Original letter in docx format: https://app.box.com/s/xqe8rw6h6vixu10z1hekl9okue9bvbhv
Well thought-out analysis backed up with references in the end.
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From: Kent Vincent
To: City Council
THE NUMBERS: WHY THE COUNCIL MUST VOTE NO ON THE
HILLS AT VALLCO
Dear Councilmember,
This letter is to present the Council with compelling
traffic and greenhouse gas impact numbers, CEQA job-housing imbalance lawsuit exposure
and significant revitalization failure risks that demand the Council disapprove
rezoning Vallco for the proposed Hills at Vallco office build; and place a
moratorium on all rezoning within the city that increases office space.
The 2M sf of office build proposed for The Hills at
Vallco will increase the total number of employees who work in Cupertino and
commute from other cities to over 47,000, nearly doubling the population of
Cupertino every work day and making Cupertino’s growth imbalance one of the
primary causes of traffic congestion, transportation infrastructure cost and
air pollution in the Bay Area. The exhaust from these commuter’s vehicles alone
will produce 700 tons of CO2 greenhouse gas daily. 20,000 new commute
vehicles will converge on Wolfe Rd. from Apple Campus 2 and the Hills at Vallco
office space, alone. The Hwy 280 interchange at Wolfe even when doubled in ramp
lanes will only be capable of handling 1400 to 3600 of these vehicles per hour
during commute hours, meaning the vast majority of the new commute traffic will
be directed into the neighborhoods of Cupertino and Sunnyvale. The severe
nature of this is owing to the unnecessary office build at the Hills at Vallco.
Adjusting the General Plan to accommodate the Hills office build and its 10,000
new office jobs without a counter-balancing increase in housing exposes
Cupertino to the same court mandated job-housing balance imposed on the City of
San Jose’s General Plan Amendment this year, where the court mandated one home
for each office space job created. Given the enormous office build at Apple
Campus 2, any mixed use revitalization of Vallco should be retail-residential only
not retail-office and be incented to housing Cupertino-based employees,
particularly at Apple Campus 2, to reduce traffic congestion in the city.
I am proposing a method to accomplish this.
TRAFFIC NUMBERS – IMPACT OF 2M SF OF
OFFICE SPACE
The proposed Empire State Building equivalent OFFICE
SPACE FOR THE HILLS AT VALLCO WILL
LIKELY ADD 10,000 OR MORE COMMUTE VEHICLES TO WOLFE RD. This is based on the
Silicon Valley standard 200 sf (square feet) and one commute vehicle per
employee. The Empire State Building (2.1M sf) is the second largest office
building in the U.S. following the Pentagon. It houses 1000 businesses
collectively employing 23,000 workers1.
To visualize the traffic impact, note that 10,000 commute
vehicles parked in two lanes of Hwy 280 with 5 feet gridlock spacing extends 20
miles on its own (one car each lane every 21 feet), the distance between Wolfe
Rd. and Crystal Springs Reservoir. Add another 10,000 commute vehicles from the
adjacent new Apple Campus 2 and the two-lane congestion doubles to 40 miles, the
distance from Wolfe Rd. to San Francisco. THIS 40 MILES IN TWO LANES OF NEW
COMMUTER VEHICLES WILL ENTER AND DEPART THE CITY OF CUPERTINO AT WOLFE RD. DURING
COMMUTE HOURS EVERY WORK DAY, ABHORRENTLY ADDING TO THE TRAFFIC CONGESTION THAT
ALREADY EXISTS.
