CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL MEETING – Tues., June 18, 2019
Friends,
The major news this past week was the decision of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District to permanently close Flint Center and initiate plans for a new facility. After three hours of public input regarding the options for Flint Center, the vote was 4 to 1, with Gilbert Wong dissenting. Details of the decision are at http://fhda.edu/FlintCenter. This was a prudent decision, given the financial challenges of the district and the $50 million cost of retrofitting the center.
The council meeting this week is going to be another marathon with a lengthy agenda, including a study session on Vallco’s Housing Element allocations and the city’s final budget. The council does not meet again until July 18. Is this a good model for civic engagement?
As with all matters, feel free to voice your opinions to individual councilmembers, council as a whole, the city manager, and the city clerk. Your communications are included in the meeting binders for councilmembers, and volume counts! Clearly include in your subject line the topic or agenda item on which you are commenting:
City Manager Deb Feng: manager@cupertino.org
City Clerk Grace Schmidt: cityclerk@cupertino.org or graces@cupertino.org
City Council: citycouncil@cupertino.org
Mayor Steven Scharf: sscharf@cupertino.org
Vice-Mayor Liang Chao: liangchao@cupertino.org
Councilmember Rod Sinks: rsinks@cupertino.org
Councilmember Darcy Paul: dpaul@cupertino.org
Councilmember Jon Willey: jwilley@cupertino.org
UPCOMING – ACTION OPPORTUNITY CITY COUNCIL MEETING – Tues., June 18, 2019, 6:45, Regular Meeting, 5:30 Study Session – Community Hall, 10350 Torre Avenue
Agenda Item #1: Study Session regarding Vallco Shopping Center District Special Area Initial General Plan Amendment. Three options are presented in the staff report:
1. Remove the Office and Residential land uses and associated allocations and set a height limit at Vallco and move forward with the “Scenario B” described in the Housing Element of the General Plan.
2. Remove the Office land use and associated allocation at Vallco, set a height limit, and amend the portion of the site to which the Residential land use designation is associated with to retain or increase the Residential allocation at the site.
3. Take no action.
While this study session may seem harmless, the staff report tilts toward Option 1, which is effectively the set of land use designations of Measure C, which failed 61% to 39%. Such a move would stifle any option other than the current SB35 project from being moved forward and calls into question this council’s seriousness about discussing Vallco alternatives beyond a dead mall.
Furthermore, the sites identified in Scenario B of the Housing Element are much less likely to be built, which raises the possibility of Cupertino simply falling out of compliance with its legal obligations under AB 879 (2017) and AB 1397 (2017) and the Housing Accountability Act—all of which dramatically increase the likelihood of lawsuits against the city. What is curiously missing from the staff report is any notion of how the city might create more housing rather than less. At a time when Cupertino lies under increasing scrutiny for its role in the Bay Area housing crisis, increasing suspicion of Cupertino’s commitment to helping solve the problem seems unwise. If these matters concern you, you can take action by addressing council during the public comment portion of the study session or emailing the council, the city manager, and the city clerk as listed above.
Ceremonial Matters and Presentations, Consent Calendar: (1) Monta Vista High Boys Volleyball Team for winning the NorCal Championship, (2) Proclamation for June as Immigrant Heritage Month, (3) Proclamation declaring July as Park and Recreation Month, and (4) Sustainability Commission Accomplishments Presentation. Reports by Council and Staff (limited to 10 minutes) on committee assignments debuts at the beginning of the agenda this month. The consent calendar has 12 items, mostly routine.
Public Hearings
Item #17 Public Hearing to consider and approve the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and Recommended Budget to FY 2019-20. Previous study sessions in May provided council input incorporated into the 17 attachments with a level of detail unlikely to be scrutinized by the public. In past years, the budget hearing and adoption were held in separate meetings, instead of cramming all of these resolutions into a single night. The staff report provides an overview. The agenda item itself has 3 components which warrant detailed scrutiny—consider speaking before council as well as sending emails to express your opinion on the plans to spend your taxpayer dollars:
(1) Operating Budget for FY2019-2020, which includes $1,750,000 to fund a Pilot Community Shuttle project that would have to be heavily subsidized by the city.
(2) Capital Improvement Program budget of $39,532,418 for FY2019-20 which includes a $9,792,418 donation from Apple, $1,500,000 for McClellan Ranch Preserve Community Garden Improvements (less than 100 plots so each one will cost over $15,000), removal of $2,200,00 for Linda Vista Trail, a key component of the Stevens Creek Trail, utilizing donated land that the city would not have to purchase, and
(3) Appropriation Limits of $104,753, 580 for FY2019-20.
Item #18 Renewal of existing $12/premise single family, $144/acre commercial, $36/acre unimproved premises and collection of storm drain fees for each premise at no increase in rates for FY 2019-2020. This is a routine approval of a fee that has been levied since 1992 to provide storm drain services and should not be controversial.
Item #19 FY 2019-20 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program Annual Action Plan. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will provide the city with approximately $377,208 of CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funds to allocate to local agencies. This is the second of two public hearings required by HUD for CDBG. The first public hearing was held at a Housing Commission meeting May 16, 2019. This should be a routine approval.
