HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 10.06.2026 Youtube and Zoom TranscriptYoutube and Zoom Transcript
https://youtu.be/wruJllLV6Eo?si=2VPNyxEVwi4_kRW1
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100:00:04.970 --> 00:00:05.700Community Hall: Ready.
200:00:15.290 --> 00:00:23.720
Community Hall: Good evening. It is 648, October 6, 2026. I call this regular meeting of the Cupertino City
Council to order.
300:00:23.980 --> 00:00:27.129Community Hall: If you are able to, please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
400:00:29.520 --> 00:00:41.770
Community Hall: I believe this to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it
stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
500:00:42.330 --> 00:00:55.959Community Hall: Thank you. Thank you. Madam City Clerk, will you please call the roll? Councilmember Fruin. Here. Councilmember Mohan. Councilmember Wong?
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R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Present.
700:00:57.860 --> 00:00:59.249Community Hall: Vice Mayor Chow.
800:01:00.380 --> 00:01:02.950
Community Hall: Here. Can I hear more? Here.
900:01:03.290 --> 00:01:14.190Community Hall: Mayor, Vice Mayor, and members of the Council, as a reminder, Councilmember Wong is participating remotely this evening. Councilmember Wong, can you confirm that you are in the lobby of the Marriott Marquis in New York City?
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R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Yes, I am.
1100:01:17.320 --> 00:01:32.930Community Hall: Thank you. And, you have already confirmed that you posted the agenda at your location, because you sent me a picture of it. And, Councilmember Wong, are there any individuals over the age of 18 with you, and has anyone indicated to you that they intend to make public comment or address the Council from your location this evening?
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R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: None that I can see from here.
1300:01:35.390 --> 00:01:37.319Community Hall: Okay. Thank you, Councilmember Wong.
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00:01:37.910 --> 00:01:53.929Community Hall: Thank you, Madam City Clerk Madam City Attorney, do we have any closed session reports? We do. The Council met in closed session on September 29th and on October 5th, and it's my understanding that during those closed sessions, no reportable action was taken.
1500:01:53.930 --> 00:02:00.829
Community Hall: And then today, Council met in closed session as well. Both items were discussed, and
again, no reportable action was taken. Thank you.
1600:02:01.550 --> 00:02:02.330Community Hall: Great.
1700:02:02.480 --> 00:02:21.879
Community Hall: Thank you. Next, we have ceremonial items. It is Item 3, the recognition of our Community
Development Department. October is National Community Planning Month. It's a time to recognize the
important work that goes into shaping the places we call home.
1800:02:22.190 --> 00:02:33.030Community Hall: The decisions made through community planning have a direct impact on our neighborhoods, housing, transportation, public spaces, and the character of Cupertino.
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Community Hall: Cupertino's Community Development Department, including building, planning, housing,
and code enforcement, plays a big part in this work.
2000:02:43.420 --> 00:03:01.259Community Hall: Their staff handle everything from long-range planning and development review to permits, inspections, code enforcement, affordable housing programs, incorporating new legislation, providing
guidance and information to the commissions and councils that work in the land use area.
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00:03:01.260 --> 00:03:04.740Community Hall: and implementing the city's general plan.
2200:03:04.740 --> 00:03:15.549Community Hall: Their work requires balancing the needs of residents, businesses, property owners, and the
community as a whole, while helping guide the future of Cupertino.
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00:03:15.910 --> 00:03:30.649Community Hall: Please join me in recognizing and thanking our city's Community Development Department for their dedication, expertise, and commitment to public service. Their work plays an important role in
shaping a vibrant.
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Community Hall: safe, and welcoming Cupertino. Please join us on the dais for a photo recognizing the CDD Department and National Community Planning Month.
2500:03:41.220 --> 00:03:42.040Community Hall: Thank you.
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Community Hall: Okay.
2700:04:05.730 --> 00:04:06.460Community Hall: Okay.
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Community Hall: 3, 5…
2900:04:15.360 --> 00:04:32.680Community Hall: Thank you all for participating.
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Community Hall: Bring some people forward.
3100:04:41.660 --> 00:04:48.140Community Hall: No, it's all right.
3200:04:49.170 --> 00:04:50.249
Community Hall: We're on the plane.
3300:04:52.380 --> 00:04:53.919Community Hall: Can you see this?
3400:04:55.870 --> 00:04:56.620Community Hall: Okay.
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00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:31.350Community Hall: In the city management.
3600:05:33.590 --> 00:05:36.359Community Hall: And our city manager would like to say a few words.
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Community Hall: Thanks, Mayor, I'll keep it quick. Thank you so much for helping us recognize the
Community Development Department. October is a great opportunity, because it is National Community Planning Month.
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Community Hall: And the Cupertino's CDD, as we like to call it, department, helps guide the city in this effort
through their dedication, professionalism, and commitment to public service. Staff in the department help
maintain and support Cupertino's high quality of life, and again, I want to thank everybody who is here today from the Community Development Department.
3900:06:09.560 --> 00:06:13.759Community Hall: And I'm glad that you were here to be recognized and those who are not here.
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Community Hall: Please know that your work is appreciated and with that, thank you, Mayor.
4100:06:18.940 --> 00:06:36.659Community Hall: All right, thank you. Next, we have postponements and orders of the day. Madam City Clerk, I believe we have one postponement? That is correct, Mayor. We do have one postponement for item number 11. Okay, so I move, that we postpone Item 11 to October 20th, 2026. Do I have a second?
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00:06:36.990 --> 00:06:37.550R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Second.
4300:06:37.550 --> 00:06:38.100Community Hall: Thank you.
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Community Hall: Okay, Madam City Attorney, just to clarify, there's no discussion on this item. We go to a vote right now? Correct. Okay, thank you, Madam City… Who was the seconder? I'm sorry, I couldn't… I think… Mohan, okay, thank you. Councilmember Mohan. And, so all of our votes are by roll call, because…
4500:06:55.500 --> 00:06:58.420Community Hall: Okay. Correct, Mayor. So will you please conduct the roll call vote?
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00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:00.330Community Hall: Councilmember Fruin?
4700:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.139Community Hall: Aye. Councilmember Mohan? Aye.
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Community Hall: Number one?
4900:07:04.780 --> 00:07:05.390
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Aye.
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Community Hall: Vice Mayor Chow? Aye. Mayor Moore? Aye. The motion carries unanimously. All right, thank you very much. Our next item is oral communications. Madam City Clerk, how many speaker cards do we have on this item?
5100:07:24.960 --> 00:07:38.680
Community Hall: Mayor, I currently have 5 requests to speak here in person in Community Hall, and at this
time, I do not see any hands raised virtually. Okay, thank you. Madam City Clerk, will you please provide the
instructions and conduct oral communications? Certainly.
5200:07:38.690 --> 00:07:56.580Community Hall: This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the Council on any matter within the jurisdiction of the Council, and not on the agenda for discussion. Oral communication shall be limited to 30 minutes. Additional speakers wishing to comment on non-agenda items may be given time to speak at the end of the agenda.
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00:07:56.580 --> 00:08:17.920Community Hall: After the city manager's report, individual speakers are limited to 3 minutes. As necessary, the mayor may further limit the time allowed to individual speakers, or reschedule meeting comments to the end of the meeting on a first-come, first-heard basis, with priority given to students. In most cases, state law will prohibit the council from discussing or making any decisions with respect to a matter not listed on the agenda.
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Community Hall: A Councilmember may, however, briefly respond to statements made or questions posed by
speakers.
5500:08:23.380 --> 00:08:41.989Community Hall: A Councilmember may also ask a question for clarification, provide a reference for factual information, request staff to report back concerning a matter, or request that an item be added to a future
City Council agenda in response to public comment. And as a reminder to members of the public wishing to
speak under oral communications this evening, shall submit
5600:08:41.990 --> 00:08:57.480Community Hall: a request to speak hard or raise their hand virtually within the first 9 minutes of the start of public comment, or before the public comment period is closed, whichever comes first. So at this time, we will welcome Rhoda Fry, followed by Minna.
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Community Hall: Followed by Pamela Hershey.
5800:08:59.800 --> 00:09:01.260Community Hall: Welcome, Rhoda.
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Community Hall: Hi, good evening. I've got some slides. Most of these are in your, packets. I want to dispel
some myths. First is that, Cupertino did not lose $30 million annually due to the CDTF audit. Typically we were getting
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Community Hall: a, 11 to $15 million boost. The other thing is, is, we've been hearing that.
6100:09:26.780 --> 00:09:39.369Community Hall: Cupertino's in the toilet, and we're not. This is Cupertino's own report from HDL showing sales are up 113% in Q2… oh, that's Q1 of this year.
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Community Hall: The other one I'd want to talk about was, Valco income. We've been hearing that, Valco…
that the city is losing $10 million annually without Valco build-out. I actually just talked with Mr. Orozco
about this, and back in 2023, the estimate was around $3.16 million, but that was when we had twice the retail, so we're actually a good $800,000 off of that.
6300:10:02.520 --> 00:10:13.180Community Hall: Plus there was no accounting for, you know, what the net income would be, because we're gonna have policing and other things. So, we're probably closer to net zero than,
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00:10:13.420 --> 00:10:20.929Community Hall: 10 million. The other thing is, hey, our retail's doing really good. I pulled this data off the CDTFA,
6500:10:20.930 --> 00:10:36.530Community Hall: And you're gonna see that retail and food service taxable transactions are doing really,
really well. The other thing that's exciting is that we've got three destination stores coming online, PGA
Superstore, which has already made the top 25 sales tax revenue.
6600:10:36.530 --> 00:10:48.449Community Hall: to the city. We've got Barnes & Noble and Hashi Market, really exciting stuff, big smiley face there. I also want to talk a little about people saying that Cupertino's turning into a ghost town. False, false, false.
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Community Hall: Q2 2026, you got Cushman and Wakefield and also other real estate professionals are
saying we are doing awesome. We've got 2% vacancy as compared to 4.9% regionally. We are rocking it. And here we've got office space. We're at 3.2% versus 18.2% regionally. There's another real estate firm.
6800:11:13.290 --> 00:11:33.319Community Hall: for Q3 2026, who… that even had better numbers. I think it was around 1.5%, 2%. Really
exciting stuff, and here's all the data from the other cities. Just wanted to show you a little bit about how
we're doing on hotel tax. Pretty good, you know, we're actually pretty close to the 2018-2019 high. You
know, we might have a little room to put
6900:11:33.320 --> 00:11:49.829
Community Hall: TOT on the ballot, but let's talk with our buddies in the hotel, make sure that we hit the
sweet spot. The other thing is, guys, keep up the good work, you're doing a great job. We don't need to do crazy things like Mr. Freeman had suggested way back when to put housing on our golf course. Seriously, that was in 2020.
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Community Hall: And in 2023, putting housing on our sports center and even on our city hall. Not okay. We
don't need to do public-private partnerships. Let's keep up the good work and focus on cutting unnecessary spending. You guys rock. Thank you very much.
7100:12:07.310 --> 00:12:12.229Community Hall: Thank you, Rhoda. Next, we will welcome Minna, followed by Pamela Hershey.
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Community Hall: Welcome, Minna.
7300:12:14.840 --> 00:12:15.530Community Hall: Oh.
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Community Hall: Well, I also want to use projector.
7500:12:21.560 --> 00:12:23.050Community Hall: So.
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Community Hall: Video, can you just… thank you. So I… oh.
7700:12:26.640 --> 00:12:50.650Community Hall: Hello, my name is Mina, I'm a Cupertino resident, and I come here complaining about some unauthorized signs in the past, but because there are more complaints on WeChat about those unauthorized signs for J.R.R. Furuin, Seema Linda Skork, and Zhang Kang, so I have to come here to speak again. And these are the screenshots from WeChat. So, one resident did call the police.
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Community Hall: But the police said, you can just dump those signs. They didn't record their address, and they said, you can dump the sign wherever you like. But here comes back the question, why? On Newsom Avenue, when residents living by Bollinger, when they dump those unauthorized yard signs, they were treated as thieves, and several police cars dispatched.
7900:13:12.840 --> 00:13:21.709
Community Hall: to trace those signs and question those residents why you steal J.R.R. Florine and Cima and
Zhang Tang's yard sign.
8000:13:21.710 --> 00:13:42.830Community Hall: Actually, the rumor started from Glenn Fisher, and in August, he started to claim all the
yard signs by Bollinger between Wonderlish and Johnson Avenue, those Newsom houses, all the yard signs
were approved by homeowners, but that is not true. So, we just collected
8100:13:43.070 --> 00:13:52.359Community Hall: some statements from Newsome Avenue homeowners. So many homeowners, they claimed
that they didn't approve J.R. Fluent's yard sign.
8200:13:52.570 --> 00:13:59.019Community Hall: And they never agreed for their workers to put them on their properties.
8300:13:59.340 --> 00:14:17.470Community Hall: And but on San Jose Spotlight and SF Gate and a lot of newspaper, they interviewed a
former mayor, R. Lowe something, and he said those yard signs are approved by homeowner, especially for
the signs close to Wunderlich and
8400:14:17.470 --> 00:14:38.519Community Hall: Bollinger. But I think our mayor already visited that homeowner, and she learned that they didn't approve those yard signs. But the problem is, when the sign was stolen, he put an air tag on the signs, and though several police cars traced the sign to a Santa Clara homeowner, that's the friends of the Cupertino homeowner.
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Community Hall: According to the SCPD, Santa Clara Police Department, they said, the reporting party said all the political signs were taken from his yard. That means the Cupertino former mayor, Arlo's yard.
8600:14:51.020 --> 00:14:52.639Community Hall: His own yard.
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Community Hall: But from the reporter, you can see he said the houses hosting the sun was by Bollinger and Wunderlich. That's far from his own home, and he didn't have any rental property around that area.
8800:15:06.690 --> 00:15:12.129Community Hall: So this is the police record from the SCPD.
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Community Hall: And it shows in his report, he said that's from his side. So here comes all the question, who will protect Cupertino residents when there are unauthorized signs on their yard?
9000:15:25.680 --> 00:15:31.590Community Hall: So that's all. Just my… Thank you, Minna.
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Community Hall: Next, we will welcome Pamela Hershey, followed by Jasmine Tan, followed by Vanessa.
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Community Hall: Welcome, Pamela.
9300:15:40.550 --> 00:15:55.390Community Hall: Good evening, Mayor, Council members, and staff. My name is Pamela Hershey, I've been
here before, a Cupertino member… resident for over 47 years. I'm here again to talk about the stolen signs.
Do we have the overhead for… is this the…
9400:15:55.570 --> 00:16:04.339Community Hall: Okay. This is a picture just recently on Sunday from Stevens Creek Bridge that are signs from candidates that I'm helping.
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Community Hall: that are just thrown on the ground. Somebody obviously went up to Stevens Creek Bridge,
took those down, and threw them down. Who's doing that? I mean, I've not seen any… any opponents, any
of our signs, our opponent signs, thrown down like that, and I'm…
9600:16:19.400 --> 00:16:34.610Community Hall: all over the city. So who's doing this? I don't know. It's really just not there. It's… they're wasting resources, our taxpayer money that's been donated to our candidates, and throwing them away.
They have to replace the signs, replace the metal.
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00:16:35.160 --> 00:16:39.659Community Hall: That doesn't make sense to me. Where are these ending up? In the garbage somewhere.
9800:16:39.760 --> 00:16:54.929Community Hall: And so, our resources, our money is being just really disregarded. It's very disrespectful, it's
disrespectful to the candidates, the volunteers, senior citizens like myself that are going out working, and
also children that have helped us. Financially, yes.
9900:16:54.970 --> 00:17:11.130Community Hall: it's costly to the candidates, but it's also not fair to… for this to happen. Here's the message that happened, actually, just today, that you could read on here. Somebody… what's happened this morning, someone wrote, I came in… someone came in a white truck.
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Community Hall: and took the signs from them. And this is the Garden Gate area. They actually saw a white
truck come in and remove signs from their yard.
10100:17:19.420 --> 00:17:33.390Community Hall: Who does that? I'm just wondering. Just a question. I've never heard of that before. Someone actually added to that, we spotted a suspicious lady taking pictures of our signboards on Ann Arbor. Later, she rode by our home and possibly making sign removals.
102
00:17:33.530 --> 00:17:36.060Community Hall: When we approached her, she quickly rode off.
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00:17:36.450 --> 00:17:55.519Community Hall: You know, this is really getting a little much, you know, I understand, you know, we have opponents, but it's really time-consuming for us. I have a job, I have grandchildren I work with, I spend a lot of time going back and replacing signs. My husband does as well, he's 76 years old. He'll spend 2 or 3 hours a day going to find out where the signs are stolen.