The Hwy 280 interchange at Wolfe Rd. is woefully
incapable of handling the added commuters, even if onramps are doubled from one
to two lanes. The State of California sets its metering lights to allow 350-900
vehicles per hour to enter a freeway per onramp lane2. The rate
depends on freeway traffic congestion. Assuming the state expands the onramps
in each direction to two lanes, the Wolfe Rd. interchange will only be capable
of releasing 1400 to 3600 vehicles per hour onto Hwy 280 when metering lights
are on. Apple Campus 2 will need all of this to handle its 10,000 vehicles over
the 4 – 7 pm commute period, excluding all other existing traffic and eventual new
traffic from Main Street and Vallco retail. ADDING 10,000 COMMUTE VEHICLES FROM
THE PROPOSED HILLS AT VALLCO OFFICE SPACE WILL REQUIRE 5.5 – 14 HOURS TO VACATE
THE PARKING LOTS OF JUST THE APPLE CAMPUS 2 AND HILLS AT VALLCO OFFICES ONTO
THE FREEWAY ALONE DEPENDING ON METERING. Obviously, this isn’t going to happen.
THE BULK OF THE 40 MILES OF TWO-LANE NEW COMMUTE VEHICLES WILL BE DISTRIBUTED
THROUGH THE STREETS OF CUPERTINO AND SUNNYVALE, CONSUMING AND GRIDLOCKING EVERY
NEIGHBORHOOD THROUGHWAY AS COMMUTERS SEEK FASTEST COMMUTE ROUTES. The increased
congestion on Stevens Creek Blvd., De Anza Blvd. and Homestead Rd. in concert
with the doubling of traffic flow entering the 280 onramp lanes at Wolfe Rd.
will certainly back southbound Hwy 280 traffic from the current backup point
near the Hwy 85 interchange into Los Altos Hills on the southbound home
commute. THIS WILL MAKE FOOTHILL EXPRESSWAY THE NEW LOGICAL FIRST FREEWAY
RELIEF POINT OFF-RAMP FOR SARATOGA, LOS GATOS AND CAMPBELL COMMUTERS, as the
currently free right-hand exit-only lane leading to De Anza Blvd on 280, will
be fully immersed in the extended 280 congestion zone. THIS WILL CONGEST FOR
THE FIRST TIME STEVENS CANYON RD. AND THROUGH STREETS SUCH AS MCCLELLAN RD, BUBB
RD., LINDA VISTA DR., HYANNISPORT DR., SANTA TERESA AVE, WILKENSON AVE,
COLUMBUS AVE, TERRACE DR., REGNART RD., MONROVIA AND BYRNE AVE IN THE WEST OF
BUBB NEIGHBORHOOD.
MASS TRANSIT – NOT A MITIGATING FACTOR
The fully decentralized, fully suburban and vast
area in which Silicon Valley homes and workplaces are located make mass transit
a non-factor in fighting traffic congestion. THE SOUTH BAY’S LIGHT RAIL AND BUS
MASS TRANSIT SYSTEMS OPERATE VIRTUALLY EMPTY BECAUSE THEY PROVIDE NO FIRST MILE
/ LAST MILE COMMUTE SOLUTION FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF COMMUTERS. It is
inconceivable that such a system could have stops within three blocks of both
homes and workplaces for enough commuters to have a measureable impact on traffic.
Such mass transit is only feasible for highly urbanized cities such as San
Francisco. THERE IS NO FEASIBLE MASS TRANSIT ALTERNATIVE TO MITIGATE THE
TRAFFIC CONGESTION PRODUCED BY THE PROPOSED OFFICE SPACE BUILD AT THE HILLS AT
VALLCO. Sand Hill’s mention of shuttles and VTA traffic mitigation is simply placatory
for a problem that has not been addressed and is insolvable through mass
transit.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT – CEQA AND ABAG EXPOSURE
BY VIRTUALLY ANY STATE OR REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL METRIC,
THE CITY OF CUPERTINO SHOULD NOT BE AUTHORIZING ANY REZONE TO OFFICE
SPACE, NOW OR INTO THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. THE COMPLETION OF APPLE’S CAMPUS 2
WILL PUT CUPERTINO’S JOBS-HOUSING RATIO COMPLETELY OUT OF BALANCE. Of the
31,800 people employed in Cupertino only 5100 live here3, meaning
84% OF CUPERTINO’S WORKFORCE, 26,700 EMPLOYEES, COMMUTE HERE EVERY WORK DAY
FROM OTHER CITIES. IN CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) AND ABAG TERMS,
CUPERTINO’S GROWTH IMBALANCE IN OFFICE DEVELOPMENT IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF THE
COUNTY’S TRAFFIC CONGESTION, TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS AND AIR
POLLUTION. With the projected growth of 14,600 Apple employees AT THE
COMPLETION OF CAMPUS 2, CUPERTINO JOBS GROWTH WILL SOAR TO NEARLY 46% OVER A
2-3 YEAR PERIOD DURING A PROTRACTED PERIOD WHEN CUPERTINO HOUSING IS GROWING
ONLY 1.4% ANNUALLY3. Using the same statistics Cupertino-based
employees commuting from other cities at that time will reach at least 39,000.
