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Basic Premises

Basic Premises. Not presenting a NIMBY or a NOPE perspective In-fill development is good for the City and will help prevent needless sprawl North San José is critical to the future of San José. The Problem.

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Basic Premises

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  1. Basic Premises • Not presenting a NIMBY or a NOPE perspective • In-fill development is good for the City and will help prevent needless sprawl • North San José is critical to the future of San José

  2. The Problem • The City created an award winning plan for Coyote Valley, but Coyote Valley wasn’t the right location for such a plan • North San José is the right location for a specific plan, but instead the City is proposing a developer’s free for all

  3. Example • Cadence wants to build a highly functional, multi-story industrial building • Sony recently sold a 13 year old highly functional, multi-story industrial building on the same street • We’re now planning to dismantle the Sony site and pour its remains into landfills so the site can be used for housing

  4. River Oaks Village and Vision NSJ 2030 • River Oaks Village is a master planned, mixed use residential and industrial urban village • As part of Vision NSJ 2030, two industrial sites are slated for conversion to residential beginning in 2008 • Per the 2005 General Plan Amendment, these sites must achieve 55 duac. to qualify for re-zoning • 880 units are planned for Cadence and 1,900 for Sony • See parcel maps

  5. Overview • Our concerns • What we hope Councilmember Chirco can do to support us: • General Plan Amendment • Rezoning process • Site planning

  6. Our Concerns • We are not against more housing if it is located on vacant land and is master planned so as to keep additional traffic off our internal streets, particularly River Oaks between Seeley and Research • We think the City should create a specific plan that involves residents in the process • This plan should include detailed traffic analysis, and it should designate sites for schools, fire stations, parks, and a library and community center

  7. Our Concerns • We currently lack these amenities • The park promised for our neighborhood was never built, and the only parks proposed so far are those required of the new developments • We also have environmental concerns as Cadence is adjacent to the Coyote Creek flood control channel, a riparian corridor with abundant wildlife, including a blue heron rookery • Regarding traffic, the EIR has indicated that the proposed developments will result in failing levels of service for nearly 20 NSJ intersections

  8. Best to Worst Case Scenarios • The City abandons plans for the Sony and Cisco sites and selects vacant sites within the transit corridor instead • The General Plan is amended to lower the required density • Re-zoning is delayed until adequate planning takes place • Site plans take our feedback into account • The status quo

  9. General Plan • The 2005 amendment only allows rezoning of residential overlays if 55+ duac. can be achieved • The best thing the Council can do is to revise this General Plan to lower the minimum density for sites outside of the transit corridor and adjacent to existing neighborhoods • Since there are very few existing neighborhoods in North San José, this seems perfectly feasible

  10. Re-Zoning Regarding the planning that will take place prior to the rezoning of the proposed conversion sites, City staff have made only the following promises: • The City will fund a study by SCUSD to determine the impact of these sites • Possible locations for a community park will be identified • Funding for traffic improvements will be identified • A consultant will be hired to develop design guidelines

  11. Re-zoning Since we have until 2030 to achieve this vision, we want re-zoning stalled until the following planning takes place: • A location for a new school is identified • A location for a community park with future library and community center is identified • Traffic improvements are made • Design guidelines that include resident input have been developed

  12. Site Plans: Cadence • Our preference would be to scrap all proposals for this site • At the bare minimum, we would like to see density reduced to the minimum of 55 so that lower building heights can be achieved • We oppose plans to build 5 story towers directly adjacent to 2 story Crescendo, as this will create privacy and shadow problems

  13. Site Plans: Cadence • Seeley Avenue should be reconstructed to meet the traffic needs of this site so outlets onto River Oaks can be EVA only • Parking should be increased from 1.7 spaces per unit to keep parking off of our streets • We would like to see 5 acres of parkland instead of the proposed 2 acres

  14. Site Plans: Sony • EVA only outlets onto River Oaks Parkway; or at a minimum, signalized intersections with substantial traffic calming all along our parkway • Move the park to Parcel 5 to provide us with 6+ acres now, to create the height/ density buffer that we want, and to ensure the safety of children

  15. Site Plan: Sony • The units lost from moving the park to Parcel 5 could be made up on the current park site and by adding extra stories along Zanker, which is far enough away from our homes so as not to have an impact

  16. Final Thought: Prison? • The nearby Agnews Development Center should be retained as public land for a k-12 school, park, community center, and library • This site should not be sold off for more residential development or for a prison • San José has supplied far more than our fair share of surplus property to help Sacramento balance the State’s budget

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