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00:17:55.540 --> 00:18:08.510Community Hall: So please stop respecting the volunteers, the candidates, and the residents. Whoever's doing this to our signs, it's just a little gone over… over the top, is how I feel.
10500:18:09.090 --> 00:18:11.069Community Hall: So please stop playing dirty.
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00:18:11.360 --> 00:18:12.310Community Hall: Thank you.
10700:18:15.150 --> 00:18:18.669Community Hall: Thank you, Pamela. Next, we will welcome Jasmine Tan.
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Community Hall: Followed by Vanessa, followed by Stephen Scharf.
10900:18:24.430 --> 00:18:31.819Community Hall: And Jasmine, are you guys speaking together as a group? Yes. Okay, so you guys will have 4 minutes on the clock. Thank you. Okay.
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Community Hall: Good evening, everyone. My name is Jasmine Tan.
11100:18:38.250 --> 00:18:52.490Community Hall: My name is Raina Wong, and we're here today to present to you as representatives from In Her Purse, a local and international nonprofit led by youth that is focused on supporting women, and in particular.
112
00:18:52.490 --> 00:19:17.449Community Hall: financial sorry financial abuse survivors and as well as preventing it for future generations so to understand why the work that we're doing for this non-profit is so important we have to first understand what exactly is financial and economic abuse it is one of the primary means of control and domestic abuse occurring in 99 of domestic violence cases it is when one person has control over a victim's access to economic resources
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Community Hall: This is diminishing a victim's capacity to support themselves, such as using immigration
status or any other forms of leverage to restrict their ability to find employment.
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Community Hall: Education, healthcare, or even asking for help.
11500:19:29.850 --> 00:19:47.999Community Hall: So financial abuse is especially prevalent among immigrants and other minorities, ranging
from 29% to over 95% among surveyed survivors of domestic abuse. So we're here today to speak on the
need for financial education, especially to prevent economic abuse.
11600:19:49.810 --> 00:20:06.439Community Hall: It is more important now than ever, since CBS News tells you that Americans have hit a 10-year low on financial literacy. And according to the Federal Reserve, women are less likely to answer financial questions correctly than men, displaying a financial literacy gender gap.
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Community Hall: Closing that gap matters more than just a few scores. Financial inequality can compound
over a lifetime. When we have less access to financial knowledge, we have fewer opportunities to make informed decisions, build wealth, and protect our futures.
11800:20:21.450 --> 00:20:36.000Community Hall: Even in Silicon Valley, not everyone has equal access to financial education. In fact, the
assumption that more wealthier communities already understand personal finance makes those who are not
given the same resources even more neglected.
11900:20:36.410 --> 00:20:54.570Community Hall: Financial abuse most commonly occurs when one partner is responsible for all the finances in a household, leaving the other so dependent that they lack the capability to separate themselves from their abuser, even if they wanted to, leaving people trapped in relationships due to their lack of financial knowledge.
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Community Hall: On a more personal note, I personally did not understand fully what this phenomenon was, as in, I was not able to recognize what… how to identify it, as well as knowing that it is a part of domestic violence.
12100:21:10.670 --> 00:21:23.769Community Hall: And that is why we encourage the city to make financial education more visible, accessible,
and normalized. It should not be a privilege that people discover by chance, but something that is available
to everyone.
12200:21:26.070 --> 00:21:38.520Community Hall: Additionally, we want the city to take more direct action by providing financial abuse identification and education posters in more public areas.
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Community Hall: Financial control is one of the primary tactics for domestic violence, yet when we are
unable to recognize it, we are unable to protect ourselves and those that we care about. Thank you so much
for your attention today.
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00:21:51.050 --> 00:21:52.050Community Hall: Good evening.
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Community Hall: Thank you. Next, we will welcome Vanessa, followed by Stephen Scharf. Welcome,
Vanessa.
12600:22:02.340 --> 00:22:03.030Community Hall: 2.
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Community Hall: So, on September 2nd, an incident involving political yard sign and homeowner's property
resulted in response from two different law enforcement agents.
12800:22:16.310 --> 00:22:29.710Community Hall: And two very different outcomes. According to the SCPD, Santa Clara Police Department record, the incident was treated as a civil standby, not a theft case.
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Community Hall: No safe report was made.
13000:22:32.140 --> 00:22:36.590Community Hall: The reporting party was directed to address the dispute.
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Community Hall: urges the dispute with the homeowner, but since the reporting party refused to do so,
SCPD closed the case at 11.30 p.m.
13200:22:46.900 --> 00:22:49.139Community Hall: What happened next was shocking to me.
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Community Hall: The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office dispatched a civil police car to the homeowner's
property late at night.
13400:22:58.270 --> 00:23:01.230Community Hall: Multiple police officers were involved.
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Community Hall: Yet the sheriff later stated that no written report was made.
13600:23:07.500 --> 00:23:21.680Community Hall: So this is the… you can see the picture from the, from the resident's, camera, and you can see the police, car, and the police were visiting the, the home, and no police report.
13700:23:24.660 --> 00:23:28.660Community Hall: Then came the public record request.
138
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Community Hall: The Scpd. Provide the requested record within several hours. By contrast.
13900:23:36.120 --> 00:23:42.099Community Hall: The shrift denied the request under the law enforcement investigation exemption.
140
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Community Hall: So residents ask a simple follow-up.
14100:23:46.640 --> 00:23:52.120Community Hall: If there were no written report, What other records were created?
14200:23:53.570 --> 00:23:57.139
Community Hall: Does the CAD or dispatch record exist?
143
00:23:57.510 --> 00:24:00.520Community Hall: Was the radio communication recorded?
14400:24:01.070 --> 00:24:03.000Community Hall: Which unit responded?
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Community Hall: Were these deputies noted notes created?
14600:24:08.360 --> 00:24:15.380Community Hall: We asked the sheriff to identify what record existed and what records were being withdrawn.
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Community Hall: Then the responses stopped.
14800:24:19.220 --> 00:24:28.639Community Hall: This is not simply about a disagreement over a political science. It's about consistency, transparency, and accountability.
149
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Community Hall: Cupertino relied on Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office for the law enforcement service.
15000:24:35.440 --> 00:24:45.360
Community Hall: Residents should be able to understand what happens when law enforcement is called to
their property, and what records are created as a result.
15100:24:45.780 --> 00:24:47.580Community Hall: The question is simple.
152
00:24:48.130 --> 00:25:01.279Community Hall: Why did one law enforcement agency provide its records within hours, while the other denied the request and then stopped responding to basic questions about what records existed?
15300:25:02.270 --> 00:25:07.270Community Hall: Are Cupertino residents receiving the same standard of response?
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00:25:07.820 --> 00:25:11.200Community Hall: Thank you, Vanessa. Next, we will welcome Stephen Scharf.
15500:25:14.310 --> 00:25:16.959Community Hall: Hi, you know, we're fortunate in Cupertino.
156
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Community Hall: Violent crime is pretty rare, but there's still crime occurring.
15700:25:21.280 --> 00:25:26.129Community Hall: that should be addressed. I urge the City Council, the City Manager, Code Enforcement.
158
00:25:26.320 --> 00:25:30.590
Community Hall: County agencies and the sheriff to take action against the illegal.
15900:25:30.700 --> 00:25:33.850Community Hall: Activities happening during this campaign season.
160
00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:41.220
Community Hall: Let's not sink to the lowest of all levels during election season. Residents deserve a clean
election.
16100:25:41.980 --> 00:26:01.679Community Hall: Several other speakers have already talked about the theft of signs from residential property, the illegal placement of signs, and the incredible occurrence in the city of Santa Clara, where a former Cupertino mayor put air tags into campaign signs that were then placed without permission on a Cupertino residence lawn twice.
162
00:26:02.110 --> 00:26:07.079Community Hall: When the resident removed the signs, and the second sign were placed also without permission.
163
00:26:07.340 --> 00:26:11.289Community Hall: She gave them to a friend in Santa Clara because her garbage bin was full.
164
00:26:11.560 --> 00:26:15.270
Community Hall: So, the Santa Clara Sheriff, After the Senate.
16500:26:15.450 --> 00:26:24.140Community Hall: Clara City PD refused to investigate. They went to another city at midnight and terrorized the residents in Santa Clara.
166
00:26:24.350 --> 00:26:38.980
Community Hall: Now, I don't know if campaigns are paying people to commit crimes, or if it's overzealous
residents engaging in this kind of activity to support their candidates. One resident on Silverado Avenue had
signs stolen from his property three times in one week.
16700:26:39.120 --> 00:26:50.820Community Hall: When he went on next door to complain, he was kicked off next door by the moderator, a woman who was also a candidate for city council, since the signs on the resident's property were for the opposition.
168
00:26:51.020 --> 00:27:00.019Community Hall: Another resident on Randy Lane had signs placed on her property without permission. When she complained about this on Nextdoor, her posts were removed in minutes.
16900:27:00.480 --> 00:27:16.870Community Hall: At a time when the sheriff was asking for more money, and we complied for police services,
we have a wealthy resident who happens to also be a former mayor, abusing the E911 system and
demanding our sheriff go to another city to investigate a non-crime.
17000:27:16.990 --> 00:27:25.820Community Hall: This is the lowest of all things to do. This individual is also bankrolling the campaigns of the developer's three candidates, Seymour Linskog.
171
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Community Hall: and San Jose employees J.R. Frewin and John Tang. Please ensure that our sheriff's
deputies concentrate on actual crime. Thank you.
17200:27:35.300 --> 00:27:47.880Community Hall: Thank you, Steven. And Mayor, before we go to the request to speak virtually, we did have a few requests to speak on Item 11. Would it be appropriate at this time to hear those comments?
173
00:27:48.420 --> 00:27:57.669
Community Hall: Okay, thank you. So at this time, we will, go ahead and welcome Oscar, followed by Daniel,
followed by Harvey. Welcome, Oscar.
174
00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:23.679
Community Hall: Oh, hello, good evening. First of all, I want to thank you guys for pulling the item. I mean, that was one of the main reasons why we were here, so, good evening, state members and city council members. My name is Oscar Masariegos, I'm a field representative with the North Coast States Carpenters Union. We, work out of San Jose, but we take care of all Santa Clara County.
175
00:28:23.820 --> 00:28:26.940
Community Hall: I represent about 57,000 members.
17600:28:27.160 --> 00:28:28.210Community Hall: And
177
00:28:28.360 --> 00:28:30.110
Community Hall: From Local 405,
17800:28:30.220 --> 00:28:39.059Community Hall: 57,000. 57,000 members in all our region. So, I am here tonight because we have serious concerns regarding this project and the path it is taking.
179
00:28:39.160 --> 00:28:56.619
Community Hall: As it moves forward in the city of Cupertino, this project is being developed under SB35,
legislation that was intended to streamline housing development while also ensuring strong workforce standards. SB35 requires the use of skilled and trained workforce, supports state-certified apprenticeship programs.
18000:28:56.620 --> 00:29:04.169Community Hall: and helps ensure workers have access to healthcare benefits. On paper, that sounds like
exactly the kind of development model we should all support.
18100:29:04.840 --> 00:29:24.150Community Hall: However, our concerns is not with the project itself, our concern is with who may be, ultimately be selected to build it. We have learned that the developer is considering and potentially selecting general contractors with troubling records and histories. They don't participate in state-certified apprenticeships, programs that they do not pay area standard wages in all their jobs at all times.
182
00:29:24.550 --> 00:29:44.539
Community Hall: We ask the Council to not approve the taxes and bonds for the RISE project tonight, thank
you again, until the developer can sit down and show how they will be compli… they will comply with the SB35 labor standards and make sure that all the men and women that will be working in this project do not have to go through what others have gone through in these job sites.
18300:29:44.640 --> 00:29:47.670
Community Hall: With the contractors, they will be considering.
184
00:29:48.040 --> 00:29:57.009Community Hall: Sorry, tongue twister there. This project has the potential to be a positive addition to Cupertino, but quality housing should not come at the expense of people building it.
18500:29:57.490 --> 00:30:08.160Community Hall: These last things, the last thing any of us want is to look back later and realize warning signs were there, or were ignored when action could have been taken. So, thank you for your time and consideration.
186
00:30:10.170 --> 00:30:16.790Community Hall: Thank you, Oscar. Next we will welcome Daniel, followed by Harvey, followed by Rhoda Fry. Welcome, Daniel.
18700:30:20.270 --> 00:30:21.949Community Hall: Okay, she wasn't.
188
00:30:22.490 --> 00:30:31.320Community Hall: Good evening. Thank you for pulling the item. My name is Daniel Alvarez. I'm a field representative with the North Coast Carpenters Union. I believe this.
18900:30:31.420 --> 00:30:41.519Community Hall: Project can be a great addition to our community if it meets SB35 requirements. It can also
help address the housing that we need, especially for our working people.
19000:30:42.030 --> 00:30:50.190Community Hall: However, I do have a concern about labor standards on this project. At this time, it is my understanding that general contractors
19100:30:50.410 --> 00:31:00.469
Community Hall: This developer is selecting from do not participate in state-certified apprenticeship
programs, provide healthcare for their workers, or pay livable wages.
19200:31:01.160 --> 00:31:06.450Community Hall: I have also spoken with workers who told me they were not paid properly on.
19300:31:06.620 --> 00:31:13.200
Community Hall: one of Eden's Housing's Others project, and I hope we can make sure this doesn't happen
here.
19400:31:14.900 --> 00:31:21.909Community Hall: The workers who build this project are important, are part of our community, and they deserve better. Thank you.
195
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Community Hall: Thank you, Daniel. Next, we welcome Harvey.
19600:31:34.110 --> 00:31:54.080Community Hall: Hi, City Council. I know that I'm Harvey from the North Coast States Carpenters Union. I
know we've had some like correspondence on this project. So it's nice to actually be here in the Chamber
and speak to you all about it. As you know from our letter earlier today, we were asking for this Tefra vote to be postponed.
197
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Community Hall: And, I'd really like to use my public comment now to eliminate, you know, some of the
reasons why we were asking for that. Some of which are in the letter, but some of which go beyond the
letter. So…
19800:32:06.480 --> 00:32:23.420Community Hall: You know that some of our main concerns are that this is an SB35 project, so therefore it has fairly stringent, labor standards on it, and… Some of the contractors that we've heard are being considered for it have, like, pretty troubling histories when it comes to labor compliance.
199
00:32:23.750 --> 00:32:36.190Community Hall: So we were asking you to pause on it tonight. I'm not sure why this has been pulled, but that's the way it's going. But we… that hopefully will allow more time to illuminate what the…
20000:32:36.410 --> 00:32:45.439Community Hall: contracting arrangements are ultimately going to be for this project. I was looking at some
of the building permits earlier today, and I couldn't see that any contract was listed.
20100:32:45.880 --> 00:33:02.490Community Hall: And as a reminder, and this is the kind of content that goes beyond what we've included in the letters, the reason why our union's so focused on lifting up workers in residential construction is because they're some of the most, exploited in the state.
202
00:33:02.600 --> 00:33:15.100
Community Hall: They're some of the most exploited in the country, frankly. We walk residential job sites all
the time. We see everything on them in terms of labor exploitation, including up to and including wage theft.
20300:33:16.070 --> 00:33:17.090Community Hall: So…
204
00:33:17.930 --> 00:33:30.819
Community Hall: When workers lose, we all lose, especially in residential construction. These workers tend to
then rely on state, social, welfare benefits, which costs local communities. So…
20500:33:32.620 --> 00:33:38.589Community Hall: We'll see what we can do with the time between now and, I guess, the next TEFRA vote, but we really want to get
206
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Community Hall: some more clarity on exactly who's going to end up being attached to this project, and
hopefully it's a contractor who has a good track record of compliance with laws like SB35. But I want to thank the city for their engagement so far on this, and ultimately, we think this project has huge potential for the local community
20700:33:56.940 --> 00:34:00.460Community Hall: and huge potential for the workers that work on it. So thank you very much.
208
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Community Hall: Thank you, Harvey.
20900:34:05.010 --> 00:34:20.729Community Hall: And, Mayor, we did receive a request after the 9-minute cutoff of oral communications, but it is for item 11. Number 11. I put it in for number 11. Yes, but, this requester already spoke under oral communications.
210
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Community Hall: Okay.
21100:34:22.090 --> 00:34:41.509Community Hall: Oh, I… now I'm understanding more clearly. If the speaker was planning to speak on number 11, that would be different because we postponed number 11 and are allowing public comment on number 11, so that's different than your general oral communications, and so in that case, I think it would
be okay for the speaker to speak twice.