THE PROPOSED OFFICE SPACE AT THE HILLS AT VALLCO IS
EQUIVALENT TO NEARLY A QUARTER OF ALL OF THE OFFICE SPACE IN THE ENTIRETY OF
DOWNTOWN SAN JOSE4. If the 2M sf Hills At Vallco office space is
approved and using the 84% statistic, THE NUMBER OF CUPERTINO-BASED EMPLOYEES
FROM EXISTING, APPLE CAMPUS 2 AND HILLS AT VALLCO OFFICES COMMUTING FROM OTHER
CITIES INTO CUPERTINO EACH WORK DAY WOULD BE EXPECTED TO EXCEED 47,000, A
FLAGRANT CEQA AND ABAG IMBALANCE. IF WE PARKED THAT NUMBER OF VEHICLES ON HWY
280 IN TWO LANES, AS IF THOSE COMMUTING FROM OTHER CITIES WERE WAITING AT A
GATE TO ENTER CUPERTINO EACH MORNING, THE VEHICLE BACK-UP WOULD EXTEND 94
MILES, THE DISTANCE FROM WOLFE RD. TO ROUGHLY SANTA ROSA! Assuming an average
roundtrip commute of 25 miles and a standard 1.22 lbs CO2 emissions
per mile5, THE TOTAL CO2 EMISSIONS FROM THOSE
CUPERTINO-BASED EMPLOYEES COMMUTING FROM OTHER CITIES WILL BE OVER 700 TONS
DAILY, 150 TONS DUE TO THE APPROVAL OF THE HILLS OFFICE SPACE ALONE.
CCEC V. CITY OF SAN JOSE AND ITS GENERAL
PLAN – JOBS-HOUSING IMBALANCE LAWSUIT
The City of Cupertino cannot afford to ignore the
environmental impact and job-housing imbalance issues incurred in the community
and region by its General Plan and its development projects. In April of this
year, a CEQA suit by the California Clean Energy Committee against the City of
San Jose successfully over-turned its General Plan for failing to address the
jobs-housing imbalance of its planned office space development. THE COURT
FAULTED SAN JOSE FOR NOT PLANNING ENOUGH HOUSING TO ACCOMMODATE THE JOBS
CREATED BY ITS GENERAL PLAN, PUSHING HOUSING AND TRAFFIC INTO OTHER COMMUNITIES
TO ACCOMMODATE THOSE JOBS. THE COURT ORDERED SAN JOSE TO INCREASE ITS HOUSING UNIT
ALLOCATION BY THE ENTIRE JOBS-HOUSING IMBALANCE SHORTFALL (109,000 HOMES) AND
TO PAY THE ENTIRETY OF THE $300,000 SUIT LEGAL COSTS6,7. The
proposed Hills At Vallco project and accommodating Cupertino General Plan
Amendment exposes Cupertino to the same jeopardy. The city of Cupertino, its schools,
infrastructure and lack of available land cannot accommodate the housing needed
for the jobs that will be created by the Hills at Vallco, let alone Apple
Campus 2. Environmental advocacy groups, such as the California Clean Energy
Committee, make it their business to discover and force city jobs-housing
balance to minimize regional traffic and pollution. It is inconceivable that
the highly publicized and massive office build of the Apple Spaceship campus
and The Hills At Vallco proposal / General Plan Amendment are not on the radar
screen of these advocacy groups.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT – IS CUPERTINO
WORKING ON THE WRONG ISSUES?
