CC 04-16-2024 Item No. 12 Housing Element Update_Written Communications_3Written Communications
CC 04-16-2024
Item No. 12
Study Session and staf
presentation on the 6th
Cycle Housing Element
Update
From:Liang Chao
To:City Clerk
Subject:Written Communication for 4/16 Council meeting: Questions on HE
Date:Tuesday, April 16, 2024 10:33:36 PM
I thought there will be supplemental report provided to answer these questions, so the
questions will be in the meeting record.
But there is no supplement report provided.
So, I referenced these questions and brought some of them up at the 4/16 Council meeting
with the limited time I have. But I still was not able to get answers for most of them.
Please enter this email into written communication for the meeting record.
Thanks!
Liang
Liang
Liang Chao
Councilmember
City Council
LChao@cupertino.gov
408-777-3192
From: Pamela Wu <PamelaW@cupertino.gov>
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2024 12:26 PM
To: Liang Chao <LChao@cupertino.gov>
Cc: Luke Connolly <LukeC@cupertino.gov>; Benjamin Fu <BenjaminF@cupertino.gov>; Matt
Morley <MattM@cupertino.gov>; City Clerk <cityclerk@cupertino.gov>; Debra Nascimento
<DebraN@cupertino.gov>
Subject: RE: Questions on HE
Councilmember Chao, since there isn’t a staff report prepared for the Housing Element study
session, we will address your questions below during the presentation tomorrow.
Thank you,
Pamela
Pamela Wu
City Manager
City Manager's Office
PamelaW@cupertino.gov
(408)777-1322
From: Liang Chao <LChao@cupertino.gov>
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2024 9:58 AM
To: Pamela Wu <PamelaW@cupertino.gov>
Cc: Luke Connolly <LukeC@cupertino.gov>; Benjamin Fu <BenjaminF@cupertino.gov>; Matt Morley
<MattM@cupertino.gov>
Subject: Questions on HE
I have sent in a few questions on Wednesday after the prep session.
Please include the answers to those in the supplemental reports too. Thank you.
QQ1: Please provide a timeline of what's upcoming up to and after the HE is adopted by
the Counci? In 6 months, what additional policies need to be adopted by the Council or
staff? In one year, what other policies need to be adopted by the Council or staff.
QQ1A: When will the Council have a study session on Zoning Ordinance before final
adoption?
QQ2: The 2015-2023 Housing Element had only 5 HE sites with about 1000 units. Since
there are over 6200 units and 36 sites (on 63 parcels) in this 2023-2031 Housing
Element, please provide a spreadsheet in order to understand how the over 6,200 units
are calculated. (I meant I hope to get the tables in Appendix 4 in excel format, for
example.)
QQ3: I see that we have projected 91 units from ADUs over the next 8 years. Did the
projection take into account of new laws which would allow up to 3 ADUs for each R1
site?
QQ4: Some of the sites are eligible under AB 2011, which would automatically get
upzoned (my understanding). For those which are not designated as Priority HE sites, did
we project units on those sites and add them to our total capacity? Please remind us
what AB2011 does and where they apply in Cupertino.
QQ5: The draft HE states "Pursuant to California Government Code Section 65583.2(c),
a nonvacant site identified in the
previous planning period and a vacant site identified in two or more previous
consecutive planning
periods cannot be used to accommodate the lower-income RHNA unless the site is
subject to an
action in the Housing Element that requires rezoning within three years of the beginning
of the
planning period that will allow residential use by right for housing developments with at
least 20
percent units affordable to lower-income households."
So, every Priority HE site identified in this 6th HE cycle cannot be used to count towards
the capacity for the 7th HE cycle, starting in 2031. Does this mean If more Priority HE site
identified than necessary in this 6th HE cycle, we will have less sites we could use for the
next (7th HE cycle)?
QQ6: For residential sites, the draft HE stated that Table B4-3 shows project examples
in Cupertino from 2016 to 2023. Overall, projects show a very high realistic capacity,
ranging from 80 to more than 100 percent of the site. ... To ensure capacity is not over
projected, the city assumed a 95 percent realistic capacity on all residentially zoned
sites. "
For mixed use sites, the draft HE Appendix 4 states "Table B4-4 summarizes three
approved mixed-use developments, Marina Plaza, Westport, and Vallco. These projects
range in realistic capacity from 83 to 344 percent, with most coming in around
113 percent. This suggests that mixed-use projects in Cupertino develop at greater than
100
percent of the permitted density. ... , while the trends over the past decade
indicates development on most large sites at close to or over 100 percent of the
maximum allowable
density, the City conservatively estimates a 75 percent realistic capacity for sites with
mixed- use zoning
in the sites inventory." For residential sites, the past project examples show capacity
between 80-100% and we estimate 95% realistic capacity. That makes sense. For mixed
use sites, the past project examples show capacity between 83 to 344% with most at
113%, why do we estimate the realistic capacity to be only 75%? Lower than even the
lowest from past examples?
QQ9: There are some sites without owner interest, can we remove them from the list so
that we might designate those sites in the next HE cycle?
QQ10: Given that the HE sites selected has not been on the Council agenda since
August 2022, can we still make minor changes to the HE sites selected and their density
as long as we deliver about the same amount?
QQ11: Many community members care about the building heights, but they don't
understand how units/acre correlate to building heights. Could you give some estimate
on what's the potential max height means when a site is zoned 50-65 units/acre and
what about the sites zoned 65-80 units/acre? What's unit size used in the estimation of
height?
QQ12: Many community members care about traffic congestion and safety. Please
summarize what's the traffic impact was from the Environment Assessment. What
mitigation measures are identified to address those issues?
QQ13: Many community members care about the parking requirements since there is
little transit coverage in Cupertino. Will this be discussed in the zoning ordinance
discussion? What parking requirements are allowed?
QQ14: The HE sites have designated minimum density and also maximum density. Can
they still propose projects at a density lower than the minimum density?
QQ15: The Density Bonus Law still applies to these HE sites, right? That means they can
develop up to 35% of the current maximum density. Thus, a site zoned 60-85 units could
develop up to 108 units/acre, right?
Liang Chao
Councilmember
City Council
LChao@cupertino.gov
408-777-3192
From:Kitty Moore
To:City Clerk; Kirsten Squarcia
Subject:Written Communications Item 12 April 16, 2024
Date:Tuesday, April 16, 2024 9:44:14 PM
Attachments:Air Quality 18-4326 - Q - Vallco Specific Plan FEIR - 8.2018.pdf
Dear City Clerk,
Please include the attached air quality impacts presented in the Final Environmental Impact Report
for the Vallco Specific Plan 2018 which shows that many Bay Area Air Quality Management District
emissions thresholds during construction and at operations and these violations of air quality
standards were significant and unavoidable impacts with mitigation incorporated.
Notice these impacts are from about half of the 6,200 units proposed in the Housing Element. I
request that in the Environmental Assessment we have the Air Quality impacts analyzed from our
entire Housing Element, along with the impacts from surrounding jurisdictions, especially noting
there is a buffer of 25%+. This should happen considering the Environmental Assessment which is a
stipulation in the ‘Yimby Law’ v City of Cupertino lawsuit judgment, is supposed to follow the same
considerations as a CEQA EIR. Lastly, the community has already had decades of air quality impacts,
making it even more important to protect the health and safety of the current and future
population.
Thank you,
Kitty Moore
Kitty Moore
Councilmember
City Council
KMoore@cupertino.gov
(408) 777-1389