21200:34:41.630 --> 00:34:44.969Community Hall: Thank you, City Attorney Andrews. Okay.
21300:34:45.429 --> 00:34:59.050Community Hall: Welcome, Rhoda. I'll make it real quick. I'm hoping that we can encourage union labor on
our multifamily home projects, obviously, especially SB35. You know, we love our building apartment, our
building department.
21400:34:59.080 --> 00:35:07.050Community Hall: Does inspections. Their job is really to make sure that our buildings don't kill people. Their job isn't about workmanship.
215
00:35:07.150 --> 00:35:19.450
Community Hall: And we're going to have a better chance at getting better workmanship, and as you can
hear, better labor standards, better, working conditions, and better wages if we have union labor. So…
21600:35:19.700 --> 00:35:21.660Community Hall: Pro-union, thanks for letting me talk.
217
00:35:24.470 --> 00:35:29.770
Community Hall: Thank you, Rhoda, and we will move to the request to speak virtually. We have…
21800:35:30.300 --> 00:35:46.579Community Hall: we have 3 hands raised, but there's a third hand that was raised after the 9-minute cutoff
for oral communications. It is unclear if that person is wishing to speak under Item 11, but at this time, we
will go ahead and, welcome
21900:35:46.580 --> 00:35:52.289Community Hall: Soon Cheng apologies if I'm mispronouncing your name.
220
00:35:57.330 --> 00:36:15.489Xun Cheng: Good evening, City Council members. My name is Xing Chen. Actually, you spell my name correctly. I'm a Cupertino resident living on the Newsom Avenue. Today, I'm here to provide another factual information regarding unauthorized
22100:36:15.490 --> 00:36:18.180
Xun Cheng: campaign sign that appeared on my property.
22200:36:18.250 --> 00:36:28.400Xun Cheng: On August 6th, after returning from vacation, I noticed a campaign sign supporting J.R, Zhang, and Seema planted in my front yard.
22300:36:28.410 --> 00:36:43.550
Xun Cheng: My family and I had not given any permission for any sign at that time to be placed on our
property. So, as shown in this slide, I took a picture and posted a complaint in my WeChat neighborhood
group on the same day.
22400:36:43.550 --> 00:36:50.120Xun Cheng: My frustration at that time was straightforward. A campaign sign has been placed on my property without my consent.
225
00:36:50.410 --> 00:37:03.459
Xun Cheng: Just to be abundantly clear, this sign was removed subsequently by myself because it has been
placed without my permission. Since then, I have learned that other residents may have
22600:37:03.510 --> 00:37:23.319Xun Cheng: experienced similar situations, regardless of which campaign is involved. I believe property owners have the right to decide what is displayed on their property. Campaigns should respect those rights
and ensure that permission is clearly obtained before signs are installed.
227
00:37:23.560 --> 00:37:41.469Xun Cheng: I respectfully encourage the city to take a closer look at this issue of unauthorized campaign signs, educate campaigns on the applicable rules, and consider appropriate measures to prevent similar incidents to happen again in the future.
228
00:37:41.930 --> 00:37:48.059
Xun Cheng: Doing so would help protect private property rights and promote a fair and respectful.
22900:37:48.190 --> 00:37:53.860Xun Cheng: election, process. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
23000:37:58.680 --> 00:37:59.610Community Hall: Thank you.
231
00:37:59.970 --> 00:38:00.940
Community Hall: And…
23200:38:05.920 --> 00:38:09.690Community Hall: Apologies, I'm trying to find my window here.
233
00:38:12.510 --> 00:38:13.710
Community Hall: Alright.
23400:38:17.340 --> 00:38:21.960Community Hall: Okay, thank you. Next, we will go to Call-In User 1. Welcome, Call-In User 1.
23500:38:32.190 --> 00:38:35.199
Community Hall: You are muted, call-in user 1. Oh.
236
00:38:35.200 --> 00:38:36.780Call-In User_1: Yes, can you hear me?
23700:38:36.780 --> 00:38:37.969Community Hall: We can hear you now.
238
00:38:38.740 --> 00:38:48.829
Call-In User_1: Okay. Yeah, ladies and gentlemen, actually, first I'm recommending this one lady about her husband's situation about science. Yes, I had a similar situation with my science.
23900:38:48.830 --> 00:39:06.959Call-In User_1: I'm a candidate one. Another thing to mention is that, actually, I heard a few people talking
about, you know, building apartments, building multifamily. I think this… in previous meeting, I also
mentioned that the city has, quite a bit vacancy in the commercial and, apartments and residential. The…
24000:39:06.960 --> 00:39:08.670Call-In User_1: of… for the…
24100:39:08.690 --> 00:39:16.299
Call-In User_1: that can be rented out, but vacant, pretty high. So that's another thing that the city is
242
00:39:16.350 --> 00:39:25.750Call-In User_1: the council members now, and the council in the future also can spend some effort to do that. That way… so I heard a lot of.
243
00:39:25.820 --> 00:39:43.910Call-In User_1: a lot of the residents didn't like to, you know, keep building all the stuff like that, so that will solve some problems. That's something I want to mention, and if the people didn't hear before, so I just wanted to mention again, so everyone can also working on that. So that will reduce a lot of burden on the
244
00:39:44.030 --> 00:39:47.160
Call-In User_1: And a lot of infrastructure in the buildings.
24500:39:47.530 --> 00:39:49.989Call-In User_1: And for that, I turn the meeting back to you. Thank you.
246
00:39:52.890 --> 00:40:06.239
Community Hall: Thank you, and call-in User 1. And, again, Mayor, I do have an additional hand raised. It
was raised after the 9-minute cutoff, but, the speaker may be wanting to speak under Item 11. Should we… should I ask the question? Okay.
24700:40:06.860 --> 00:40:09.230Community Hall: So…
248
00:40:09.980 --> 00:40:19.499
Community Hall: San Rao, I see your hand raised. Did you want to comment on Item 11, because your hand was raised after the 9-minute cutoff for oral communications?
24900:40:19.850 --> 00:40:20.830San Rao: Yes.
250
00:40:21.200 --> 00:40:24.690
Community Hall: Okay, we will hear your comments now. Thank you.
25100:40:25.390 --> 00:40:33.799San Rao: Good evening, Councilmember. Speaking on behalf of myself only as a Cupertino resident, I have several questions regarding Agenda Item 11. I'm glad to see it was postponed.
252
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San Rao: I would like the Council to consider the potential implications of participating in the
25300:40:41.320 --> 00:40:46.260San Rao: CMFA financing, and what are the obligations that come with it.
254
00:40:46.280 --> 00:41:03.469
San Rao: Firstly, as a part of this agenda item, please include the proposed capital stack, including the
seniority and priority of CMFA financing relative to other senior or junior debt and equity from other sources, including institutional and private sources.
255
00:41:03.690 --> 00:41:15.329
San Rao: Please make it clear on what are the direct or indirect obligations and liabilities, whether it be financial or legal, that the city will incur if the borrower defaults on their obligations.
256
00:41:15.870 --> 00:41:18.969
San Rao: What are the TEFRA hearing…
25700:41:19.110 --> 00:41:34.020San Rao: obligations, and were those met? Did you specifically notice the hearing, and was that 14-day notice period, where was it noticed, and were Cupertino residents notified? Regarding the financing structure of this, has there been any sort of
258
00:41:34.100 --> 00:41:46.480
San Rao: disclosure on what is the financing, is it pooled, is it conduit financing? And where are the draft
organizational LLC structures that indicate what is the relationship between the city CMFA borrower and other entities?
25900:41:46.480 --> 00:41:57.780San Rao: And in the case of obligations, liabilities, who will be repaid, who will not, and who will bear the losses in the case of any obligations being defaulted.
260
00:41:58.000 --> 00:42:03.930San Rao: As far as the construction financing, it is… It is the precedent that
26100:42:04.040 --> 00:42:09.089San Rao: Stabilized properties may be considered for municipal support.
262
00:42:09.240 --> 00:42:18.410
San Rao: It is uncommon for pre-stabilization projects to be a bond-issued financed project.
26300:42:18.520 --> 00:42:23.309San Rao: And so I ask that you do your research and come back with a list of bond finance projects.
264
00:42:23.520 --> 00:42:28.880
San Rao: Where there was actually A pre-construction lending that was done.
26500:42:29.080 --> 00:42:35.710San Rao: In addition, is there a bond council, and where are the documents at the bond council? I've seen none provided.
266
00:42:35.970 --> 00:42:44.430
San Rao: In addition, are there any bond-related disclosures, whether it be the indenture or other equivalent
financing documents?
26700:42:44.480 --> 00:43:00.070
San Rao: I'm particularly concerned about the city getting involved and bearing the obligations, should there
be any default or environmental liabilities. Finally, is there a bond oversight committee for this? Which jurisdiction will have oversight, and who will appoint the bond oversight committee, and who will they report to?
268
00:43:00.210 --> 00:43:08.450
San Rao: I ask that you please stay clear of any participation with the site, given all of the toxic
contamination at this site.
26900:43:08.710 --> 00:43:09.910San Rao: Thank you very much.
270
00:43:12.240 --> 00:43:19.160
Community Hall: Thank you, Sam and Mayor. That concludes the request to speak. Thank you very much.
Vice Mayor, you had to comment.
27100:43:21.810 --> 00:43:23.729Community Hall: Just some follow-up.
272
00:43:23.890 --> 00:43:36.670
Community Hall: So, I think we have, heard about the September 7th incident. It's been one month, and so I
would like the staff to provide some update on
27300:43:37.300 --> 00:43:39.470Community Hall: What exactly happened in…
274
00:43:39.620 --> 00:43:56.379
Community Hall: Because the… especially alarming that Santa Clara Police Department responded to public
records requests in a few hours. Our police department refused to even respond, and refused to even to say what records were there.
27500:43:56.800 --> 00:44:13.440Community Hall: So I hope the staff, take… follow up on this. Okay. And then the second thing is, regarding Valco and the Carpenter Association. I think the Carpenter Association has come and spoken, requested a
meeting with the
27600:44:13.440 --> 00:44:18.950Community Hall: the RICE project. So I wonder, any update? Have they had the meeting?
27700:44:19.630 --> 00:44:23.100Community Hall: Is the staff helping to facilitate that?
278
00:44:23.240 --> 00:44:31.260Community Hall: So I hope to get information on that if you cannot respond now. And then another third final item is the
279
00:44:31.310 --> 00:44:50.959Community Hall: unauthorized campaign signs. I think the last speaker about the campaign sign was right, the city should protect the property rights of the residents, which I think the staff already sent out a really nice FAQ to the residents. Maybe the city manager can inform people where to look for that information.
280
00:44:55.780 --> 00:45:12.909
Community Hall: All right, thank you. Our next item is… As the City Manager to tell people where to look for information if you have authorized the yard sign, whether you have the right to remove them. I think the staff prepared some really nice
28100:45:12.910 --> 00:45:16.279Community Hall: Information just to tell people where to look for them.
282
00:45:16.700 --> 00:45:27.339Community Hall: Thank you. Madam City Manager, where on the website can we find that information? Thanks, Mayor. I'm looking at our City Clerk just to confirm it's under the elections page.
28300:45:27.500 --> 00:45:46.029Community Hall: It is under the elections page, so if you go to cupertino.gov backslash, elections, it'll take
you directly to the elections page, and then we have a subpage, under the elections page called political
signs, what residents should know, and there's a list of the FAQs there. So cupertino.gov
28400:45:46.030 --> 00:45:52.450Community Hall: backslash elections. And the city also sent out email blast through the e-notification.
28500:45:52.450 --> 00:45:58.669
Community Hall: So if you would like any future information, you should subscribe to those. Thank you.
28600:46:01.540 --> 00:46:11.469Community Hall: Thank you. Our next item is the consent calendar. We'll be separating items 4 through 8. Has anyone, by the way, pulled an item from the consent calendar from the Council?
28700:46:11.700 --> 00:46:15.669
Community Hall: Madam City Clerk I do not have any requests.
28800:46:15.920 --> 00:46:23.789Community Hall: Okay, do we have any members of the public who would like to speak on items 4 through 8 on the consent calendar? Do we have any speaker cards on those items?
28900:46:24.310 --> 00:46:35.849
Community Hall: Mayor, I don't have any requests to speak here in person on items 4 through 8, and I don't
see any requests to speak virtually, Mayor. Okay, any members of the Council who would care to speak on
items 4 through 8?
29000:46:36.680 --> 00:46:54.339
Community Hall: Not seeing any hands raised. Madam City Clerk, will you please conduct the roll call vote on
items 4 through 8 consent? I'm sorry, need to make a motion. Yes, make a motion. I'm moving items 4 through 8. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you. Councilmember Fruin seconded it. Madam City Clerk, will you please conduct the roll call vote?
291
00:46:54.630 --> 00:46:56.420
Community Hall: Councilmember Fruin.
29200:46:57.920 --> 00:47:02.279Community Hall: Aye. Councilmember Mohan? Aye. Councilmember Wong?
293
00:47:02.760 --> 00:47:03.360
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: I…
29400:47:03.910 --> 00:47:05.119Community Hall: Vice Mayor Chow?
29500:47:05.430 --> 00:47:07.160
Community Hall: Aye. Mayor Moore?
296
00:47:07.160 --> 00:47:28.500Community Hall: Aye. The motion carries unanimously. All right, thank you, and I need to turn this over. Item 9 on consent, to the Vice Mayor. I, I need to recuse on the Finch property, as I am, situated too close to this to be able to, participate in the item. So, Madam…
297
00:47:28.500 --> 00:47:30.369
Community Hall: Vice Mayor, please take it away.
29800:47:30.650 --> 00:47:32.019Community Hall: Some consent, though.
29900:47:33.570 --> 00:47:34.750
Community Hall: Some consent.
300
00:47:36.290 --> 00:47:40.059R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Agents just vote for the consent item at that point and make a motion.
30100:47:53.320 --> 00:47:56.939Community Hall: I'll move Item 9. It's just Item 9.
302
00:47:56.940 --> 00:47:57.890
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: I'll second.
30300:48:03.690 --> 00:48:09.390
Community Hall: Thank you. So that's the approval of the exchange agreement for Finch property.
304
00:48:09.500 --> 00:48:29.149
Community Hall: That's a vote. And again, Vice Mayor and Council, I don't have any requests to speak here in person on Item 9, and I don't see any hands raised virtually for Item 9. But if you… if the Council is ready, I can then go to the vote? Yeah. Okay. Councilmember Furman? Aye.
30500:48:29.150 --> 00:48:32.010
Community Hall: Councilmember Mohan. Aye. Councilmember Wong.
306
00:48:32.600 --> 00:48:33.180R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Aye.
30700:48:34.000 --> 00:48:38.899Community Hall: Vice Mayor Chow? Aye. Motion carries with, more recusing.
308
00:48:41.040 --> 00:48:44.180
Community Hall: And… okay, here comes the mayor now.
30900:48:53.510 --> 00:48:57.350Community Hall: Very fast refusal. Okay.
310
00:48:59.710 --> 00:49:02.770
Community Hall: Well done. Very fast recusal. Okay.
31100:49:03.210 --> 00:49:18.240Community Hall: So, next we move on to an informational item, and we will be briefly provided an update regarding the environmental health and approved remediation plan for soil contamination at the Rise. Madam City Manager, do we have a staff report?
312
00:49:18.420 --> 00:49:40.930
Community Hall: Actually, I'll jump in. Today we have, attorney Richard Campbell from Alshire and Winder. He's, my partner there, and, he spent many years prior to joining Alshire with the federal EPA, and is, well-versed in these issues. And it's sort of a good example for having, a law firm like Alshire and Winder as your city attorney, because we can
313
00:49:40.930 --> 00:49:49.890
Community Hall: draw on our attorneys with specific expertise when needed. And so I will turn it over to
Richard to walk us through the presentation.
31400:49:52.710 --> 00:50:00.869Community Hall: All right, good evening, Honorable… Mayor and Honorable Council members, can you see the PowerPoint?
315
00:50:02.490 --> 00:50:11.309
Community Hall: We do not see the PowerPoint. I'm sure it's user error on my part, and I'm gonna phone a
friend. Technical staff.
31600:50:11.510 --> 00:50:14.829Community Hall: Video, are you able to assist from the staff computer?
317
00:50:30.100 --> 00:50:31.129Community Hall: This is you.
31800:50:39.080 --> 00:50:40.349Community Hall: Let's try this.
319
00:50:44.840 --> 00:50:45.560
Community Hall: Hmm.