THE MOST IMPORTANT TRAFFIC MITIGATING ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT STATISTIC FOR CUPERTINO IS THE PERCENT OF ITS RESIDENTS WHO WORK IN
CUPERTINO. If affordable housing and rents were the primary determinants then
one would expect a reasonable number of highly paid engineering professionals
at Apple to live here, at least rent. The fact is only 10% do, the same as live
40 miles away in San Francisco8. Obviously, other factors play an
important role for where people hired in Cupertino opt to live.
Cupertino has long been a one-trick pony community
that’s main attraction is its excellent schools. Outside of the schools,
Cupertino has very few standout features and several significant deficits, most
importantly no downtown and the total lack of a social environment for the
singles and millennials that compose the majority of the Apple and new Silicon
Valley workforce. The significant disconnect between the demographics and
lifestyle needs of the workforce of Cupertino, its residents and city offerings
is certainly a major reason why Cupertino-based employees choose not to live
here. VALLCO STANDS AS THE LAST HOPE FOR CUPERTINO TO CORRECT THIS PROBLEM.
IDEALLY, THE REVITALIZATION OF VALLCO SHOULD BE CENTERED ON ATTRACTING THE
YOUNGER GENERATION OF SINGLES AND MILLENNIALS WHO WORK HERE WITH THE BEST AND
MOST ABUNDANT IN VALLEY OFFERING OF TRENDY AND FULLY ONLINE RESTAURANTS, COFFEE
SHOPS, NIGHT CLUBS, SOCIAL MEETING POINTS, RETAIL SHOPS AND ENTERTAINMENT WITH COORDINATED
URBAN HOUSING DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR AND EQUALLY ATTRACTIVE TO THE
TECHNOLOGY, ACTIVITIES AND LIFESTYLES OF THIS GENERATION…THE MOST COVETED PLACE
TO LIVE (AND WALK TO WORK) FOR YOUNG APPLE EMPLOYEES. A vibrant retail center
such as this would attract a healthy clientele weeklong and over longer hours,
attracting also older generations and families who prefer “happening places”
for entertainment and shopping as well. SAND HILL’S CURRENT PLAN TO REPLACE THE
BULK OF THE RETAIL SPACE AT VALLCO WITH HIGH DENSITY OFFICE SPACE TOTALLY
DEFEATS THIS POSSIBILITY AND CEMENTS, PERHAPS FOREVER, CUPERTINO’S INABILITY TO
REVITALIZE THE CENTER AND INCREASE THE NUMBER OF ITS RESIDENTS WHO WORK HERE.
RISKS THAT OFFICE BUILD WILL PREVENT REVITALIZATION
OF VALLCO
The risk factors against a successful revitalization
of Vallco through the proposed Hills at Vallco development are extensive,
obvious and underscore Sand Hill’s inexperience in building and managing such a
project. First, there is HIGH RISK THAT BOTH SHOPPERS AND RETAILERS WILL FIND
THE HILLS AT VALLCO UNATTRACTIVE DUE TO VASTLY REDUCED RETAIL EMPHASIS (NO
LONGER “DESTINATION RETAIL CENTER”), INCUMBERED ACCESS DUE TO HEAVY TRAFFIC
CONGESTION AND EXCESSIVE MIXED USE COMPETITION FOR PARKING. These risks are
underscored in the letter sent October 9, 2014 to Paul Brophy, Cupertino
Planning Commission, by Sears’ attorney Ivor Samson in which Sears analysis of
the Hills at Vallco proposal forecast lower Sears revenue due to these
factors9. Indeed, the proposed Hills retail space (discounting that
allocated for concert area, public areas and innovation center) is far less
than half of the current Vallco retail, and LESS THAN A QUARTER OF THE RETAIL
SPACE OF ITS REGIONAL COMPETITOR AT WESTFIELD VALLEY FAIR10,11,12.
