December 17, 2004

Evergreen Visioning Project’s Task Force
nears final recommendations

By Dan Reyes
Staff Writer

After nearly a year and a half of monthly meetings, the Evergreen Visioning Project Task Force has yet to craft a clear proposal about how to develop the area’s four “opportunity sites,” and time is running short.

The Task Force was established 15 months ago by District 8 Council-member Dave Cortese to help the city coordinate development of the four major available sites in the Evergreen area.

The role of the Task Force was to represent the desires and concerns of the community on issues such as the maximum number of homes to be developed overall as well as per site; the mix of development (homes, commercial, green space) and develop a wish list of projects and improvements that could be paid for through development fees.

At its Dec. 1 meeting, San Jose City Planner Laurel Prevetti and Councilmember Cortese gently reminded the Task Force that two important steps in the planning process couldn’t happen until they had some solid numbers and proposals to work with.

“We are fast approaching a point where we need to do a public scoping meeting,” said Prevetti. “The sooner we can identify a maximum number, the sooner we can begin the EIR (environmental impact report).”

The scoping meeting would determine the exact scope of the EIR. According to Prevetti, the EIR looks at very “technical considerations” and will designate existing conditions, potential impacts due to the proposed development and mitigation measures to reduce impacts.

Prevetti stressed that the EIR is not a “decision-making” document, but rather, only a step in the decision-making process.

“What do you see as the maximum number for each opportunity site?” Prevetti asked the Task Force. “We need five numbers by January.”

The five numbers are the maximum number of homes developed on each of the four sites and the maximum total number of homes in these areas. The group decided to try and reach an agreement on these five numbers at their caucus meeting, scheduled for mid-December. Proposals numbering anywhere from 4,000 to 7,000 new homes have been suggested.

But even after the Task Force comes up with its numbers, there is no guarantee that their proposal will be acceptable to the developers or be approved by the city council.

“This process is a negotiation,” said Councilmember Cortese. “Ultimately this is a negotiation between this group and the developers. You need to start having direct dialogue with the developers.”

The reminder seemed to take some of the Task Force members by surprise, and they quickly decided to discuss it in their caucus meeting and to invite the developers’ representatives to participate in their regularly scheduled January meeting. This will be the first time the Task Force invites developers to the table for detailed negotiations.

School issues highlight Dec. 1 meeting
The main item on the Task Force’s agenda was a discussion with the superintendents of the Evergreen and Mount Pleasant Elementary School Districts and a representative from the East Side Union High School District about how the proposed development would impact their districts.

Each superintendent gave basic information about the current state of their district. The conditions of schools vary widely. Some schools are overcrowded, while others have declining enrollment. But without hard numbers, they were able to do little more than give their ‘best guess’ as to what the future would hold.

“Mount Pleasant [Elementary School District] has not seen that much growth,” said Superinten-dent George Perez. “To add 800 homes would be considerable. We could not accommodate that. We are in a very awkward position. If this project moves forward, we’ll need some accommodation for a new school.”

Evergreen School District Superintendent Tom Andrade also thought that his district might need to build new schools if the development was approved.

“If San Jose approves future homes, elementary will probably need an additional two to three schools. We would like to have the full support of this Task Force to make sure we get those built,” said Andrade.

EVP Caucus
The Task Force also discussed the latest revision to its ‘operating procedures,’ as suggested by the EVP Caucus. On a meeting-by-meeting basis, the EVP Task Force will now nominate and elect a Chair who will provide input for the agenda of each meeting.

The EVP Caucus is a members-only working group formed to make the EVP Task Force meetings run more efficiently and on-task. It meets separately from the EVP Task Force. Councilmember Dave Cortese, whose office organized the EVP Task Force, typically does not participate in the caucus meetings, just as members of the EVP Task Force do not participate in meetings he arranges for developers only.