PC 04-30-01 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
APPROVED MINUTES
CUPERTINO CITY COUNCIL ~ SPECIAL
CUPERTINO PLANNING COMMISSION ~ SPECIAL MEETING
Monday, April 30, 2001
ROLL CALL
At 3:39 p.m. Mayor James called the meeting to order in Conference Room C/D, 10300 Torre
Avenue, Cupertino, California.
City Council members present: Mayor Sandra James, Vice-Mayor Richard Lowenthal, and
Council members Don Burnctt and Michacl Chang. Council members absent: None.
Planning Commission members present: Chairperson Patrick Kwok, commission members
Marc Auerbach, Angela Chen and Geoff Patnoe. Commission members absent: Vice-
Chairperson Charles Corr.
Staffpresent: City Manager David Knapp, City Attomey Chuck Kilian, Administrative Services
Director Carol Atwood, Community Development Director Steve Piasecki, City Planner Cynthia
Wordell, Senior Planner Colin Jung, Senior Planner Aarti Shrivastava, Associate Planner Peter
Gilli, Public Works Project Manager Carmen Lynaugh, Parks and Recreation Director Therese
Smith, Public Works Director Ralph Quails, Public Information Officer Rick Kitson, City Clerk
Kimberly Smith and Deputy City Clerk Grace Johnson.
JOINT STUDY SESSION - CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSION
1. General Plan
A. Urban design study session
Community Development Director Steve Piasecki highlighted thc general plan review process
and explained that the purpose of this session was to evaluate development options that might
achieve multiple objectives of building a safe, balance, connected and walkable community. He
said that the City Council agreed that the theme of the general plan update is building
community, in which growth is directed in order to achieve community objectives. An urban
design fu-m, Peter Calthorpe and Associates, was hired to brainstorm with the City Council and
Planning Commission on this topic. The presenter was Matthew Taecker.
Taecker described 4 planning principles (1) diversity and balance (holistic approach to
community); (2) human scale (how people perceive their environment to be safe, inviting and
pedestrian friendly); (3) conservation and restoration (understand assets embedded within each
community in order to build on those assets); (4) larger context (how a community fits into a
larger setting).
Taecker talked about oppommity areas that were identified by staff and presented case studies to
highlight some of the possibilities and practical dimensions of new development and re-
April 30, 2001 Cupertino City Council Page 2
development in these areas. These areas included (1) new development (large, vacant pieces of
land) for mixed use/office campuses; (2) aging shopping malls; (3) community college facilities;
(4) strip commercial areas (thinner, shallower lots oriented toward highways); (5) boulevards
(larger streets to shape future development).
Items summarized under the mixed-use/office campus opportuinty included thinking about the
pace and rate of renovation, maintaining a balance of jobs and housing, working from a market
standpoint, accessibility to shops (parking and visibility), persuading corporate offices to
integrate to mixed use, checking growth parameters (complete change vs. in_fill), bringing the
community together and making it walkable.
Aging shopping mall items included the Vallco mall and Cupertino Center transition, potential
resistance to private developers such as De Anza College, resistance to Walkability, and
balancing safety and security.
Strip commercial items included thoughts about redevelopment money, developer/city
involvement in planning, signage and streetscape plans, and street design standards for
walkability.
Boulevard items included free-flowing right turn lanes as a problem for pedestrians (street design
standards for walkability) and connectivity of streets.
General comments included how to communicate the desirability of urban vs. suburban, retail
hierarchy, learning from what didn't work, infi:astructure costs, pace of development, advocating
the need for development and communication (cooperative ventures and constituencies).
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m. to Monday, May 7 at 6:15 p.m., Conference Room A of
City Hall.
City Clerk