THE HILLS AT VALLCO IS NOT A ‘REVITALIZATION OF VALLCO’ AS A RETAIL
CENTER BUT A TRANSFORMATION TO AN ENORMOUS OFFICE COMPLEX MATCHING IN OFFICE
SPACE THE ENTIRE RETAIL SPACE OF VALLEY FAIR, BOTH 2M SF.
Shared parking is a significant and well documented
risk for failure of mixed use developments and the risk at The Hills is
particularly onerous. THE 10,000 HILLS OF VALLCO OFFICE WORKER VEHICLES REQUIRE
MORE PARKING SPACES THAN THE ENTIRETY OF THE WESTFIELD VALLEY FAIR MALL,
INCLUDING THE NEW FIVE STORY PARKING STRUCTURE CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION. THERE
IS MAJOR RISK THAT COMPETITION FOR CONVENIENT, QUICKLY FOUND PARKING SPACE WILL
DETRIMENTALLY FRUSTRATE THE HILLS AT VALLCO SHOPPERS. Assuredly, many of the
retail parking spaces will be more convenient to office workers than the least
convenient multi-story office parking spaces, assuming they are separated and designated
as such. IT IS INCONCEIVABLE THAT RETAIL SHOPPERS WILL BE GATE-CHECKED OR GIVEN
A PASS TO ENTER ANY RETAIL SHOPPING PARKING AREA TO DISTINGUISH THEM FROM
OFFICE WORKERS WHO WILL TAKE THE MAJORITY OF HILLS PARKING SPOTS ON WEEKDAYS
PRIOR TO THE OPENING OF MOST RETAIL SHOPS. THERE IS SIGNIFICANT RISK,
THEREFORE, THAT WEEKDAY SHOPPERS WILL SUFFER CHRISTMAS-LIKE PARKING FRUSTRATION
THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AT THE HILLS BECAUSE OF THE CO-EXISTENCE WITH 2M SF OF OFFICE SPACE. THIS ASSUREDLY WILL
DECREASE RETAIL TRAFFIC AND POTENTIALLY DOOM THE RETAIL REVITALIZATION OF THE
SITE.
Sand Hill Properties has no experience in building
or maintaining the environmentally attractive 30 acre green toupee of The Hills
at Vallco. Park maintenance will be a very expensive, budget-draining proposition.
A small army of full-time gardeners, landscapers, arborists and other
specialists must be employed year around to maintain the nearly 23 football
fields of meadows, vineyards, orchards, organic gardens, children’s play areas,
walking and jogging trails promoted by Sand Hill. There is foreseeable risk
that crew cutbacks during any challenging economic time would convert this
centerpiece of the project to the area’s greatest elevated eyesore. There is
risk also that office businesses will find it unattractive or unbearable to
have office windows that receive no natural sunlight due to the covering. Like
the senior housing scenario at Main Street, THERE IS REASONABLE RISK THAT SAND
HILL PROPERTIES WILL DISCOVER A NECESSITY TO DROP THE SIGNATURE PARK-LIKE
COVERING OF THE HILLS EXPOSING THE UNATTRACTIVE 2M SF OF HIGH DENSITY OFFICE
AND ITS PARKING STRUCTURES THAT LIE BENEATH.
A final risk is funding. BANKS CONSIDER MIXED USE
DEVELOPMENTS RISKY for all of the reasons stated above. And THIS DEVELOPMENT IS
MORE COMPLEX AND RISKY THAN MOST MIXED USE DEVELOPMENTS. When retail, office
and residential units go vacant developers have trouble making loan payments.
THERE IS REASONABLE RISK THAT SAND HILL PROPERTIES WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SECURE
THE ENORMOUS LOAN REQUIRED TO CONSTRUCT THE HILLS AT VALLCO AS PROPOSED,
ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE MAJOR ISSUES INTRODUCED BY THE ENORMOUS OFFICE SPACE
COMPONENT, TRAFFIC, SHARED PARKING AND CONSEQUENT RETAIL SURVIVAL RISKS.
