PC 12-10-2024 Item No. 2. Zoning Map Amendment Permit #Z-2024-002_Late Written CommunicationsPC and CC Meetings on McClellan Rd Housing
Element Sites
Compiled by Planning Commission Vice Chair Seema Lindskog
Dec 10, 2024
Jan 25, 2022 - PC Meeting
Present: Chair R Wang, Vice Chair Steven Scharf, Commissioners Sanjiv Kapil, Muni
Madhdhipatla. Absent: Commissioner Vikram Saxena.
● All PC Commissioners present ask the staff to identify more sites on the west side of the
city. Chair Wang suggests that the city should increase the zoning for the entire west
side to 20 du/acre.
Feb 22, 2022 - PC Meeting
Present: Chair Steven Scharf, Vice Chair Muni Madhdhipatla, Commissioners Sanjiv Kapil,
Vikram Saxena, R Wang. Absent: None.
● At timestamp 1:36:34, Chair Scharf asks the EMC consultant to spread out the sites
across the city “so that everyone will have to share a little bit of the pain”.
Apr 26 2022 - PC Meeting
Present: Chair Steven Scharf, Commissioners Sanjiv Kapil, Vikram Saxena, R Wang. Absent:
Vice Chair Muni Madhdhipatla.
● At timestamp 1:19:01, Commissioners unanimously agree to five sites being proposed
on McClellan Rd
June 28 2022 Part 2 - Joint Meeting of PC and HC
Present: Kapil, Wang, Madhdhipatla, Scharf, Cunningham, Tatachari, Parish
Absent: Saxena, Bose, Das
● Meeting Part 2 - Timestamp 1:07:15 - Discussion of McClellan Corridor sites.
● Staff recommended housing sites show the same 5 sites on McClellan as in previous
meetings. 20865 McClellan shown in the staff report as a pipeline project with a
projected density of 4 units.
● At timestamp 1:10:57 and again at 1:15:33, Piu mentions that the applicant wants to
develop 20865 McClellan with 19-20 homes, 3-story high.
● At timestamp 1:15:55, Chair Scharf says “If we allowed it to be a housing element site,
what would the height be?”. Piu responds “they said they could do 3 stories at 30 feet
and it would be an attached row type of development”. Chair Scharf replies “Why would
we be opposed to that?”.
● At timestamp 1:19:33, Commissioner Ray Wang says “I hope we move P8 back to Tier 1
(add it to the Housing Element as a 20 du/acre development) and I think the two Tier 2
sites should probably be Tier 1 as well (two other sites on McClellan should be part of
the HE as well).”
● From timestamp 1:22:35 to timestamp 1:26:40, Vice-Chair Muni Madhdhipatla speaks at
length about the five proposed sites on McClellan. At 1:23:53, he says regarding 20865
McClellan Rd “If it gets up-zoned to 20 unit rowhomes or whatever, so be it.”
● At timestamp 1:24:51, after receiving confirmation from Piu, Vice-Chair Muni
Madhdhipatla repeats “Ok row homes, 30 ft high, 20 du/acre, yes, ok, that designation
for P8 is fine”
Aug 30 2022 - CC Meeting
Present: Mayor Darcy Paul, Vice Mayor Liang Chao, and Councilmembers Kitty Moore, Hung
Wei, and Jon Robert Willey. Absent: None.
● From timestamp 7:27 to 36:37, the council reviews and approves the four proposed sites
on McClellan Rd with the R3 zoning and density of 20 du/acre at 20865 McClellan Rd.
● At timestamp 31:10, Vice Mayor Liang Chao speaking about the property at 20860
McClellan Rd says “P8 is 1.35 acres. I looked it up. If it’s zoned at 20 units/acre, that’s
27 units it can accommodate. The proposal right now is only 6 units…. This developer
may like to develop 27 units. How come we are excluding them from this opportunity? It
doesn’t make sense.”
Community Outreach
The City Council voted on March 8, 2022 to create a Strategic Advisory Committee to provide
guidance on plans for public outreach and community engagement strategies for the Housing
Element Update. The Committee consisted of Council member Kitty Moore (Chair of the
Committee), Vice Mayor Liang Chao, PC Chair Steven Scharf, and HC Chair Tessa Parish.
The Strategic Advisory Committee met for the first time on March 30, 2022, held 6 meetings in
total, and met for the last time on Sept 16, 2022.
Source
The full timeline and recordings of meetings on the Housing Element can be found at
https://engagecupertino.org/calendar.
From:Rohan Doshi
To:Luke Connolly; Piu Ghosh (she/her); City of Cupertino Planning Commission; Pamela Wu; City Council; City Clerk
Cc:Rohan Doshi
Subject:Opposition to Rezoning of 20865 McClellan Road (Priority Housing Site No. 24)
Date:Wednesday, December 11, 2024 4:29:42 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you
recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Chair Fung, Cupertino Planning Commissioners,
Luke Connolly, Assistant Director of Community Development
Piu Ghosh, Planning Manager
City of Cupertino
10300 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014
Subject: Opposition to Rezoning of 20865 McClellan Road (Priority Housing Site No. 24)
Dear Chair Fung, Cupertino Planning Commissioners, Mr. Connolly, and Ms. Ghosh,
As a parent of a child attending Faria Elementary School, I am writing to express my strong
opposition to the proposed rezoning of 20865 McClellan Road from R-3 to R-3/TH. This
zoning change would have a significant negative impact on traffic and safety along McClellan
Road and surrounding streets, which are critical school corridors for Faria Elementary and
other nearby schools.
Faria Elementary serves over 600 students, and the narrow, one-lane McClellan Road and
nearby streets, such as Bonny Drive, must accommodate hundreds of cars during the 15-
minute drop-off window each school day. This means approximately 40 cars per minute must
flow into Faria Elementary, and if we assume half of these vehicles approach via McClellan
Road, that equates to 20 cars per minute—or one car every three seconds—passing near the
proposed construction site, just for Faria. Add to that traffic headed to Lincoln, Monta Vista,
Kennedy and Tesslation schools.
The current infrastructure is already strained, with severe congestion and safety risks for
students and families traveling to Faria Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, Kennedy Middle
School, and Monta Vista High School. The addition of 27 townhomes at this site would only
exacerbate these challenges, introducing more vehicles into an already overburdened school
corridor. The narrow design of McClellan Road and its Class IV bike lanes leaves no room for
additional traffic without creating chaos, delays, and serious safety hazards for students biking
or walking to school.
Medium- to high-density construction at this location is simply incompatible with the existing
infrastructure and the critical role these roads play in ensuring safe and efficient access to
schools. Retaining the R-3 zoning designation would prevent additional density and protect
the community from these severe impacts. Furthermore, I encourage the Planning Commission
to consider downzoning this site to R-1 to align with the character of the surrounding Jollyman
Neighborhood and alleviate concerns about infrastructure strain.
I respectfully request that the Planning Commission reject the proposed zoning change to R-
3/TH and prioritize the safety and well-being of our community’s children and families. This
site’s proximity to key school corridors and its existing traffic challenges make it unsuitable
for increased density.
Thank you for considering the critical safety and infrastructure concerns of parents and
residents in this area.
Sincerely,
Rohan Doshi
Parent, Faria Elementary School
--
Rohan....
Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true
- Anonymous