November 17, 2006

EEHVS Task Force decisions, updated Evergreen Development Policy to City Hall

Council members to vote on proposed plan Dec. 5

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

After years of discussion and two Task Force groups determining the elements, the planning department submitted a proposed Evergreen Development Policy Update to the planning commission on Nov. 1. Acting Planning Director Joseph Horwedel—who has since been elevated to Planning Director—advised the commission to recommend City Council members pass the update.

The recommendation currently appears on the Dec. 5 City Council meeting agenda.

That day, the council will be asked to vote on land-use policies including an update to the Evergreen Development Policy as well as amendments to San Jose’s 2020 General Plan text to incorporate “the updated EDP into the General Plan describing the EEHVS process, modifications to the EDP description, additions to the Appendix F: Mixed Use Inventory and amendments to Appendix E: Major Collector Streets to reduce certain streets from planned four lanes to two.”

The proposed update follows two three-hour study sessions between planning staff and City Council members for questions and answers to what the planning department and the Task Force determined in their meetings.

The proposal delineates possible changes, including a lower level of service for transportation within the Evergreen development area in exchange for several developers funding transportation projects and community amenities, such as parks and recreation centers.

The developers have volunteered to pay for the projects. The costs of the transportation projects and amenities concerning these sites are higher than the city requires through standard exactions. The four areas are Arcadia—south of Eastridge—Pleasant Hills Golf Course, part of Evergreen Community College and empty lands near the east foothills, called the Campus Industrial site. Council members will consider and vote on the funding arrangement.

The proposed update also creates new residential development capacity on the four specified sites and establishes additional units for future development on other EDP-area properties. The purpose of the exercise is to increase development beyond the current EDP’s specifications. It’s up to the City Council, however, to set the final capacities.

The planning document also contains a phasing plan for transportation triggers and other commitments before any building permits are received for residences in the four specific sites.

The planning staff offers council members three suggestions for the number of residences: from the developers, the
primary Task Force and a staff alternative. For example, the developers prefer to put 1,875 housing units into Arcadia with commercial/office square footage up to 150,000 square feet. The Task Force alternative for the same site was 1,800 residential units with up to 100,000 square feet for commercial/office uses. The staff recommendation was 1,875 residential units with up to 300,000 square feet of office and commercial space (see charts).

In addition, the report lists a “pool of additional housing units available to other sites in the EDP area.” It also proposes specific factors that must be approved for given properties in addition to a “’Traffic Impact Fee,’ so that properties receiving allocations pay a ‘fair share’ toward the required transportation investments.”

Along those lines, it proposes turning Capitol Avenue/Capitol Expressway into a protected intersection because of the increased traffic that might further impact an already tight situation.

A number of other sections are included, including design guidelines making sure that any development is compatible with existing neighborhoods and to diminish potential problems in environmentally sensitive areas.

For example, the proposal suggests that these developments don’t have to be identical. The Task Force agreed to a mix of rental and ownership in addition to large and small lots, single-family detached residences, town homes and multi-family units. The Arcadia site is required by city policy and state law to produce 20 percent of all new housing as affordable, deed restricted units.

Developers for the Evergreen College site indicate they plan to produce up to 40 percent of the units for moderate-income housing. The developers for the Pleasant Hills Golf Course and the Campus Industrial sites do not plan affordable housing for those areas.

However, the Task Force recommends developers provide affordable housing on both the latter sites, with a total of 19 percent affordable units throughout the four sites. That recommendation also includes that additional development of 10 or more units using the “pool” allocations that devote at least 15 percent or two units—whichever is greater—to deed restricted affordable units.

The development staff recommends a 20 percent affordability requirement for all units built on the four sites with assurance that they would be distributed to serve 30 percent extremely low incomes, 30 percent very low incomes and 40 percent low-income households. Pool unit usage would be required to pay an “in-lieu fee determined by the staff in order to help meet the city’s affordable housing goals.”

The Task Force produced a list of community amenities that would “offset new development and enhance the quality of life in the EDP area. The amenities include new parks and recreation facilities benefiting the local communities. Financing for these amenities would be linked to the development of the four sites, while construction would be phased in as the developments are built. The community would be part of the process to determine specifics of these facilities before construction.

Finally, the Task Force determined that schools are a basic need and not amenities. For that reason, school sites currently are under discussion between the developers and the Elementary School District, the Mount Pleasant School District and the East Side Union High School District. Those parties are currently delineating the size and locations for the new schools. The Task Force, including developers, agreed parcels should be set aside for two new Kindergarten through sixth grade schools and one K-eighth grade school on three of the four sites.