SAND HILL’S DECEPTIVE MARKETING AND
POLLING
Sand Hill Properties has undertaken a significant
and highly deceptive marketing campaign aimed at getting the bulk of Cupertino
residents to submit written postcard mail-in support for the project.
Undoubtedly, a statistic will be presented to the Council by Sand Hill showing
vast resident support when the critical vote for rezoning is taken. The problem
is that Sand Hill has not disclosed in its very seductive mailers, Hills at
Vallco website and town meetings the fact that the bulk of Vallco
revitalization, 2M sf, will be office space filled with 10,000 employees who
will commute to Cupertino every work day. Such disclosure, of course, would
kill the project by triggering a whole set of resident concerns including
marginalization of the new shopping center, abhorrent traffic, added housing requirement
and their collective impact on schools. Within my network, residents who’ve
discovered the omission are furious over the deception, especially after having
given their written support of the project. Any resident approval statistic
submitted by Sand Hill Properties should be dismissed by the Council.
WHY DEVELOPER’S PUSH OFFICE SPACE IN
CUPERTINO– CITY OF PALO ALTO MORATORIUM
Why are we seeing so many developer proposals to
rezone Cupertino retail to office space (Vallco, The Oaks)? CUPERTINO IS A MAJOR
DEVELOPER TARGET IN SANTA CLARA VALLEY FOR CONVERSION DUE TO THE WINDFALL
ANOMALY THAT OFFICE LEASE RATES HERE ARE NOW OVER 40% HIGHER THAN RETAIL LEASE
RATES AND 40% HIGHER THAN OFFICE, RETAIL AND RESIDENTIAL LEASE RATES IN GENERAL
IN SANTA CLARA VALLEY13. The current office lease rate in Cupertino
is $42.90 /sf/yr and skyrocketing at +24.3% annually, while the lease rate for
retail is $30.20/sf/yr and growing at less than half the office rate. The
county average lease rate is about $30 /sf/yr for both retail and office space.
The applicable square footage is
multiplied through multi-story office construction, making it far more
profitable than single street level retail. THIS BRINGS SAND HILL PROPERTIES’
MULTI-STORY OFFICE CENTRIC ‘REVITALIZATION’ DESIGN FOR VALLCO, ITS UNADDRESSED TRAFFIC
AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT PLANNING, ITS
OFFER TO BUILD A FREE-TO-THE-CITY SCHOOL AND INNOVATION CENTER IN EXCHANGE FOR REZONING,
IT’S EXPENSIVE AND DECEPTIVE MARKETING AND SURVEY CAMPAIGN INTO TOTAL FOCUS.
SAND HILL’S REVENUE FROM JUST OFFICE SPACE LEASING AT THE HILLS ALONE SHOULD
EXCEED $100M ANNUALLY, MUCH MORE THAN IF ‘REVITALIZED’ TO THE INTENDED SHOPPING
CENTER. The mission of a company is to be maximally profitable and THE HILLS AT
VALLCO IS EXACTLY WHAT ONE MIGHT EXPECT FROM A DEVELOPMENT COMPANY DOING THE
DESIGN.
Faced with similar growth and traffic issues and
loss of retail space, the City of Palo Alto passed an emergency ordinance in
May prohibiting the rezoning of ground-floor retail space into office. The move
was made to preserve the City’s “slow-growth residential philosophy” and “protect
its resident’s health, safety and welfare” 14. A similar philosophy
and action is desperately needed in Cupertino.
