/single-family residential to planned development so that 92 market-rate units could be built there. The new zoning would enable more units than allowed by the lot's current zoning, which limits apartment buildings to three stories or less.

Staff said the parcel was designated in the city's general plan for high-density residential use. That dismayed some of the residents, who questioned why such a use in their largely single-family neighborhood can't be revisited.

Willow Glen resident David Lasich said in an interview he was frustrated at being told that work done on the city's general plan 10 or 20 years ago can't be undone at this point. He said he doubts that such a plan would fly in other areas, such as Dry Creek Road.

"The fact of the matter is, it's poorly designed," Lasich said.

At one point during the meeting Lasich turned to Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio, who represents Willow Glen, and challenged some of his earlier comments that he had never seen a project on residential land rejected by the city.

"High density, that's never revisited?" Lasich said.

"No, in fact the densities only get higher," Oliverio said. "We just approved 144 units to the acre on The Alameda."

Oliverio told The Resident that the project is coming at a time when the city is experiencing a housing crisis and expects to see about 250,000 more residents by 2040. He said more high-density market-rate projects are needed to help the city make up a $100 million loss in park fees and to retain as much land as possible for commercial and industrial use.

According to Oliverio, similar developments pay six figures in road paving fees and annual property taxes, and seven figures in park fees. He said developers of the five-story mixed use building on West San Carlos Street and Meridian Avenue paid $2.8 million in park fees.

"If we're not going to convert industrial-commercial areas to housing when it comes to land already zoned residential, the city council will look to maximize those parcels so we can maintain land for jobs," Oliverio said.

"When you build single-family homes, you lose money," he added. "The higher the density, the more revenue it brings the city."

City planners told residents also worried about congestion that a traffic study was done and is under review. They said that segment of Almaden Road is envisioned as a multi-modal corridor because of its proximity to the Tamien and Curtner light rail stops and is slated to have bike lanes on both sides leading to those stops.

Lasich said he was still disappointed at the end of the meeting but recognized that the project is inevitable.

"You can't stop progress," he said.

The plan will go to the planning director and city council for hearings, although the dates are still undetermined.

Source: Mercury News, Julia Baum
http://www.mercurynews.com/san-jose-neighborhoods/ci_29004735/san-jose-neighbors-say-six-story-apartment-proposed