32000:50:50.510 --> 00:50:55.230R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: While you're doing that, do we skip item 12? Just double checking, point of order.
321
00:50:56.180 --> 00:51:03.870
Community Hall: Councilmember Wong, we're on Item 10 right now, and 11 was postponed, and then we'll get to 12, so we haven't gotten to 12 yet.
32200:51:05.870 --> 00:51:07.109R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Thank you. Thank you.
323
00:51:07.470 --> 00:51:08.230
Community Hall: You're welcome.
32400:51:10.280 --> 00:51:12.420Community Hall: Was this the one they told me to select?
325
00:51:39.430 --> 00:51:40.160
Community Hall: 3rd.
32600:51:44.290 --> 00:51:45.179Community Hall: All right.
327
00:51:47.110 --> 00:51:54.529
Community Hall: So, this presentation is on the Eden Housing VIMS system. Give a brief presentation on…
32800:51:55.720 --> 00:51:57.629Community Hall: What is going on with this one?
329
00:52:03.380 --> 00:52:09.810Community Hall: So the purpose is to provide a general overview of the planned environmental mitigation at Eden Housing Project.
330
00:52:10.380 --> 00:52:19.590
Community Hall: And that is the BIM system. You'll see the, if the slide is up, it might take a second, I guess.
There's a delay, not sure.
33100:52:21.320 --> 00:52:22.370Community Hall: Yeah.
332
00:52:23.100 --> 00:52:31.059
Community Hall: There it goes. Alright, there's a little delay. You'll see the residential floors start at, 4
through 8.
33300:52:33.000 --> 00:52:35.020Community Hall: This is the Block 5.
334
00:52:36.020 --> 00:52:37.010
Community Hall: component.
33500:52:37.140 --> 00:52:38.340Community Hall: of the rise.
336
00:52:45.250 --> 00:52:51.939
Community Hall: So, the entity responsible for approving the VIMS is the Santa Clara County Department of
Environmental Health.
33700:52:52.280 --> 00:52:58.319Community Hall: And they, I'll wait as the next slide presents itself.
338
00:52:58.480 --> 00:53:02.320
Community Hall: There was initial soil sampling, as we know, at the site.
33900:53:02.430 --> 00:53:14.920Community Hall: After excavation and, some soil vapor treatment, there's still soil vapor levels that remain a concern for the Santa Clara County, Department of Health.
340
00:53:15.070 --> 00:53:24.690
Community Hall: And so, to build on the property, they are requiring a VIM system, a vapor intrusion
mitigation system.
34100:53:25.260 --> 00:53:34.729Community Hall: And the system will protect against VOCs, volatile organic chemicals, such as TCE and PCE.
34200:53:35.030 --> 00:53:40.239Community Hall: Both of those chemicals historically associated with dry cleaning operations.
343
00:53:41.550 --> 00:53:49.399
Community Hall: DH is the agency that oversees the cleanup, the site cleanup in general, under the
California Health and Safety Code.
34400:53:59.360 --> 00:54:02.280Community Hall: I'll I'll say that Great.
345
00:54:03.670 --> 00:54:14.289
Community Hall: All right, so, what is vapor intrusion? Just very quickly. It's the migration of vapor from
chemical deposits and subsurface soils that rise into surface structures.
34600:54:14.400 --> 00:54:17.900Community Hall: So, here you'll have PCE and TCE.
347
00:54:18.170 --> 00:54:21.960
Community Hall: They're underneath the property, at various depths.
34800:54:23.270 --> 00:54:30.920Community Hall: It may be contaminated soil, it may be, just vapor from some other, reason.
349
00:54:31.060 --> 00:54:35.849
Community Hall: But the actual vapor moves through the soil upwards.
35000:54:36.420 --> 00:54:40.740Community Hall: Like, fish swimming upstream, up into, the…
35100:54:41.150 --> 00:54:45.919
Community Hall: the buildings, and so without the VIM system in place.
352
00:54:46.310 --> 00:54:55.050Community Hall: it'll enter the actual building itself and collect into the interior, so what the VIMS does is… is protect those vapors from actually entering the building.
35300:54:56.000 --> 00:54:57.030
Community Hall: Next slide.
354
00:54:57.900 --> 00:54:58.960Community Hall: Oh, that's great.
355
00:54:59.270 --> 00:55:14.589
Community Hall: All right, so the vapor barrier is designed to stop soil vapors from seeping through the ground into the buildings. This, diagram right here is actually from the applicant's BIMS basis of design report, where they lay out the design of the VIMS.
356
00:55:14.750 --> 00:55:19.079
Community Hall: and they've laid that out for the Department of Environmental Health for its consideration.
35700:55:19.240 --> 00:55:29.939Community Hall: And… It'll show that at the very… it's basically a gravel base that, when the soil gas hits the gravel, it, it.
358
00:55:30.060 --> 00:55:44.379
Community Hall: moves… it's designed so that the gas moves laterally out, away from the building. Then, on
top of that is, geotextile permeable membrane.
35900:55:45.040 --> 00:55:51.909Community Hall: Or impermeable membrane that, protects the, foundation. The foundation goes on top of that.
360
00:55:52.090 --> 00:56:04.739
Community Hall: There's vents that are built into the system so that the soil gas, hits the vents and everything travels laterally out to the exterior of the building. They put the vents out.
36100:56:05.360 --> 00:56:17.360Community Hall: I think it's no closer than 50 feet from the building exteriors, or from any air ducts or anything like that, so that any soil gas that's venting out doesn't get vented.
362
00:56:17.690 --> 00:56:21.149Community Hall: Or, you know, inadvertently vented back into the building.
36300:56:23.220 --> 00:56:24.250Community Hall: Next slide.
364
00:56:26.950 --> 00:56:37.610
Community Hall: If indoor air monitoring indicates that additional measures are needed, then modifications will be made to the passive system. No system is perfect, so sometimes liners rip.
36500:56:37.740 --> 00:56:44.109Community Hall: Things happen, and so there's going to be indoor air monitoring inside the building.
366
00:56:44.520 --> 00:56:51.850
Community Hall: If… That happens if there's elevated levels of, or if there's any signs of the.
36700:56:52.440 --> 00:57:01.030
Community Hall: contaminants, the soil vapor entering the building, then there's going to be modifications to
the system. I imagine mitigation, fixed events.
36800:57:01.300 --> 00:57:08.719Community Hall: Try to do what they can to seal up maybe the Components of the foundation.
369
00:57:09.790 --> 00:57:29.260Community Hall: And if that doesn't happen, then they'll flip on the contingent active venting system. And that is comprised of blowers and that type of thing that helps blow air and vapors away from the interior of the building and the exterior, the immediate exterior.
37000:57:31.090 --> 00:57:32.059
Community Hall: Next slide.
37100:57:36.080 --> 00:57:48.079Community Hall: The city's responsibility for the VIMS is limited. The City of Cupertino will, and this is from, the Department of Environmental Health's approval of the VIMS system.
37200:57:48.440 --> 00:57:50.600
Community Hall: Just last month.
37300:57:51.130 --> 00:57:53.159Community Hall: And Department of Health.
37400:57:53.610 --> 00:58:02.670Community Hall: makes clear that the City of Cupertino will not approve the hazardous materials or soil
vapor intrusion mitigation aspects of the VIM design plans.
37500:58:02.870 --> 00:58:12.139Community Hall: The City will review and approve the VIMS design plans as they relate to applicable building code, fire code, etc, as part of the overall building design plans.
37600:58:12.270 --> 00:58:21.580
Community Hall: So it's basically Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health signs off on the efficacy of
the VIMS system, that it's going to work.
37700:58:21.860 --> 00:58:24.140Community Hall: And that they've approved it.
37800:58:24.630 --> 00:58:28.969
Community Hall: And then the city makes sure that it's installed properly, like any.
37900:58:29.270 --> 00:58:30.300Community Hall: Umm.
380
00:58:30.580 --> 00:58:35.849Community Hall: venting system, or any sort of HVAC system, or something like that.
381
00:58:37.670 --> 00:58:38.649
Community Hall: Next slide.
38200:58:41.360 --> 00:58:51.750Community Hall: So, I mentioned there's going to be post-occupancy indoor air sampling. There's going to be at least 3 long-term verification sampling events that will be conducted following building occupancy.
383
00:58:51.950 --> 00:58:58.580
Community Hall: First is 3-6 months, the second 4-12 months, and then the third… approximately,
38400:58:59.210 --> 00:59:06.409Community Hall: 24 months after the second, so… or 12 months after the second, so… 24 months for all 3.
38500:59:09.000 --> 00:59:10.000
Community Hall: Next slide.
386
00:59:12.350 --> 00:59:15.410Community Hall: And that concludes the presentation. Any questions?
38700:59:16.550 --> 00:59:22.010Community Hall: Thank you very much, Richard. So, while you did say that.
388
00:59:22.030 --> 00:59:40.419
Community Hall: with regards to PCE and TCE, primarily from dry cleaners. So this, site, had a Sears Automotive, and they used tetrachloroethylene, which is a degreaser, and, back in 2003, for example, there was a 10-month period where they had
38900:59:40.470 --> 00:59:48.049
Community Hall: 0.76 tons of tetrachloroethylene used on the site, so there is a.
390
00:59:48.150 --> 01:00:02.959Community Hall: and then there was actually a hot spot that they found when they were doing testing earlier, which was… it didn't actually make much sense, because it wasn't near, the Sears Auto, it was actually to the north. And the explanation
391
01:00:02.980 --> 01:00:19.649
Community Hall: there wasn't a sufficient explanation for why there would have been this random hotspot,
nor how they managed to locate the random hotspot, because it's like finding a needle in a haystack,
because it's like 33 acres on that side, so that's, remained a mystery.
39201:00:19.840 --> 01:00:21.130
Community Hall: But I…
393
01:00:21.260 --> 01:00:45.949
Community Hall: I'm concerned that the plumes have connected between the one-hour dry cleaning to the south across the street, and that contamination has gone to the west, into the marketplace, and it's extended… and you can't tell, looking at the plume, where… who was the originator. Was it… was it on the Valco site, Sears, or was it on
394
01:00:46.000 --> 01:00:56.020
Community Hall: the one-hour dry cleaner moving to the north, but there's… there is this connection there,
so is it possible that
39501:00:56.330 --> 01:01:11.789Community Hall: if there's… are they doing active, vapor extraction underneath the, Block 5? And if they are, is there a potential that they're actually drawing, contamination from
396
01:01:12.390 --> 01:01:18.390
Community Hall: Perhaps across the street to the south, to their location. Do you have some thoughts on
that?
39701:01:19.990 --> 01:01:34.090Community Hall: What I do know is there there isn't an active dry cleaning cleanup site, right, that is being investigated by the Department of Environmental Health, and I know they have some sort of vapor mitigation going on there.
398
01:01:34.550 --> 01:01:37.540Community Hall: I don't, I, I really not.
39901:01:37.730 --> 01:01:45.179Community Hall: don't have the expertise to really opine on the science of it. That would be a technical expert that could really
400
01:01:45.690 --> 01:01:47.730Community Hall: You know, connect those…
40101:01:48.660 --> 01:01:57.169Community Hall: or, you know, try to see if there's a relationship with that, and that would be an environmental consultant. I do know that.
402
01:01:57.580 --> 01:02:01.140Community Hall: Department of Environmental Health has both sites under.
40301:02:01.340 --> 01:02:10.549Community Hall: under review, and they're, at the end of the day, the Department of Environmental Health is the one who's working with the, you know, under the auspices of the State Water Board to
404
01:02:11.150 --> 01:02:16.800Community Hall: to… Look at the site and investigate the site, so…
405
01:02:17.590 --> 01:02:21.260
Community Hall: Good questions, but unfortunately, I think…
40601:02:21.280 --> 01:02:26.540Community Hall: And environmental consultants, probably, or the Department of Environmental Health are the ones who would best
407
01:02:26.540 --> 01:02:48.260
Community Hall: position to answer those types of questions. Okay, thank you. So, I do have a request, for,
like, an informational memo from the city manager, because we have four sources, potential sources for PCE
and TCE, in this vicinity. So, you have the marketplace has an active cleanup that.
40801:02:48.260 --> 01:03:12.360Community Hall: had contaminated to the south of, a former dry cleaner, so the marketplace is just to the west of the United Furniture site. The United Furniture site has an active cleanup from one-hour cleaners, and that, had extended to the west underneath the marketplace, so there's some overlapping going on
there, and then also to
40901:03:12.360 --> 01:03:30.110Community Hall: the, north to the Valco site, and then you have Valco contamination, but the isoconcentration lines for that contamination, it appears to extend to Joanne's fabric, which used to have a historic dry cleaner at it, but it hasn't had any
410
01:03:30.110 --> 01:03:54.039
Community Hall: testing done at all. And there's, like, little bits of information where you can see that it's
been hypothesized that it followed from the Joanne's site along the sewage trenching to get to the Valco
site, but I'd like to have some information about the
41101:03:54.040 --> 01:04:02.259Community Hall: The plume that's there, because it sounds like these, at least 3 of the sources have connected,
412
01:04:02.290 --> 01:04:13.599
Community Hall: And it's gonna make it interesting for… this is just block 5, but what happens for the other blocks, because the concentration lines then drop off, so there may be…
41301:04:13.600 --> 01:04:23.159Community Hall: I don't know how it's even going to get designed for some of the… for some of those,
parcels out there. It gets kind of challenging. Okay, so is that…
414
01:04:23.160 --> 01:04:36.920Community Hall: Okay, thank you. I see Councilmember Wong, you've got your hand raised. I'm going to switch to the home panel and see if anybody else has their hands raised on this item. Okay, so it'll be
Councilmember Wong, followed by the Vice Mayor, followed by Councilmember Rohan. Councilmember
Wong.
41501:04:36.920 --> 01:04:50.679R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Thank you, Mayor. I have a quick question regarding what was the
screening level that triggered the need for VIMS for TCE, PCE, and there are other areas, if there's a listing
somewhere, so the public will know that.
41601:04:52.550 --> 01:05:06.209Community Hall: I don't have those levels at my fingertip. They are in the GeoTracker. They can be found in that basis of design report that I cited in the PowerPoint.
417
01:05:06.660 --> 01:05:11.940
Community Hall: that add… That would be…
41801:05:12.490 --> 01:05:15.420Community Hall: It could be also DH's approval of the…
41901:05:15.540 --> 01:05:20.260
Community Hall: But I think the actual levels and tables would be in the basis of design report.
42001:05:21.070 --> 01:05:30.420R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Okay, no, I think it'd be good to make that more accessible to the public. And then the second piece is on the OM and M plan, in terms of the operations, maintenance, and monitoring plan, does it…
421
01:05:30.620 --> 01:05:40.669
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Have automated telemetry systems that's going to be in place, to have
digital sensors and cloud-based telemetry to actually monitor what's going on if a leak or drop in pressure
occurs.
42201:05:43.200 --> 01:05:46.409Community Hall: Tough question for an attorney. I don't know.
423
01:05:46.410 --> 01:05:47.660
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Sorry about that. I'm a tech guy.
42401:05:47.810 --> 01:05:48.590Community Hall: Ha ha ha.
425
01:05:48.620 --> 01:06:00.929
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: I'm a tech guy, I was just wondering if they had those in place, because
that would actually make the residents there, be a little bit more safe. But if that's… if you can find that from
the staff, that would be great. I think it's just useful information for the public, especially when they do move.
426
01:06:01.500 --> 01:06:02.809Community Hall: Yeah, and I…
427
01:06:03.780 --> 01:06:09.809
Community Hall: Recall seeing something about that in the basis of the design report as well, so that would
be a good place to look for it.
42801:06:10.380 --> 01:06:11.199R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Thank you for your time.
429
01:06:13.010 --> 01:06:27.240
Community Hall: Real quick, thank you, Councilmember Wong, and that's one of the reasons why we prefer
to go through the CEQA process and have these disclosures for the public, because it's high time that we'd
be hearing about what's gone on on the site. Vice Mayor?
43001:06:29.470 --> 01:06:39.410Community Hall: Okay, I don't know if these questions are for the attorney. It's, So from.
431
01:06:39.510 --> 01:06:46.130
Community Hall: For someone who is not really familiar with all these terms, and…
43201:06:46.570 --> 01:06:50.630Community Hall: Learning that there are these vapors.
433
01:06:50.920 --> 01:06:54.850
Community Hall: That's damaging coming from underground.
43401:06:55.260 --> 01:06:56.910Community Hall: I'm wondering…
43501:06:58.080 --> 01:07:18.080
Community Hall: How about the workers who are building the site? Would they be exposed to these vapors
while they are working? So what does the DEH require? Is there, if a short amount of exposure is fine, or is
it only extended exposure might have?