Item #20 Development and Architectural and Site Approval permits that would allow the replacement of nine one-story Public Storage facility buildings with two (2) four (4)-story buildings with basements; fence exception that would allow electronic vehicular gates; and a Tree Removal Permit that would allow the removal and replacement of seventeen (17) protected trees. This project at 20565 Valley Green Drive received unanimous approval at the Planning Commission Meeting on May 29, 2019. Kudos to the property owner for providing an easement for the Junipero Serra Trail on the north side of the property. It is a conforming project and should be non-controversial, but this council is unpredictable.
Ordinances and Action Items
Item#21 Implementation of 18-month pilot program for on-demand community shuttle with Via. This is the staff report and analysis of a $1.75 million line item in the operating budget in Item #17. Though popular with a vocal segment of the community, the economics of this program raise questions. The staff report lacks clarity. There is no mention of the number of hours of service in the pilot, nor is there any mention of the number of people per hour (just ratios) required to meet the financial projections. So what is the total number of rides that the city would be subsidizing? What is the subsidy at various fee levels? This item may deserve more scrutiny than a late, late night consideration.
Item #22: Donation for the funding of select projects identified in the 2016 Bicycle Transportation Plan, 2018 Pedestrian Plan, School Walk Audits and Mary Avenue Protected Bikeway. This item represents the formal agreement to accept the contribution of $9,792,418 for specific UNFUNDED projects in the city transportation plan. This should be a no-brainer, though new members of council have objected previously, without apparent consideration for the fact that such contributions free up money in the General Fund for other transportation projects.
Item #23: Brush Abatement Program hearing to consider objections to proposed removal of brush and order abatement of the public nuisance and potential fire hazard pursuant to Cupertino Municipal Code (Section 16.40.320) regarding defensible space (brush) and Resolution No. 19-057. Enforcing this program is important to fire safety, but it is a routine county process that has consumed much, too much council time due to inexperience of new council members. Only 3 homeowners received citations.
Item#24: Supplemental Weed Abatement Program hearing to consider objections to proposed removal of public nuisance (weeds) and to order abatement of nuisance pursuant to provisions of Cupertino Municipal Code (Chapter 9.08) regarding Weed Abatement and Resolution No. 19-059. This item raises the same issues as Item #23.
Item #25: Adopt 2019 Legislative Platform. This document was developed by Vice Mayor Liang Chao and Mayor Steven Scharf, with the assistance of the lobbying firm of Townsend Public Affairs (TPA). It lays out the guiding principles of a framework for city positions regarding federal and state legislation. Not surprisingly, the principles emphasize local control. The positions on housing warrant extra scrutiny. This document does not address specific pieces of legislation currently under consideration.
Item #26 Municipal Code Amendment to consider changing the composition of the Housing Commission to eliminate the requirement that one member be a representative from a Cupertino financial institution. Meeting this requirement has been difficult; council rejected the one qualified candidate.
As usual, listen closely to city council reports at the end of the meeting.
RECAP PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING – Tues., June 11, 2019
The study session on Cupertino’s Below Market Rate Housing Program was primarily for the benefit of the new commissioners. There are only 142 rental units and 121 ownership units available in the city. There are over 400 applicants on the waitlist. A speaker at public comment noted that not only is Extremely Low Income (ELI) housing missing in the city’s BMR Manual, but also that the point system discriminates against developmentally disabled adults who aren’t employed. Actual proposed changes would undergo normal consideration before the Housing Commission first.
The major item for the meeting was the public hearing for a new hotel at the Cupertino Village Shopping Center, across from Apple Park on the site of the Duke of Edinburgh pub (which will be relocated). This 5-story, 185 room hotel is a generally conforming project under the General Plan but requires an amendment to allow more hotel rooms to be built in Cupertino, despite demand. After discussion, the project was approved by the 4 attending commissioners, with Commissioner Alan Takahashi absent.
The public hearing regarding municipal code amendments to clarify the standards for the permissible size of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) was frustrating. The Planning Department, at the direction of city council, had brought forward a minimal change to remove the 10% lot size restriction on the size of ADUs to encourage more housing stock. This is unlikely to be affected by legislation currently under consideration in Sacramento. The new commissioners did not understand the reasoning behind the proposed changes, using the excuse of wanting to get clarification from the legislative committee on the council. The item was not approved with 3 commissioners voting no, Commissioner Fung voting yes, and Commissioner Takahashi absent.
CUPERTINO COURIER June 14, 2019
The front page picture with the story on page 5 written by Anne Gelhaus is from the Cupertino Historical Society and Museum: “Rise of IT in Silicon Valley: Exhibit chronicles the history of information technology”. It opens June 19 in the Quinlan Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wed. – Sat. The touring exhibit (from Italy!) features interviews with some of the key players at Apple, as well as other IT pioneers. Community briefs on the same page mention: (1) Local STEM champs from Kennedy Middle School placed first in their division at the 35th Science Olympiad National Tournament, (2) the City-sponsored Town Hall on June 15, Sat. and (3) Emergency Preparedness on June 22 at Memorial Park.
Hope you enjoyed your Father’s Day!
Warm regards,
Jean Bedord
Cupertino Matters
Publisher and Editor
