SV@home (2.22.18)TRANSMITTED VIA EMAIL
Board of Directors
sv@home
Ron Gonzales, Chair
February 22, 2018
Hispanic Foundation
of Silicon Valley
Honorable Mayor Paul and Members of the City Council
Janice Jensen, Vice Chair
Habitatfor Humanity
City of Cupertino
East Bay/Silicon Valley
10300 Torre Avenue
Kevin Zwick, Treasurer
Cupertino, CA 95014
Housing Trust Silicon Valley
Kathy Thibodeaux, Secretary
KM Thibodeaux Consulting LLC
Re: Vallco Special Area Specific Plan - EIR Scoping
Shiloh Ballard
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition
Bob Brownstein
Dear Mayor Paul, Vice Mayor Sinks, & Councilmembers Chang, Scharf, & Vaidyanathan:
Working Partnerships USA
Christine Carr
SV@Home thanks the City of Cupertino for providing the opportunity to comment on
the scope of the EIR for the Vallco Special Area Specific Plan. The Specific Plan area is a
RahulChandhok
critical opportunity for mixed-use development that can provide for the needs of
San Francisco49ers
Cupertino's current and future residents, workers, and economy.
Katie Ferrick
Linkedln
On behalf of our members, we strongly encourage the City to analyze a range of EIR
Arnie Fishman
alternatives that includes a project alternative that maximizes the number of housing
Non -Profit Housing Association of
Northern California
units as part of the plan for mixed-use development on the site.
Javier Gonzalez
Google
Cupertino has a jobs and housing imbalance. According to 2014 Census data,
Cupertino has 1.7 jobs for every home in the City. Furthermore, when considering the
Poncho Guevara
Sacred Heart Community Service
availability of affordable homes for Cupertino's lower-income workers, the mismatch is
even more severe. Census data analyzed by the UC Davis Center for Regional Change
Jan Lindenthal
MidPen Housing
shows that Cupertino has a jobs -housing fit of 14.1— meaning that for every 14 low -
wage workers employed in Cupertino, there is only one affordable home.
Jennifer Loving
Destination: Home
Historically, Cupertino has failed to meet its affordable housing responsibilities while
Mary Murtagh
exceeding its market rate production needs. The job and housing affordability
EAHHousing
mismatch is reflected in the City's RHNA performance; during the last RHNA cycle (2007
Chris Neale
- 2014) Cupertino met only 11 percent of its very low-income allocation, 14 percent of
The Core Companies
its low income allocation, and 24 percent of its moderate income allocation.
Andrea Osgood
Eden Housing
Even more critical is the fact that, of the small number of units the City has produced,
Kelly Snider
an overwhelming share are expensive and out of reach for vast majority of people who
Kelly Snider Consulting
need housing. This is again reflected the City's RHNA performance, which shows that in
Jennifer Van Every
the last cycle, the City produced 184 percent of its above moderate -income RHNA,
The Van Every Group
while permitting less than half the number of homes needed for lower-income
Staff
categories. As a result, Cupertino has externalized all of its low-income housing needs
Leslye Corsiglia
— which is a major concern, considering that over half of its current RHNA (2014-2022)
Executive Director
350 W. Julian Street, Building 5, San Jose, CA 95110
408.780.2261 • www.svathome.org • info@siliconvalleyathome.org
Honorable Mayor Paul and Members of the City Council
February 22, 2018
Re: Vallco Special Area Specific Plan — EIR Scoping
Page 2 of 2
is for very low and low-income households. Yet despite exceeding market rate production needs,
Census data shows that Cupertino's housing production has significantly slowed since the 1990s, all
while the City's population and jobs have grown. The number of units built since 2000 represents only
10.4 percent of the City's overall housing stock.
With Cupertino's employment growth currently outpacing forecasted rates, balanced development in
the Specific Plan area — with a mix of housing, office, and retail — is essential. Toward the City's goal of
addressing its affordability challenges through balanced growth, we strongly recommend that the EIR
scope include the study of a project alternative that maximizes the number of housing units as part of
the plan for mixed-use development on the site.
Inclusion of the recommended EIR alternative will support the City's effort to effectively deliberate, and
ultimately, decide upon how balance can be achieved on the Vallco site.
Again, thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback through such a robust community engagement
effort. We look forward to participating in this evening's EIR Scoping Meeting as well as future phases of
the planning process.
Sincerely,
Pilar Lorenzana
Deputy Director
Cc:
Piu Ghosh, City of Cupertino
Aarti Shrivastava, City of Cupertino
Kristy Weis, David J. Powers &
Associates
350 W. Julian Street, Building 5, San Jose, CA 95110
408.780.2261 • www.svathome.org • info@siliconvalleyathome.org