43601:07:18.170 --> 01:07:21.840Community Hall: Health issue, what kind of health issue they might…
437
01:07:22.270 --> 01:07:34.750
Community Hall: So, the Department of Environmental Health did do a health risk assessment, is what they
call it, and that is intended to get at that very issue of worker safety.
43801:07:35.220 --> 01:07:37.190Community Hall: And,
43901:07:37.310 --> 01:07:49.540Community Hall: The health risk assessment has a number of components to it that require… that are required for on-site construction staff and folks who are digging around in that dirt.
440
01:07:49.740 --> 01:07:55.229
Community Hall: to, to protect them. So, and the Department of Environmental Health will.
44101:07:55.940 --> 01:08:02.460Community Hall: And the city, I believe, will be, having those requirements embedded in the
442
01:08:02.840 --> 01:08:08.539
Community Hall: Construction management plans and things like that, but it, it, get to your question, it was
studied.
44301:08:09.040 --> 01:08:20.309Community Hall: So where can one find out this health risk assessment report? That is also on the State Water Board's GeoTracker site for the Valco Town Center.
444
01:08:20.770 --> 01:08:21.740
Community Hall: Okay.
44501:08:22.660 --> 01:08:26.479Community Hall: And so… Before…
446
01:08:27.000 --> 01:08:34.739
Community Hall: So it seems a vapor invading system. Invade first system is trying to get all the vapor out of
the building.
44701:08:34.920 --> 01:08:44.539Community Hall: So then I also wonder, after it's built, all the vapor is being expelled out of the building. How about the people who have picnic outside?
448
01:08:45.850 --> 01:09:00.399
Community Hall: Is that short-term exposure okay, maybe? I don't know. Yeah, that's a good question. The vape… the vents are on risers, so they're usually elevated above pedestrian level.
44901:09:02.210 --> 01:09:09.319Community Hall: And so like, like a kind of a smokestack kind of a situation, so if you have 20 story buildings.
450
01:09:09.550 --> 01:09:19.079Community Hall: Yeah, and that's why they try to move them away from the building, I think no less than 50 feet, or… and away from other vents and ducts.
451
01:09:19.200 --> 01:09:20.829Community Hall: You know that.
452
01:09:21.029 --> 01:09:27.880
Community Hall: would suck that vapor back into a parking garage or a residence. That's what it's designed
to do.
45301:09:28.370 --> 01:09:35.229Community Hall: And then, but then that's why you have the monitoring that's done post-occupancy to…
454
01:09:35.580 --> 01:09:46.200
Community Hall: To make sure. One of the things they do as well is, before anyone moves in, they have a
number of tests, smoke tests, things like that, that are required, for the interiors of the building.
45501:09:46.229 --> 01:10:09.300Community Hall: Yeah, but… I don't know about the immediate exterior, I have to admit. So, I'm just wondering, so this building does not stand on its own. Even if you vent out 60 feet, there are other buildings on the other side. So either this building's residence or this other building's residence will get affected. If you're high, you cannot go. Are you going 20-story high?
456
01:10:11.400 --> 01:10:29.340Community Hall: Right, and I… So these are questions DEH should answer? I think those are engineering-type questions that… that would… Who should answer those? Maybe… Toyota DH, or, if I may just chime in here, I do have a little bit of knowledge in this area from, my past career.
45701:10:29.340 --> 01:10:39.219
Community Hall: With Irvine Company. When the vapor enters a building, it gets stuck in the building, and
then the, level increases.
45801:10:39.220 --> 01:10:56.859Community Hall: And it's when you have a higher increase that it becomes more problematic. If it's going outside, it just moves into the air and dissipates, and so you don't get that, that's good to know. Yeah. Yeah. So that's why venting out is already safe enough. Exactly, exactly.
459
01:10:58.380 --> 01:10:59.040
Community Hall: Okay.
46001:10:59.470 --> 01:11:02.700Community Hall: Good. Okay. Councilmember Mohan?
461
01:11:08.610 --> 01:11:14.499
Community Hall: I was curious about, The timing of this issue…
46201:11:14.610 --> 01:11:21.310Community Hall: Is this something we will be doing, and maybe you will know? Is this something we will do
every time there's a new
463
01:11:22.590 --> 01:11:24.160
Community Hall: Construction phase.
46401:11:24.380 --> 01:11:27.859Community Hall: This is obviously limited to the Block 5.
465
01:11:28.180 --> 01:11:29.130
Community Hall: Project.
46601:11:31.360 --> 01:11:50.999Community Hall: My expectation, and maybe Attorney Campbell will chime in if I misspeak, but my expectation is each project will have a study, and each project will have, if needed, mitigation design, designed specifically for that project.
467
01:11:51.370 --> 01:11:55.229
Community Hall: So, this system is specific for this Block 5.
46801:11:56.730 --> 01:12:06.120Community Hall: So my other question was, over the years, there's been extensive remediation done on the soil of this 50-acre site that we have.
469
01:12:06.230 --> 01:12:14.410
Community Hall: So, is this not something that came to light then, or is this something that… gets triggered by
47001:12:14.680 --> 01:12:18.000Community Hall: Building plants. So the soil vapor.
471
01:12:18.220 --> 01:12:27.019
Community Hall: Levels that they're working off of right now were… taken, I believe, At least 2 years ago.
47201:12:27.480 --> 01:12:34.899Community Hall: So, it was… it was known back then, and this… this basis of design report has been in the works and revised.
473
01:12:35.140 --> 01:12:40.959
Community Hall: For, at least a couple years, from what I could tell. So, it just.
47401:12:42.950 --> 01:12:52.390Community Hall: And there was obviously excavation and sampling occurring before that, well before that, and so it's a continuum of testing that's been done, but…
475
01:12:53.200 --> 01:13:00.059
Community Hall: As far as the soil vapor results that we've got, yeah, they're I think they're from 2022.
47601:13:00.170 --> 01:13:01.140Community Hall: I'm right.
477
01:13:03.050 --> 01:13:05.470Community Hall: So the the vapor.
47801:13:05.860 --> 01:13:12.509Community Hall: Intrusion tests were done in 2022, so it's not something that was done recently then.
479
01:13:13.380 --> 01:13:18.710
Community Hall: The actual soil sampling and soil vapor sampling was done.
48001:13:20.220 --> 01:13:23.690Community Hall: Yeah, 2021, 2022, I believe. I'd have to…
481
01:13:23.900 --> 01:13:32.270
Community Hall: To verify that, but it's something that, after they found the results, then they started to
conduct what type of mitigation.
48201:13:32.510 --> 01:13:36.320Community Hall: Was gonna be necessary under the buildings, and…
483
01:13:37.450 --> 01:13:38.730
Community Hall: That.
48401:13:39.600 --> 01:13:48.530Community Hall: I know the first basis of design report came out a couple years ago, and it's just been revised a couple times for Department of Environmental Health requirements.
485
01:13:50.870 --> 01:13:53.940
Community Hall: So is the mitigation done or not done?
48601:13:55.590 --> 01:14:00.579Community Hall: Well… I… that would be, Department of Environmental Health.
487
01:14:00.990 --> 01:14:04.660
Community Hall: Is satisfied that a VIM system
48801:14:05.120 --> 01:14:09.819Community Hall: Will mitigate for soil vapor levels in the building.
489
01:14:10.700 --> 01:14:13.040Community Hall: So, that's their determination.
490
01:14:13.670 --> 01:14:16.900
Community Hall: And, and then what is our responsibility as the city?
49101:14:17.400 --> 01:14:24.730Community Hall: The city is now responsible, the building department, for verifying that the VIMS is installed correctly.
492
01:14:26.200 --> 01:14:33.359
Community Hall: And has that been done, or is that something that'll happen in the future? Yeah, so the
VIMS is installed,
49301:14:33.970 --> 01:14:36.580Community Hall: At the… at the time that the foundations.
494
01:14:37.030 --> 01:14:47.109
Community Hall: is gonna be put in. So it's… it comes in first, the gravel layers, the membrane system, then
they put the foundation on, so it's a pre…
49501:14:47.840 --> 01:14:52.459Community Hall: brief Pre-slab pouring, event.
496
01:14:53.520 --> 01:14:55.780
Community Hall: And no building has begun at the site.
49701:14:56.080 --> 01:14:57.240Community Hall: True, yeah.
49801:14:58.570 --> 01:15:04.799
Community Hall: So, this, the… To sort of get to the crux of this matter, we are just saying that.
499
01:15:05.000 --> 01:15:11.220Community Hall: We have vapor intrusion. There's… we have a solution.
50001:15:11.490 --> 01:15:13.810Community Hall: And we will be testing it periodically.
501
01:15:14.310 --> 01:15:16.250
Community Hall: Yeah, that's a great way to put it.
50201:15:17.730 --> 01:15:18.459
Community Hall: Thank you.
503
01:15:18.850 --> 01:15:27.490
Community Hall: I'm So, they did remove PCBs from the site, so in the original plan, they were going to have
50401:15:27.490 --> 01:15:51.970Community Hall: two levels of underground parking on the west side and three levels of underground parking on the east property, and that massive excavation would have, remediated this… a lot of the soil. It
is possible, not knowing how, deep that the PCE and TCE went, so it's… that is… it's 60% heavier than
water, it, it drops very.
50501:15:51.970 --> 01:16:06.160Community Hall: readily, and can get into the groundwater, and it can spread. You can have a plume that's, like, a mile long that can go really far. And then, unlike, like, gasoline, which has some natural things in the soil, which can, kind of clean things.
506
01:16:06.270 --> 01:16:07.100
Community Hall: At.
50701:16:07.260 --> 01:16:08.150Community Hall: At.
508
01:16:09.170 --> 01:16:12.189
Community Hall: Thank you, there's a sign there. No.
50901:16:12.350 --> 01:16:17.649Community Hall: No, that I'm sorry that you need to take your sign out, no.
51001:16:20.290 --> 01:16:21.110
Community Hall: And.
511
01:16:21.300 --> 01:16:32.239Community Hall: Okay, so, it, it can remain for, more than 100 years, so this, this, it's a long-term contamination.
51201:16:32.520 --> 01:16:37.190
Community Hall: That, you can have from PCE and TCE.
513
01:16:37.650 --> 01:16:40.640Community Hall: So I'm going to check the home panel again.
51401:16:41.400 --> 01:17:06.390Community Hall: And so when they also, when they change their plan, there's no underground parking, so
you don't have that mass excavation, and that's also why understanding the extent of the plume will let us
know which blocks are going to need the VIM system, and then on top of the VIM system, it's like you can't
disturb it, you need to have a deed restriction on top of it, so that for… while the building's in… in place, if
determined, they need to make sure there's a deed restriction
51501:17:06.390 --> 01:17:13.749Community Hall: So that's no, no one's disturbing it so that the, vapor is able to go through the cracks in the
floor and,
51601:17:13.750 --> 01:17:27.650Community Hall: Because there's just naturally, there's opportunity for that to get inside. Okay, let me see, Councilmember Fruin, your hand is raised. I don't know, Vice Mayor, if you re-raised your hand, or that's from before. Okay, Councilmember Fruin.
517
01:17:27.650 --> 01:17:33.299
Community Hall: So I'm interested in a sort of counterfactual, these have all been good and interesting
questions, if… if…
51801:17:33.470 --> 01:17:47.820Community Hall: this site had never been scraped off, if there were still a mall sitting on it, at what point, at what threshold would there be some sort of duty on the part of the owner of that site to mitigate any of this contamination?
519
01:17:51.020 --> 01:18:00.909
Community Hall: That is… that's a good question. Yeah, the liabilities associated with contaminated sites is, is something that's
52001:18:01.140 --> 01:18:06.660Community Hall: Constantly in flux, it really comes into play when you start moving dirt.
521
01:18:07.550 --> 01:18:10.760
Community Hall: So, They're there.
52201:18:12.180 --> 01:18:18.039Community Hall: Or you've got soil vapor in your shopping mall, you know, it'll say it stayed.
523
01:18:18.690 --> 01:18:20.110
Community Hall: you know, Valco.
52401:18:21.270 --> 01:18:27.470Community Hall: That could have… Triggered some action. It really just depends on the…
525
01:18:28.110 --> 01:18:33.300
Community Hall: ability… well, it depends on what that contaminant's doing. So, you know, if it is…
52601:18:33.470 --> 01:18:46.040Community Hall: threatening groundwater, then State Water Board gets involved. If it's threatening human
health and safety through soil or air, the Department of Toxic Substance Control or EPA could get involved.
EPA can get involved in all of it.
52701:18:46.280 --> 01:18:52.660Community Hall: Or DEH, so it really… it just really depends on the facts and circumstances of each site.
528
01:18:52.800 --> 01:19:02.740Community Hall: Okay. Because it it seems otherwise like there would have been this building there, and we would have never known that anything was going on until there was a need to actually examine it for the purpose of building something else.
52901:19:04.600 --> 01:19:09.279
Community Hall: It's possible that contaminants escape concern.
53001:19:09.630 --> 01:19:15.569Community Hall: of the regulatory authorities all the time. I used to work at US EPA. I was well aware of that.
53101:19:15.990 --> 01:19:23.689
Community Hall: So, sometimes you just, you know, you don't find something until it's either.
53201:19:23.930 --> 01:19:26.819Community Hall: A member of the public comes forward, or someone gets sick.
53301:19:28.010 --> 01:19:29.289Community Hall: Alright, thank you.
534
01:19:30.990 --> 01:19:55.019Community Hall: So, on that point, Marketplace voluntarily, went into, regulatory oversight with DEH. They were changing leases, and they wanted to voluntarily do a cleanup of the dry cleaner on that property. United Furniture was because it was going to be redeveloped, that they… and they had the dry cleaner
53501:19:55.020 --> 01:20:07.330
Community Hall: there. The Valco site's interesting because there isn't a dry cleaner, because that's like a
red flag, so just about every dry cleaner in the state has some contamination. The original ones used to just
53601:20:07.450 --> 01:20:27.789Community Hall: have the dry cleaner fluid, drain just like your washing machine at home, and then your sewage lines don't have sealed joints, so it gets out readily. So that's… that was the original problem. So there's… there wasn't really a, kind of a red flag on Valco, except that
537
01:20:27.860 --> 01:20:51.449
Community Hall: I have to say that in 2018, when we had the original SB35 plan go through, I went to the
fire department records and found a handwritten letter from the then head of, DEH, and she had written that there had been 0.76 tons of tetrachloroethylene, used at.
538
01:20:51.450 --> 01:21:15.720Community Hall: the Sears Automotive site, and there were multiple inspection reports showing how they handled the material, to put it nicely, on that site. And they also had an underground waste oil tank, and there were some missing records on when that tank went out, and that was connected to the floor of Sears Auto.
539
01:21:15.740 --> 01:21:21.800Community Hall: And it was a single-walled tank. And so single-walled tanks, they fail.
54001:21:21.800 --> 01:21:44.289Community Hall: And so you have a leakage into the ground. So there were a number of paths for exposure to the soil from what they were using at Sears Auto. So I've been following this longer than I'd like to admit.
So when you do look at the geotracker, and so for the vice mayor who's trying to look up a report, you have
about
54101:21:44.360 --> 01:22:07.969Community Hall: I want to say somewhere between 50 and 100 reports to wade through to try to find the one you're looking for. So there… and each one is very long, so there's a significant amount of information. So I do appreciate having, the staff and attorney support to, let us hear about the project and what's going to happen with it moving forward.
542
01:22:08.830 --> 01:22:12.009
Community Hall: With that, so we've…
54301:22:12.900 --> 01:22:22.419Community Hall: asked our questions. It's an informational item. If there are some questions or comments from members of the public, we can entertain those now.
544
01:22:23.260 --> 01:22:25.670
Community Hall: And turn in a speaker card?
54501:22:26.080 --> 01:22:26.810Community Hall: Yeah.
546
01:22:26.950 --> 01:22:27.810
Community Hall: Okay.
54701:22:29.340 --> 01:22:34.819Community Hall: Hmm? Okay, you can turn it in after. Okay, thank you.
548
01:22:35.610 --> 01:22:52.919
Community Hall: And do we have anyone online that wanted to speak on this item? Mayor, I don't see any
hands raised virtually. At this time, we will welcome Pamela Hershey. Good evening again. I just wanted to
make a comment about the Valco site. As you all of you are well aware, I could throw a stone from my front yard, too.
