City Council Committee Meeting On Park Fees Canceled

According to the city clerk and the parks department, the entire city council committee meeting set for Monday afternoon, 1/24/05, has been canceled. The "Driving A Strong Economy" committee was scheduled at 3:00 PM that date to look at the city's proposal to divert "developer-paid parkland in lieu fees" from parks to a wide variety of other uses, like equestrian trails, mountain bike trails, and dance recital buildings. To verify cancellation, call the city clerk at 277-4424 and parks at 794-1311

Flea Market Housing Project

A major presentation was made to the North San Jose community last night (1/20/05) at the Berryessa Community Center by representatives of no fewer than five city departments, a planning company, and representatives of the unidentified developers who are seeking to develop a Flea Market Housing Project around the site of a future Berryessa BART station. Also unnamed were the owners of the property -- the Bumb family, which also owns "Bay 101," a local cardroom casino. SOS officers met after the presentation to outline the five specific problems we hope the city and developers resolve early in the development process.

Very High Density

The city and developers propose to build 2,500 dwellings on fewer than 120 acres. That is a downtown density, not a suburban density, and North San Jose remains under the classification of "suburban" in city rules. SOS urges the city and developers to consider reducing the density to no more than 11 dwellings per acre. That would still allow 1,320 dwellings on the Flea Market site, a more human scale and a better community fit.

Traffic Congestion

Given that the city is increasing motorist congestion along North Capitol Avenue, and that Berryessa Road, Mabury Road, and Commercial Street are already overused, it was unsettling to see the off-handed way that officials dismissed concerns about the new levels of congestion we expect when and if 2,500 dwellings (or even just 1,320 dwellings) are constructed. There was a disturbing lack of seriousness on the part of city hall representatives about traffic congestion. BART will not "rescue" us from congestion until 2014, if then.

Recycled Water

City officials don't seem to get it that this is really a desert ecology, and that every effort must be made to use recycled water. There was a distinct lack of urgency last night about this issue. For any development of this size, every effort must be made from the very beginning of the development process to include use of recycled water for fire hydrants, landscaping, and flush toilets.

Push To Milpitas

The Flea Market Housing Project will emphasize North San Jose's orientation toward Milpitas. Almost everything that city hall proposes pushes us to make major purchases in Milpitas, and to use fine dining and entertainment facilities in Milpitas. At some point, city hall will need to take this phenomenon into account and create similar sales tax collection opportunities in North San Jose.

Parks Shortchanged

North San Jose has a huge deficit of city parks, especially in the area between North Capitol Avenue and North First Street. Except for small areas in Alviso and a five-acre park at Rio Robles and North First, this area is definitely the unloved step-child as far as city parks are concerned. We have to be vigilant in this matter.

Housing project developers are supposed to dedicate three acres for public parks for every 1,000 new residents (or pay in lieu fees). If there are going to be 2,500 new dwellings, and if the average occupancy will be three people, then we are witnessing a new mini-city of 7,500 residents, requiring slightly over 22 acres of new public parks. This is an area about 2/3 the size of Cataldi Park on the east side of North Capitol Avenue.

Last night, developers proposed to count city-mandated riparian setback strips along Penitencia Creek and Coyote Creek toward required public parkland, but these riparian setbacks strips are only 100 feet wide and, while quite long, will never be used for picnic tables, barbecue grills, or softball fields. There are very strict city and water district rules for the use of these strips that mean they will never be true parks.

Written by SOS - Save Open Spaces in North San Jose