549
01:22:52.920 --> 01:23:01.240Community Hall: where the Sears building was, pretty much. I'm just the second house in. So, when the vapors are going out, like the attorney tried to describe in
550
01:23:01.280 --> 01:23:08.110
Community Hall: I'm not in construction, my son is, but when the vapors go out and they're moving it away
from their buildings.
55101:23:08.270 --> 01:23:17.940Community Hall: I think you said 50 feet, am I correct? Well, where's that gonna go? Because we're on the other side of the wall. Are you gonna run into the wall? Are you gonna put it…
552
01:23:18.110 --> 01:23:22.330
Community Hall: Where the park land is, or supposed to be an open area, where…
55301:23:22.490 --> 01:23:39.040Community Hall: the retail is. I'm like, where are those going to be? Because we don't want them to come into our neighborhood, because the residents… because they're protecting the residents. How about protecting the residents that have been in that location for 40 years? So where are those going to be? That's
my question.
55401:23:39.120 --> 01:23:46.809Community Hall: You know, because the buildings are almost up against the wall, the first building that they're working on right now. So…
55501:23:47.520 --> 01:23:50.259
Community Hall: 50 feet is where from that building?
55601:23:50.730 --> 01:23:52.759Community Hall: That's my question. Is it…
55701:23:53.120 --> 01:23:58.000Community Hall: Gonna be towards the residents that live on the portal side of the… of the… of the mall.
558
01:23:58.390 --> 01:24:11.050Community Hall: Or is it going to be… are they going to place them towards Wolf, or towards Stevens Creek? So I think the location of those does matter to the residents, and with my group and people that I know in our area.
55901:24:11.270 --> 01:24:17.630
Community Hall: We'll want to know where those are going to be located before they actually are built.
56001:24:17.920 --> 01:24:18.789Community Hall: Thank you.
561
01:24:19.780 --> 01:24:30.349Community Hall: Thank you. That… that is a question for our attorneys as well, because we're not in… in a CEQA process, so what… what…
562
01:24:30.640 --> 01:24:42.469
Community Hall: do we have for, influence and leverage on… on these, VIM systems and where the venting
is going to be? I think it's an interesting question.
56301:24:43.240 --> 01:24:51.010Community Hall: I think… I think we should look into where the venting will be. I think that is a good question, and I'm hoping we'll find that
564
01:24:51.360 --> 01:24:52.549
Community Hall: There's no problem.
56501:24:54.440 --> 01:24:55.420Community Hall: Vice Mayor.
566
01:24:57.340 --> 01:25:01.260
Community Hall: Yeah, I do wonder. So.
56701:25:02.040 --> 01:25:19.139Community Hall: This is the first building of that site, so other buildings likely will be streamlined, approved, without even come to the council. And this particular one come only because they need the financing, the bond finance. So that means…
568
01:25:19.350 --> 01:25:33.079
Community Hall: there may be venting system installed next to a single-family home. They don't… are not even aware of. The van might be shooting right at them. So I do wonder, are there existing
56901:25:33.220 --> 01:25:39.209Community Hall: State or city standard, where this kind of event.
570
01:25:39.240 --> 01:25:58.910
Community Hall: can point to, or how far away they should be from, existing buildings. I hope the staff can… get back to us about that. If we don't currently have that standard, maybe the city should look into adopting one.
57101:25:59.000 --> 01:26:05.689Community Hall: So that when a new project comes, that's part of the standard they have to abide by.
572
01:26:05.950 --> 01:26:08.919Community Hall: For the safety of our residents.
573
01:26:09.280 --> 01:26:09.990
Community Hall: Yeah.
57401:26:13.700 --> 01:26:22.450Community Hall: All right, I'm not seeing any further hands raised from the Council unless Councilmember
Wong, did you have any comments on this item?
57501:26:23.170 --> 01:26:24.360R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: I do not, thank you.
57601:26:24.840 --> 01:26:28.510Community Hall: Okay, we're all set. So thank you. This was an informational item.
577
01:26:28.510 --> 01:26:52.709Community Hall: And I appreciate all of the assistance on it, and we next move on to public hearings, and we have postponed Item 11 to a date certain, October 20th. So our next public hearing item is Item 12. It's a modification to Cupertino Municipal Code Chapter 19.08. Madam City Manager, do we have a staff report on this item?
578
01:26:53.060 --> 01:26:55.020
Community Hall: As we open the public hearing.
57901:26:57.520 --> 01:27:08.540Community Hall: Mayor, we do have a staff report. It's being presented by another one of my partners, John Cardenas, and he's joining us via Zoom. He's in Southern California.
580
01:27:09.520 --> 01:27:10.630
Community Hall: Thank you, John.
58101:27:12.070 --> 01:27:21.279John Cardenas, Item #12: Thank you, Floyd. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council Members. I have a presentation, to…
582
01:27:21.590 --> 01:27:26.269
John Cardenas, Item #12: Go along with this. It looks like it's going up on screen now.
58301:27:28.910 --> 01:27:37.379John Cardenas, Item #12: Great, and if I could ask for assistance navigating through the slides, if we could start with the next slide.
584
01:27:40.580 --> 01:27:55.440
John Cardenas, Item #12: Thank you. So let me just take a few minutes, to talk through, these three
definition… definition amendments to the code, starting with a little background.
58501:27:55.490 --> 01:28:09.350
John Cardenas, Item #12: Recent evaluations of streamlined mixed-use housing projects has exposed a
mismatch between Cupertino's local municipal code and California state standards.
58601:28:09.500 --> 01:28:22.419John Cardenas, Item #12: Because our code lacks a standalone definition for square footage, city staff have
historically substituted the local definition of floor area during project reviews.
58701:28:22.420 --> 01:28:37.449John Cardenas, Item #12: And, what we're finding is that continuing this substitution leaves the city vulnerable to conflicting interpretation… interpretations and potential legal challenges regarding state streamlined applications.
588
01:28:37.610 --> 01:28:47.329
John Cardenas, Item #12: I'll just note the Planning Commission already reviewed this amendment on July
28th and voted 5-0 to recommend that the City Council adopt the ordinance.
58901:28:47.560 --> 01:28:49.159John Cardenas, Item #12: Next slide, please.
590
01:28:50.970 --> 01:29:03.859
John Cardenas, Item #12: So, under SB35, the City is required to verify that at least two-thirds of a
streamlined project's total square footage is dedicated to residential use.
59101:29:04.130 --> 01:29:25.689John Cardenas, Item #12: Our local floor area metric serves an entirely different purpose. It regulates parcel-level floor area ratios and general plan growth allocations. So, this presented a dilemma that if we simply change our existing floor area definition to match state ratios.
592
01:29:25.690 --> 01:29:33.349
John Cardenas, Item #12: We risk unintentionally disrupting the city's local environmental and zoning protection frameworks.
59301:29:33.530 --> 01:29:50.750John Cardenas, Item #12: Just a note here that our general plan relies on a pretty unique citywide
development allocation pool for non-residential spaces, which would be compromised if local metrics were
altered just to fit state streamlining ratios.
59401:29:51.020 --> 01:29:53.719John Cardenas, Item #12: Next slide, please.
59501:29:56.050 --> 01:30:03.060
John Cardenas, Item #12: So, what we're proposing is a new definition for square footage.
596
01:30:03.180 --> 01:30:08.449John Cardenas, Item #12: This definition aligns directly with state housing laws.
597
01:30:09.140 --> 01:30:18.869John Cardenas, Item #12: And to remain consistent with the building code, this new definition explicitly excludes underground and subterranean spaces.
598
01:30:19.960 --> 01:30:34.759
John Cardenas, Item #12: The definition also establishes clear guidelines for mixed-use common areas,
clarifying that shared lobbies, elevators, and hallways must be proportionally split between residential and commercial use.
59901:30:34.980 --> 01:30:47.710John Cardenas, Item #12: It's important to note with respect to timing, this change is forward-looking and only applies to new applications submitted after the ordinance officially goes into effect.
600
01:30:48.720 --> 01:31:04.540John Cardenas, Item #12: And just to note, the new structural calculation parameters apply citywide, but completely preserve existing code rules regarding specific residential housing types, single-family, townhome, duplex.
60101:31:06.150 --> 01:31:07.539
John Cardenas, Item #12: Next slide, please.
60201:31:11.570 --> 01:31:22.710John Cardenas, Item #12: We're also revising the definition of garage. The term residential garage was originally put into the floor area definition to manage
60301:31:22.710 --> 01:31:36.050
John Cardenas, Item #12: bulk and massing in lower density neighborhoods. However, the current vague
wording accidentally captures large, structured parking garages in multifamily developments.
60401:31:36.610 --> 01:31:49.250John Cardenas, Item #12: So, we're updating the language to clarify that a residential garage refers strictly to single-level or detached structures serving small-scale residential units.
605
01:31:49.270 --> 01:32:00.289
John Cardenas, Item #12: Large parking structures that feature internal drive aisles and complex
maneuvering areas will be specifically excluded from this definition.
60601:32:00.510 --> 01:32:18.510John Cardenas, Item #12: And just to note that under the existing ambiguity in the code, residential structured parking was essentially being penalized by being included in floor area, while non-residential structured parking was excluded, and this revision corrects that imbalance.
607
01:32:20.270 --> 01:32:21.720
John Cardenas, Item #12: Next slide, please.
608
01:32:26.280 --> 01:32:40.360
John Cardenas, Item #12: The last definition we're looking at tonight, is the definition for attic. Our current definition vaguely describes an attic as an unconditioned, uninhabitable space between the ceiling and the roof.
609
01:32:41.100 --> 01:32:51.209
John Cardenas, Item #12: And what we're hoping to accomplish with this revision is to prevent builders from
manipulating building volume metrics.
61001:32:51.320 --> 01:33:08.300John Cardenas, Item #12: we're creating objective requirements. So, to be excluded from floor area, an attic must be entirely unfinished, have no permanent stairs, and feature no operable windows. Any space that fails to meet
611
01:33:08.300 --> 01:33:14.939John Cardenas, Item #12: These three specific requirements will be counted as both floor area and square footage.
61201:33:16.120 --> 01:33:31.559John Cardenas, Item #12: Adding these objective physical parameters, we think, give staff an enforceable
framework to stop developers from utilizing auxiliary low clearance spaces to manipulate zoning limits.
61301:33:32.990 --> 01:33:34.350John Cardenas, Item #12: Next slide, please.
61401:33:37.800 --> 01:33:43.410John Cardenas, Item #12: Just a note on CEQA, this ordinance does not constitute a project under the
615
01:33:43.510 --> 01:33:51.970John Cardenas, Item #12: Under CEQA, it's updating text definitions that have no impact or changes on the environment.
61601:33:53.170 --> 01:33:54.590John Cardenas, Item #12: Next slide, please.
617
01:33:57.020 --> 01:34:09.520John Cardenas, Item #12: So just a quick summary in terms of the benefits and the beneficial impacts that we see. Primarily the amendment
61801:34:09.600 --> 01:34:18.089John Cardenas, Item #12: successfully aligns Cupertino's local ordinances with the constantly and rapidly
evolving state housing legislation.
61901:34:18.580 --> 01:34:36.039John Cardenas, Item #12: By eliminating administrative ambiguities, we see it safeguarding the city against future layout disputes and potential costly litigation. And most importantly, it gives our staff and builder
community clear, predictable, objective
620
01:34:36.040 --> 01:34:41.150
John Cardenas, Item #12: Rules for evaluating complex multifamily and mixed-use developments.
62101:34:41.550 --> 01:34:54.280John Cardenas, Item #12: Explicitly defining these metrics provides administrative certainty upfront, protects public resources from being drained by time-consuming lawsuits, and helps
622
01:34:54.600 --> 01:35:00.530
John Cardenas, Item #12: Helps facilitate a resolution of… interpretive disputes.
62301:35:01.010 --> 01:35:02.799John Cardenas, Item #12: So, next slide.
624
01:35:03.620 --> 01:35:10.130
John Cardenas, Item #12: So, on those grounds, we recommend that the city move forward adopting the
ordinance.
62501:35:10.480 --> 01:35:11.400John Cardenas, Item #12: Thank you.
626
01:35:12.640 --> 01:35:20.759
Community Hall: Great, thank you so much, John. At this time, do we have any clarifying questions from the
council before we go to members of the public?
62701:35:23.440 --> 01:35:33.260Community Hall: I'm not seeing any hands raised. Okay, did you have any? Okay, very well. Madam City Clerk, do we have any members of the public who would like to comment on this item?
628
01:35:36.430 --> 01:35:45.570
Community Hall: Mayor, I don't see any requests here in person, and I do not see any hands raised virtually. All right, so do we have any last clarifying questions before closing the public hearing?
62901:35:46.250 --> 01:35:54.940Community Hall: Not hearing any? Okay, do we have a motion for deliberation purposes for this item? I'll
move the staff recommended action.
630
01:35:55.450 --> 01:35:55.920R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: I'll second.
63101:35:56.610 --> 01:36:06.439Community Hall: Okay, so, Councilmember Fruin moved, and Councilmember Wong seconded. And do we
have any comments on this item from any member of the Council?
632
01:36:08.550 --> 01:36:09.480Community Hall: Vice Mayor?
633
01:36:11.500 --> 01:36:29.549
Community Hall: Yeah, I want to thank the mayor to finally clarify these definitions that have been troubling
us, I think, since 2018. It's, concerning at the time, the project.
63401:36:29.660 --> 01:36:43.200Community Hall: That's claiming to have two-thirds residential when they count, a lot of non-living area as residential space to qualify for SB35.
635
01:36:43.270 --> 01:36:49.710
Community Hall: So at least going forward, we have a clear standard for everyone to follow.
63601:36:49.770 --> 01:37:07.910Community Hall: And I think we didn't expect that, because a lot of our code was meant for single-family homes, and now we will be seeing more, like, mixed-use projects, so we… this is really necessary to clarify all this definition. Thank you.
637
01:37:08.040 --> 01:37:10.400
Community Hall: Councilmember Mohan.
63801:37:14.900 --> 01:37:28.770Community Hall: Yeah, I just wanted to follow up what the Vice Mayor said. It does, it is supposed to bring clarity to a lot of, ambiguous definitions, but just curious, did we have a
639
01:37:29.720 --> 01:37:34.839
Community Hall: Did we have possible? Did we have litigation because of the ambiguities?
64001:37:35.470 --> 01:37:36.640Community Hall: In the past.
641
01:37:37.220 --> 01:37:45.019
Community Hall: I wasn't here at the time, if there was, so I can't really answer. Since I've been here, I
don't know of any.
64201:37:45.280 --> 01:37:55.750Community Hall: Okay. I guess I can… I wonder if we know, because that's one of the things we're trying to correct here. I think residents sued the city because of the SB35 project.
643
01:37:55.850 --> 01:38:12.659
Community Hall: specifically argued the calculation of the two-thirds residential is incorrect, and then there is dispute about whether they can count a high ceiling twice. Right? For a spin, so that they can count.
644
01:38:12.970 --> 01:38:32.279
Community Hall: bring up their residential floor cup square space. So there is… there is dispute. And staff, at the time, they didn't… they follow what they think is correct interpretation, but residents disagreed. So, yeah.
645
01:38:32.870 --> 01:38:43.599
Community Hall: Yes, councilmember Mohan, there was significant, there was a significant dispute about
this, and the project that.
64601:38:43.600 --> 01:39:08.399Community Hall: the vice mayor is referring to had 1.4 million square feet of residential parking garages counted as residential and 3.5 million of underground retail and office parking not counted because it was underground. And so that's how I would call it magic math. That's how the magic math for the two thirds
requirement came to be that that project could have 2 million square
64701:39:08.400 --> 01:39:12.070Community Hall: feet of office. So this,
64801:39:12.430 --> 01:39:15.080Community Hall: 8 years later, we'll correct that.
649
01:39:16.070 --> 01:39:33.220Community Hall: But not the project. Okay. Thank you. Mayor. Yes. And also, that project had a lot of the shared lobby space. counted towards residential when it's actually shared. So, those are, I think.
65001:39:33.700 --> 01:39:36.520Community Hall: Why we need this clarification?
651
01:39:36.710 --> 01:39:43.790Community Hall: Yeah. It even had 500,000 square feet of amenities. Yeah. 500,000.
65201:39:43.900 --> 01:39:50.200Community Hall: It was shocking. Okay, I think we've walked around this one. We have a motion in a second?
653
01:39:50.410 --> 01:40:01.319Community Hall: Correct? So, Madam City Clerk, will you please conduct the roll call vote? Sure. Councilmember Fruin? Aye. Councilmember Mohan? Aye. Councilmember Wong?
65401:40:03.770 --> 01:40:04.790R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Aye.
655
01:40:05.950 --> 01:40:17.769Community Hall: Vice Mayor Chow? Aye. Mayor Moore? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. All right, we're going to take a 5-minute break, and then we're going to come back for Public Hearing Item 13. So we'll be back at…
65601:40:18.040 --> 01:40:21.510Community Hall: 8, 34. Thank you.
657
01:48:04.460 --> 01:48:15.659
Community Hall: Can you hear me? Okay. Our last public hearing item is Item 13. It is the development of
the Coach House property. Madam City Manager, do we have a staff report?
65801:48:16.080 --> 01:48:29.859Community Hall: Thank you, Mayor. We do have a staff report and a presentation. So this is a project that's proposed by Dividend Homes for a 35-unit housing development on an existing commercial parcel near the corner of South De Anza Boulevard and Prospect Road.
659
01:48:29.860 --> 01:48:41.600Community Hall: As you may remember, a separate housing project was proposed and approved on this property in 2023. As a fully residential project, review is limited by several state laws, including the Housing Accountability Act.
66001:48:41.600 --> 01:48:55.450
Community Hall: the Housing Crisis Act, which is Sb. 330 and Density Bonus Law Planning Commission
previously has reviewed and unanimously recommended approval with a 5 0 vote at its hearing on
September 8th of this year.
66101:48:55.450 --> 01:49:16.319Community Hall: And I will now turn it over to Emi Sugiyama, our Senior Planner, and Luke Connolly, Assistant Director of Community Development Department, to present this item. Okay, so right before we do that, do we have any ex parte communications from the Council? I did speak to the developers very briefly
before the start of this meeting, in passing. Does anyone else have any?
662
01:49:16.590 --> 01:49:20.160Community Hall: Okay. And I cannot see Councilmember Wong.
66301:49:20.160 --> 01:49:21.470R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Councilmember Mayan.
664
01:49:21.590 --> 01:49:22.709
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: None on my end.
66501:49:22.970 --> 01:49:26.340Community Hall: All right, very well. And now we'll move on to the staff reports. Thank you.
666
01:49:29.340 --> 01:49:41.610
Community Hall: Good evening, Mayor Moore and Council Members. I'm Isugiyama Planning Staff, here
today to discuss the requested housing development project at 1655 South De Anza Boulevard, and I'll request that the slides be shared for that.
667
01:49:47.900 --> 01:49:50.499Community Hall: Great, and if we can just advance to the second slide.
668
01:49:52.180 --> 01:49:52.900
Community Hall: Great.
66901:49:53.010 --> 01:50:12.619Community Hall: So this property is at the corner of South D'Anza Boulevard and Prospect Road, where the city borders the city of Saratoga, as well as San Jose. It is within the South Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road conceptual zoning area, and it's zoned PCG Res for planned development with a mix of commercial and residential uses. Next slide.
670
01:50:15.300 --> 01:50:30.189
Community Hall: The site currently has a 13,500 square foot commercial building with 4 tenant spaces. It also was previously approved for redevelopment in 2023, as the city manager noted, and that was to allow for a mixed-use project with 34 residential uses and a commercial space.
67101:50:30.290 --> 01:50:39.080Community Hall: And then the city received a preliminary application for this project under Senate Bill 330 in
September of 2025, which vested the standards and fees that were in place at that time.
67201:50:39.690 --> 01:50:40.540Community Hall: Next slide.
67301:50:44.720 --> 01:51:04.309Community Hall: Also, as noted by the City Manager, the project makes use of a number of different housing
laws. Those include the Housing Accountability Act, which limits the city's ability to deny, condition, or apply
non-objective standards to a project. SB330, which streamlines the permitting process and also allows the
applicant to vest fees and standards that are in place at the time that they submit that preliminary
application.
67401:51:04.850 --> 01:51:13.120Community Hall: The project is making use of the state's density bonus law, which allows for additional units, waivers, concessions, and also reduced parking standards.
675
01:51:13.260 --> 01:51:26.970
Community Hall: And then finally, this project, with this project, the city is subject to the requirements for no net loss under Senate Bill 166, which requires the city to maintain a list of housing sites that can accommodate the required RENA.
67601:51:27.330 --> 01:51:28.510
Community Hall: Next slide, please.
677
01:51:31.240 --> 01:51:42.740Community Hall: So here you can see an overview of the project's consistency with the typical development requirements. The project applicant is utilizing density bonus law to allow for 10 additional units above the
maximum density.
678
01:51:43.190 --> 01:51:55.820
Community Hall: The applicant has also proposed density bonus waivers to address a number of requirements for different setbacks, while still maintaining a larger setback from the property line that is shared with the existing single-family residences to the west.
67901:51:56.190 --> 01:52:01.680
Community Hall: The requested waivers will be discussed a little bit more in detail later in this presentation.
680
01:52:02.140 --> 01:52:03.060Community Hall: Next slide.
68101:52:06.650 --> 01:52:14.799Community Hall: This project consists of 35 townhome units. They're spread across 5 different buildings,
with 5 below-market-rate BMR units.
682
01:52:15.670 --> 01:52:24.090Community Hall: and 30 market rate units. There are 7 units in each building. Each of them is 3 stories tall.
68301:52:24.600 --> 01:52:31.130Community Hall: with 3 stories of living space, and then they also have a rooftop deck on top with some
storage as well.
684
01:52:31.410 --> 01:52:34.329Community Hall: For a grand total of 4 stories.
68501:52:34.740 --> 01:52:47.360Community Hall: The proposed units range from approximately 2,100 to 2,700 square feet. They each have
a two-car garage. And they'll also have some guest parking, as well as some outdoor space for the
residences between those units.
68601:52:48.630 --> 01:52:51.659Community Hall: There will be 47 new trees planted on the site.
68701:52:52.040 --> 01:52:56.350
Community Hall: And then existing trees along the shared property lines will also be protected in place.
688
01:52:56.540 --> 01:52:57.750Community Hall: Next slide, please.
68901:53:00.400 --> 01:53:07.869Community Hall: Here you can see the proposed site layout with the five buildings oriented perpendicular to
the two different street frontages that they have.
690
01:53:08.070 --> 01:53:12.229Community Hall: The proposed BMR units are identified for you by the red dots.
691
01:53:13.530 --> 01:53:14.470
Community Hall: Next slide.
69201:53:17.130 --> 01:53:21.890Community Hall: And here you can see a rendering of the proposed project. This is showing a view from South Dienza Boulevard.
693
01:53:23.700 --> 01:53:24.640
Community Hall: Next slide.
69401:53:28.390 --> 01:53:35.790Community Hall: Based on staff review, the project is consistent with the applicable objective standards for the City's General Plan, Conceptual Zoning Plan.
695
01:53:36.010 --> 01:53:39.090
Community Hall: the BMR Housing Manual, as well as the Municipal Code.
69601:53:39.370 --> 01:53:46.530Community Hall: And the project includes a concession under density bonus law to waive the requirements to incorporate a commercial use within.
697
01:53:46.670 --> 01:53:47.620
Community Hall: the project.
69801:53:48.780 --> 01:53:58.829Community Hall: Please do note that concessions and waivers proposed under state density bonus law can only be denied under specific circumstances, including that they have an adverse impact on historic property, health, or safety.
699
01:53:59.640 --> 01:54:18.270
Community Hall: In addition to this concession, the applicant is also utilizing 11 density bonus waivers. For
each of these waivers, the applicant has noted that imposing the standards could potentially result in the elimination of units, reduced floor areas, or a substantial change to the design of the buildings, which is not consistent with the project as they've proposed it.
70001:54:19.450 --> 01:54:20.430Community Hall: Next slide.
701
01:54:23.280 --> 01:54:36.129Community Hall: So for 3 of those 11 waivers, they're requesting modifications to the required building setbacks from Prospect Road, South De Anza Boulevard, and also from the western property line that abuts the single-family residential development.
70201:54:37.180 --> 01:54:38.200Community Hall: Next slide.
703
01:54:42.020 --> 01:54:50.750
Community Hall: Three other waivers will be utilized to allow for a modification of the required landscape
buffers from Prospect Road, South De Anza, and the Western property line.
70401:54:53.080 --> 01:54:54.330Community Hall: Next slide, please.
705
01:54:57.460 --> 01:55:03.330
Community Hall: And an additional waiver is requested to allow for a reduced planting strip along South
Dance Boulevard.
70601:55:05.030 --> 01:55:06.340Community Hall: Next slide.
707
01:55:11.020 --> 01:55:19.730
Community Hall: 3 of the final 4 waivers would be to allow for an increase in the height of the building from
30 feet to a maximum of 44 feet 9 inches.
70801:55:19.890 --> 01:55:22.889Community Hall: To allow for the four stories as discussed before.
709
01:55:23.540 --> 01:55:29.370
Community Hall: and also to allow for an encroachment into the required building lane slope line.
71001:55:30.230 --> 01:55:34.759Community Hall: The final waiver would be used to allow for an increase in the maximum floor area.
711
01:55:35.640 --> 01:55:36.580
Community Hall: Next slide.
71201:55:39.470 --> 01:55:46.949Community Hall: And while this is not required as part of the planning entitlement, the project will be required to provide public art following project approval.
713
01:55:47.090 --> 01:55:54.759
Community Hall: At this time, this is where the applicant is proposing the public art piece, which is in the
northwestern corner of the property along South D'Anza Boulevard.
71401:55:56.640 --> 01:55:57.879Community Hall: Next slide, please.
71501:56:01.180 --> 01:56:05.299Community Hall: Based on the project site characteristics, staff has recommended that the applicant
716
01:56:05.640 --> 01:56:10.380
Community Hall: And the applicant has requested the payment of a park and loo fee consistent with the
Quimby Act.
71701:56:11.320 --> 01:56:12.549Community Hall: Next slide, please.
718
01:56:16.620 --> 01:56:31.670
Community Hall: And staff also reviewed the project against the city's BMR requirements, and found that the
BMR units are generally compatible and comparable in size to the market rate units, with the BMR units and market rate units both averaging about 2,400 square feet.
71901:56:32.950 --> 01:56:34.179Community Hall: Next slide, please.
720
01:56:37.770 --> 01:56:43.219
Community Hall: The project has been found to qualify for the statutory exemption under the provisions of AB130.
72101:56:43.460 --> 01:56:49.390Community Hall: In this analysis for the exemption, the city's third-party consultant reviewed a Phase 1
722
01:56:49.630 --> 01:57:00.370
Community Hall: Environmental Site Assessment, or ESA, and a transportation analysis, which confirmed that the project would not have significant effects on the environment and met the criteria for the exemption.
72301:57:00.760 --> 01:57:01.980Community Hall: Next slide, please.
724
01:57:04.970 --> 01:57:09.159
Community Hall: Additionally, the project was heard by the Planning Commission last month on September 8th.
72501:57:09.700 --> 01:57:22.300Community Hall: which recommended unanimously for project approval. The discussion at the Planning Commission centered primarily on project circulation, including potential traffic impacts, and also site design
considerations.
72601:57:22.710 --> 01:57:23.580Community Hall: Next slide.
727
01:57:25.160 --> 01:57:33.309Community Hall: And so with that, staff recommends that your council adopt the resolutions to find the project exempt from CEQA and approve the permits for the project.
728
01:57:34.500 --> 01:57:42.170
Community Hall: And that concludes my presentation. The applicant is also here, and we have some
environmental staff on call as well for any questions.
72901:57:45.910 --> 01:58:03.859Community Hall: All right, thank you, Emmy, for the staff report. If we have some clarifying questions at this time, you may make them, and I do want to also verify that the applicant is… you are making a presentation, or are you electing not to?
730
01:58:04.320 --> 01:58:20.249Community Hall: You are going to make a presentation. Okay, so we have the clarifying questions of the staff report right now, and then we'll have the applicant report up to 8 minutes, and then you can… Council will then ask questions of either report, and then we will move to members of the public.
73101:58:20.480 --> 01:58:23.250
Community Hall: After that. All right, Vice Mayor.
73201:58:25.330 --> 01:58:35.349Community Hall: Hi, I'm just curious, the 2023 approval has 34 residential units, and the 3…
73301:58:35.350 --> 01:58:45.360Community Hall: 7,500 square foot of commercial, and this new version has 35 units, so the number of units
didn't change much.
73401:58:45.360 --> 01:58:52.549Community Hall: Are… were the units of different type in the 2023 approval?
73501:58:52.770 --> 01:59:01.800Community Hall: Yeah, I can answer that. The, the 2023 project had 34 units. 23 of those were
condominiums in one larger building.
73601:59:02.050 --> 01:59:10.899Community Hall: out towards De Anza Boulevard, and there were 11 townhomes closer to the residential units on the west, so…
73701:59:11.170 --> 01:59:18.150
Community Hall: Since this project is 35 townhomes, it's almost the same number of units, but it's very
different in the in the layout.
73801:59:18.520 --> 01:59:21.259Community Hall: And that would also explain the, really.
73901:59:21.710 --> 01:59:29.850Community Hall: Retail would be a preference to do it, but there's also less room, since this is laid out as a townhome development, not a condominium.
740
01:59:29.970 --> 01:59:35.420
Community Hall: But in fact, condominium will serve the middle-income people.
74101:59:36.150 --> 01:59:40.550Community Hall: better, right? That's what our housing element needs.
742
01:59:40.770 --> 01:59:52.389
Community Hall: And we already had a lot of new townhome development. Yeah, both projects would be
required to have 20% affordable, so that project was as well.
74301:59:52.610 --> 02:00:02.229Community Hall: I think one thing to note on this project is they are providing five BMR units, but three of the five are for very low income.
744
02:00:02.420 --> 02:00:06.080
Community Hall: Which is above and beyond what our code would require.
74502:00:06.350 --> 02:00:10.589Community Hall: So, that enabled the applicant to get a larger density bonus.
746
02:00:10.740 --> 02:00:19.530
Community Hall: But we have a level of affordability. Very low income units are capped at 50% of the area
media income.
74702:00:19.780 --> 02:00:23.469Community Hall: Whereas median and moderate ranges between 80 and 120.
748
02:00:23.780 --> 02:00:30.310
Community Hall: So, 3 of the units are affordable to an income category we really never see in an ownership
product.
74902:00:30.500 --> 02:00:36.270Community Hall: And the second thing I'd actually want to add, we've had a lot of townhome projects get approved by the City Council.
750
02:00:36.800 --> 02:00:40.859
Community Hall: All of which have taken advantage of waivers and concessions, but not.
75102:00:41.070 --> 02:00:43.459
Community Hall: Provided density bonus units.
752
02:00:43.800 --> 02:00:49.880
Community Hall: This project is actually providing, what, 10 or 9 extra units?
75302:00:50.300 --> 02:01:09.889Community Hall: So, well, the waivers are actually going towards getting additional units than what the site would have allowed under its existing density. Oh, that's good to know, because it was mentioned, no net
loss. I thought it's providing less units than we had planned for, so it's providing more.
754
02:01:10.690 --> 02:01:18.800Community Hall: Yeah, this site really didn't factor into no net loss because it had 34. It's not a housing element site, it was a pipeline site.
75502:01:18.800 --> 02:01:33.919
Community Hall: Because we had a project approved, so it's increasing one. Okay. But the level of
affordability is actually helpful because our code does not require low or very low income for ownership. And
on this project, there are three very low income units.
75602:01:33.920 --> 02:01:39.409Community Hall: Okay, great. And then, last question, I think I know the answer, but I would like staff.
757
02:01:39.580 --> 02:01:43.070
Community Hall: Probably the public would always want to know
75802:01:43.220 --> 02:01:51.569Community Hall: Why the city allocated a retailer on this site, and we cannot require it under the state law right now?
759
02:01:52.540 --> 02:02:07.879
Community Hall: Sites that allow housing can be developed as 100% housing projects, and that's really what
we're seeing across the board. You know, the previous project was approved, but we had spoken with that
applicant, and
76002:02:08.140 --> 02:02:26.000Community Hall: Post-approval, they had really found retail not to be something that was viable. So this is, I think, what we're just seeing. So before the state law, CT can zone and decide the way this site requires ground-level retail.
761
02:02:26.000 --> 02:02:40.210Community Hall: But that requirement right now, the state has taken that away from us, right? That's correct. So we don't have local control on that. Yes, 10 or more years ago, you'd have had the discretion to approve
76202:02:40.350 --> 02:02:45.969
Community Hall: A mixed-use project, you had a wide range of choices that today.
76302:02:47.260 --> 02:02:56.770Community Hall: 100% housing is allowable if a site allows housing either through its zoning or general plan designation. Okay.
764
02:02:58.030 --> 02:02:59.630
Community Hall: Councilmember Mohan.
76502:03:04.790 --> 02:03:09.310Community Hall: Thank you for the presentation, Emmy and Luke. Luke, I had a math question.
766
02:03:09.360 --> 02:03:27.279
Community Hall: Hope I'm up to it. People have calculators. Don't we have to have 20% BMR units? And I'm
looking at 35 units, that should be 7. If it's just the market rate, it should be 6, but now we have 5.
76702:03:27.510 --> 02:03:34.300Community Hall: That is true, but it's on the base number of units, which is lower than the 35.
768
02:03:35.400 --> 02:03:51.970
Community Hall: What is the base number of units? What was the base on the 15? Was it 25? So, it actually
is right on the 20%. This site only would allow 15 units per acre, which is why the density bonus was needed to get to the 35 units. So…
76902:03:52.400 --> 02:03:55.860Community Hall: 5 of 25, it's exactly 20% BMR.
770
02:03:56.340 --> 02:04:00.100
Community Hall: Oh, okay, got it. Yeah, it's not… I do that all the time, too.
77102:04:00.940 --> 02:04:06.179Community Hall: I had another question, there is a gas station on, on.
772
02:04:06.330 --> 02:04:07.250
Community Hall: The corner.
77302:04:07.410 --> 02:04:14.359Community Hall: Is that separate? I mean, is that a separate owner, separate… and it wasn't part… it was never a part of…
774
02:04:14.690 --> 02:04:19.000
Community Hall: This development? No, it was not a part of the previous project or this project.
77502:04:20.150 --> 02:04:21.999Community Hall: Okay, okay, thank you.
77602:04:24.480 --> 02:04:42.609Community Hall: So, I noticed on the site plan, you're showing a driveway on the west side, and it extends up to the neighbor's property line. And it doesn't look like it goes through. It looks like it's hitting landscape area with some trees, so what's the thought there?
777
02:04:43.620 --> 02:04:51.780Community Hall: So the intention for that is to provide connection to the property to the north. This is to align with some of our general plan standards, as well as
77802:04:51.780 --> 02:05:16.019Community Hall: a standard within the conceptual zoning plan, which basically requests interblock
connectivity to allow for some projects or some of the development to release onto Prospect Road as well as
share the road on South De Anza. So if you were to drive down, or I should say up that side with the
driveway there, what are you going to see at the end of it? I think as it's currently proposed, it would be
77902:05:16.020 --> 02:05:24.980Community Hall: terminating there. There wouldn't necessarily be a connection at this point until the other property has an approved development and is also being developed.
780
02:05:25.170 --> 02:05:37.410
Community Hall: So would that be, then, you know, a 6-foot solid fence, or are we talking about a gated
emergency access, type of.
78102:05:37.550 --> 02:05:57.059Community Hall: situation where somebody could very easily slip through it, you know what I'm talking about, those… Yeah. My understanding is that there will be a fence there, but I'll kind of defer that over to
the applicant for more specifics about how they're planning on maintaining that. Okay, great. And I think
that the council questions have completed.
78202:05:57.450 --> 02:05:57.870R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: He's a man.
78302:05:57.870 --> 02:06:01.539
Community Hall: Report. Okay. Councilmember Wong.
784
02:06:02.270 --> 02:06:16.129R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Yes, through the mayor. The question I have for the staff is two things. One, there was a Kiku Sushi there. There was a Coach Liquors there. How much retail revenue did we lose in the last year or two since that site has been set for redevelopment?
785
02:06:20.100 --> 02:06:27.640
Community Hall: I do not have that at my disposal right now with, is he talking like a site-specific loss with
those, those.
78602:06:27.640 --> 02:06:32.669
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Site-specific loss of retail tax revenue. I mean, I'm just curious.
787
02:06:33.170 --> 02:06:35.019
Community Hall: Yeah, if you can find out later…
78802:06:35.090 --> 02:06:42.540R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Okay. No problem. Find out later, that'd be good to know. And then the second question related to that is, does…
789
02:06:42.690 --> 02:06:43.700
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Where does…
79002:06:43.880 --> 02:06:51.379R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: And this is, I should have just looked in Esri, but where does San Jose begin and Cupertino end? Is that on the other side of Prospect?
791
02:06:51.790 --> 02:06:55.900
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: I mean, sorry, Saratoga, begin, and Cupertino, and…
79202:06:57.210 --> 02:07:01.930Community Hall: Correct, Saratoga, as soon as you cross Prospect Road to the south.
793
02:07:02.540 --> 02:07:06.110
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: And on the east of De Anza is Yep. East of De Anza.
79402:07:06.110 --> 02:07:07.250Community Hall: San Jose, correct.
795
02:07:07.250 --> 02:07:16.690
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Okay. So I'm only bringing this up just for informational purposes so
everybody knows is that that is one of our last retail locations that we lost.
79602:07:16.690 --> 02:07:20.220R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: And I know it's important to have housing, but.
797
02:07:20.220 --> 02:07:27.120
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: We basically carved out of retail by San Jose because the Home Depot is not
ours. You work your way all the way up on the street.
79802:07:27.120 --> 02:07:46.730R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: And so, it's important when we look at housing projects to think about the retail revenue loss that's occurred, and to understand the property tax gains that we have to make sure that we're at least net zero. And maybe there's something we can do in the future, I'm just recommending to my
fellow council members, something to do in the future, looking at net zero in terms of retail loss.
799
02:07:46.840 --> 02:07:51.530R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: Tax revenue loss versus what we're getting in property tax. So that's it. Thank you.
800
02:07:53.060 --> 02:07:54.520
Community Hall: Vice Mayor.
80102:07:56.220 --> 02:07:57.710Community Hall: Hi,
802
02:07:57.870 --> 02:08:04.759
Community Hall: First, follow up on that question. The project has, fiscal impact analysis, right?
80302:08:06.040 --> 02:08:13.970Community Hall: And so, but that analysis did not include information about Previous retail revenue before.
80402:08:14.540 --> 02:08:18.229
Community Hall: Right, it's about… It's only existing.
805
02:08:19.090 --> 02:08:37.039Community Hall: So it provides estimates of that. I don't know that we have… if we're looking for firm numbers on what that looks like, I'm not sure that that's exactly what would be provided through the fiscal impact analysis. Okay. And then, next question is regarding the height. So I understand this density bonus.
806
02:08:37.060 --> 02:08:39.380
Community Hall: Lol, they can build this.
80702:08:40.940 --> 02:08:59.650Community Hall: high as they want, maybe. So the current highest point is 44 feet 9 inches, about 45 feet, plus a rooftop. So another 6 feet tall person might be on the rooftop. Yeah, the 44.9 number represents the entirety of the building, including the roof.
808
02:09:00.420 --> 02:09:03.500
Community Hall: In… including the roof. But if…
80902:09:03.720 --> 02:09:07.430Community Hall: You had… there is rooftop deck, isn't that on top?
810
02:09:07.520 --> 02:09:23.529
Community Hall: Of the 44 feet 9. So half of… most of the roof is actually a pitched roof, and then it has a
rooftop deck on kind of the other portion of it, and so the height is measured all the way to the peak of the
roof. Oh, so the roof is above the…
81102:09:23.530 --> 02:09:29.410
Community Hall: Deck. Right. It will go extend beyond the deck, yes. Oh, I see. So how tall is the…
812
02:09:29.590 --> 02:09:31.719
Community Hall: What… at what height is the deck?
81302:09:32.890 --> 02:09:51.870Community Hall: I would believe that it's probably 9 feet less than that at floor, right? The floor of the deck is really on. So I'm just wondering if I were a single-family home next to the property, are they going to be
looking over my yard? What kind of mitigation is there?
814
02:09:51.870 --> 02:10:00.999Community Hall: Are they… maybe they… there are some barriers, so they can look over the single family, they can look over the other side to the mountain?
81502:10:01.000 --> 02:10:23.509
Community Hall: Right. So the project has actually been designed to have the rooftop decks for the most
part, face the interior of the project and then the storage areas. And again, that actual pitched roof part that
goes beyond the floor, will block majority of the views from those decks. In addition to that, they also have
the existing trees that kind of screen most of the views along that west property line with the single family residences.
81602:10:23.510 --> 02:10:38.460Community Hall: And where any, you know, damaged or dying trees exist there, there are plans to replace those to make sure that it's as well-screened as possible. Oh, okay, that's great to know. I actually like
rooftop deck. It's just, as long as it doesn't
81702:10:38.460 --> 02:10:43.259Community Hall: intrude on other people's privacy. That's great design. Thank you.
81802:10:46.410 --> 02:10:58.510Community Hall: Okay, not seeing any further hands raised from the Council. It is now time for the
applicant's presentation. You have up to 8 minutes, and if you… will it just be one speaker?
81902:10:58.860 --> 02:11:13.569Community Hall: Yeah, it'll just be me. Okay. Cool. Good evening, Mayor, City Council members, Josh Verotzos, Vice President of Development at Dividend Homes. Good to see you all again. Dividend's a private home builder, founded in 1994, specializing in single-family homes and townhomes.
820
02:11:13.570 --> 02:11:37.350
Community Hall: throughout the Core Bay area with active or upcoming projects in eight cities totaling 550
new homes. 233 of those will be in the city of Cupertino. We have two recently approved on Stevens Creek
and this third one. We're really excited to break ground on all three of them in the upcoming year. We're pleased to be here tonight to present the 35 unit housing development at 1655 South Deianza. The homes will range from
82102:11:37.350 --> 02:11:50.189
Community Hall: 1,550 to 2,150 square feet, 3 and 4 bedroom floor plans, each have two private parking
spaces, either in side-by-side or tandem garages. All the homes, as just discussed, have rooftop decks.
82202:11:50.640 --> 02:11:55.460Community Hall: And the project was designed with care and respect to single-family homes behind the site.
823
02:11:56.610 --> 02:12:10.710
Community Hall: We designed the access road to provide a buffer, which at the shortest point is approximately 36 feet, and as you move up the site, closer to 45 feet. In addition, we work with the project arbors and staff to maintain the beautiful cypress trees along the
82402:12:10.710 --> 02:12:26.850Community Hall: property line, and we also agreed to work with the neighbors and our landscape architect
at the Planning Commission hearing to, explore putting in some additional planting when there's gaps
between those existing cypress trees. As staff noted, we're providing the 20% BMR require, units.
82502:12:26.850 --> 02:12:43.959Community Hall: 10%, which are at the very low income level. The project's protected by numerous housing state, state housing laws. And in closing, we really appreciate city staff and their effort to be working together collaboratively towards what we think is going to be a great housing project for the city of Cupertino.
826
02:12:44.000 --> 02:12:54.439
Community Hall: With me tonight is MJ Frankel and Elisa Patacini of Dividend Homes, as well as our land planner, Rita Raj Sharma from the Dawn Group, in case you have any questions about the land plan or the architecture.
82702:12:54.810 --> 02:12:57.680
Community Hall: Appreciate your time and your support. Thank you.
828
02:13:00.170 --> 02:13:07.920Community Hall: All right, thank you. So at this time, do we have any, Councilmember questions for either the staff or the applicant?
82902:13:11.330 --> 02:13:12.660
Community Hall: Vice Mayor?
830
02:13:14.170 --> 02:13:20.569Community Hall: If it's possible, I am curious what the rooftop deck could look like.
83102:13:20.690 --> 02:13:21.450Community Hall: Okay.
832
02:13:21.920 --> 02:13:34.849
Community Hall: Do you have any rendering? Well, to kind of go off of that, they are flat roofs, and essentially on approximately half of the roof, you're gonna have your solar panels that are required. So about half of it won't be…
83302:13:35.180 --> 02:13:47.569Community Hall: usable by the future homeowners, and then on the other half we designed them, as Emmy noted, for example, on Building 5. If you're looking at the overall site plan, which is the building kind of with the most units close to the single family homes. The
834
02:13:47.570 --> 02:14:02.719Community Hall: top of the rooftop deck closest to the single-family homes will be where the HVAC and the solar is, so they won't be looking into those units. So you're going to have the livable space looking the other direction, and you're going to have the cypress trees along the property line.
83502:14:03.490 --> 02:14:05.109
Community Hall: Okay, great.
83602:14:05.490 --> 02:14:06.449Community Hall: Thank you.
83702:14:08.570 --> 02:14:14.160Community Hall: I'm not seeing any further hands raised from the Council. Councilmember Wong?
838
02:14:14.320 --> 02:14:16.490Community Hall: Did you have any questions? Okay.
83902:14:16.490 --> 02:14:18.220R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: I'm great. I like the proposal.
840
02:14:18.770 --> 02:14:25.790
Community Hall: Okay, so at this time, we are inviting members of the public to speak about this agenda item.
84102:14:26.410 --> 02:14:36.230Community Hall: Mayor, I don't see any requests to speak here in Community Hall, and I… but I do have one request to speak virtually, so at this time, we will go ahead and welcome San Rao.
842
02:14:39.350 --> 02:14:55.920San Rao: Yes, good evening, Council Members. This is Santosh Rao speaking on behalf of myself only, Planning Commissioner and 2025 Chair of the Planning Commission. I do want to remind our Council members that the applicant was very, very gracious in their past project.
84302:14:56.010 --> 02:15:00.890
San Rao: And worked with residents to accommodate residents' desire to
84402:15:00.920 --> 02:15:19.140San Rao: setback units that were adjacent to the single-family homes. We almost never see any concessions from applicants, and I think this applicant has been very, very accommodating of residents' needs, and we
need more applicants like, like the current applicant, for
845
02:15:19.340 --> 02:15:29.189
San Rao: Cupertino, where we can get people that work with the community, that come back for repeat projects, and that build in desirable locations that add to our housing stock.
84602:15:29.510 --> 02:15:44.580San Rao: And, I would encourage you to approve, and I hope to see them back again doing business in
Cupertino, and I hope they know that they have a pro-business commissioner in me and in others in
Cupertino. Thank you.
84702:15:47.100 --> 02:15:50.949Community Hall: Thank you, Sam. And Mayor, there are no further requests to speak on this item.
84802:15:51.400 --> 02:15:58.309
Community Hall: All right, thank you. Do we have any remaining clarifying questions from the Council?
849
02:15:59.540 --> 02:16:08.499Community Hall: I do see a hand raised from Vice Mayor. Is that a relic from before? No, I'll just make the motion for staff recommendation.
85002:16:08.770 --> 02:16:09.799
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: I'd like to second.
851
02:16:10.480 --> 02:16:19.160Community Hall: Okay, okay, Councilmember Fruin, was ahead of Councilmember Wong on that item. So we have a motion and a second.
85202:16:19.560 --> 02:16:43.750
Community Hall: any further comments on this? And I do… I have to say, I do really appreciate that you
have, unlike many other projects where we don't have any density bonus units being added to the project,
but they're electing to have many waivers of our design standards, it's refreshing to have some actual
density bonus units added, and the price points for the BMRs is… it's an exciting new change.
85302:16:43.750 --> 02:17:02.270Community Hall: Because mostly what we've been seeing are the higher income categories. So this is, very nice to see. I'm looking at your map of your projects, so I'm looking forward to seeing the Cupertino ones end up on your website map in the future. And, at this time, do we… Vice Mayor?
854
02:17:02.629 --> 02:17:13.489Community Hall: Just want to second what Mayor said. I think you really have put in a lot of thought into that. Initially, I was concerned about the height, but then you…
85502:17:13.930 --> 02:17:37.670Community Hall: designed it so that the height really does not matter to the single-family home neighbors.
So I really thank you for putting all the thoughts to… so that this project is really adding to the… to the nice
characteristic of Cupertino. Thank you. And then, really appreciate the very low-income units.
85602:17:41.290 --> 02:17:43.800Community Hall: Madam City Clerk, will you please conduct the roll call?
857
02:17:44.090 --> 02:17:45.329
Community Hall: Councilmember Farin.
85802:17:46.270 --> 02:17:50.419Community Hall: Aye. Councilmember Mahan? Aye. Councilmember Wong?
859
02:17:50.700 --> 02:17:51.290
R "Ray" Wang, Councilmember: I.
86002:17:51.929 --> 02:17:59.199Community Hall: Vice Mayor Chow? Aye. Mayor Moore? Aye. Motion carries unanimously. All right. Thank you very much.
861
02:17:59.459 --> 02:18:03.739
Community Hall: So, the remaining items are purely informational.
86202:18:04.939 --> 02:18:12.859Community Hall: So, at this time, this meeting of the Cupertino City Council is adjourned.
863
02:18:13.109 --> 02:18:13.979
Community Hall: Yeah.
86402:18:19.019 --> 02:18:19.699Community Hall: Yes.