A BETTER APPROACH TO VALLCO
REVITALIZATION
In my opinion, the revitalization of Vallco should
include two critical elements: First, an innovative, game change shopping
destination sustainably competitive with Valley Fair, other regional successful
shopping centers and downtowns; and
second, integrated urban residential units
designed, structured, regulated and incented to house within easy walking
distance or inter-city shuttle the millennial and subsequent generations of
Apple and other Cupertino-based employees who work at Campus 2, other Apple and
Cupertino employee campuses. This design approach provides several most
important city benefits. First, it CREATES THE ‘REVITALIZED’ VALLCO THAT
RESIDENTS DESIRE. Second, it REDUCES COMMUTER TRAFFIC AND CARBON
FOOTPRINT within Cupertino and the Bay Area. Third, the residential units and
total lack of included office space will REDUCE ABAG, CEQA AND OTHER
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCY GROUP PRESSURE FOR MORE HOUSING AND ITS CONSEQENT EFFECT
ON SCHOOLS AND TRAFFIC. Fifth, regulated to omit children, the residential
element will have ZERO IMPACT ON SCHOOLS. Sixth, the high density residential
units will provide an ATTRACTIVE PROFIT COMPONENT FOR THE DEVELOPER AND REZONE
LEVERAGE FOR THE CITY TO MAKE SURE THE DESIGN IS DONE TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE CITY
AND ITS RESIDENTS.
The retail component should first include favorable numbers,
quality and types of shops, including anchor stores like Macy’s, and attractive
ambience to create a “shopping destination” sustainably competitive to its
primary competitor at Valley Fair. For the single and millennial generation,
the mix should also include trendy restaurants, best in area sports bars and night
clubs with evening bands and entertainment, theatres, sports stores, coffee
shops and mobile centric eateries that provide nutritional, good value meals
that can be ordered and paid ahead via mobile device by the young
“don’t-want-to-cook” residents for pick up on the walk home from work. A game
change addition would include complete mobile device connection with every
shopper, providing such things a locations of available parking, directions
from current location to specific shops, shop search for desired retail items,
shop information, sales and mobile coupons, mobile food and item ordering, show
times and ticket ordering… all available on a center-specific mobile ap that
fully enriches the shopping experience. The center should contain Apple’s
flagship store, due to its next door location to the Apple Spaceship HQ. The
mix of extensive retail and urban millennial housing provides a most attractive
business environment with far fewer risk factors for attracting and retaining
the best and most popular retailers.
The design of the residential component needs to be
prioritized on two basic elements: first, its unparalleled appeal to young
single and millennial Cupertino-based employees and, second, its full access
integration with the retail center. Features should include built-in and
upgradable mobile device home functionality, built-in secure Wi-Fi, wall-mounted flat panel TV, gas insert
fireplace, in-suite dining and entertainment areas and street level bicycle
lockers. Rents for Cupertino-based employees should be discounted and include
perks like free or discount gym membership within the center. Some units should
be furnished to attract new college hires.
In this scenario, the Apple Spaceship HQ and
adjacent revitalized Vallco center will highlight the innovation of Cupertino,
both in technology and green growth solutions.
I encourage the City of Cupertino to vote against
rezoning Vallco and thereby disapprove of the proposed mixed retail-office
Hills at Vallco design. The enormous office component is unnecessary, will only
benefit the developer, will force enormous detrimental traffic impact on the
city and neighboring communities and expose the City of Cupertino to potential CEQA
litigation over gross jobs-housing imbalance. THE COUNCIL SHOULD KEEP IN MIND
THAT WHILE AN AVERAGE CUPERTINO RESIDENT MAY BENEFIT FROM THE HILLS AT VALLCO
REVITALIZATION TWO OR THREE TIMES PER MONTH ITS OFFICE SPACE WILL SUBJECT EACH
RESIDENT TO DEBILITATING TRAFFIC EVERY DAY. An alternative retail-residential
mixed use approach as outlined above is far better for Vallco revitalization.
It offers far less risky development that lowers traffic congestion and the
City’s jobs-housing exposure. In short, the City should send Sand Hill
Properties back to the drawing board. When you complete reading this letter, I
would appreciate your replying to the email (e.g. received, thank you) to let
me know that it’s been received and read.
Best regards,
Kent Vincent
Cupertino
Cupertino
2 Ramp Management and Control Handbook, Federal Highway Administration, US Dept. of Transportation
3 Cupertino General Plan Amendment Market Report Feb. 2014
4 The Problems with the Hills at Vallco, San Jose Mercury News Oct. 3, 2015
5 Rolling Carbon: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Commuting in New York City. Transp. Alternative, Oct. 2008
6 San Jose’s general plan imperiled by greenhouse gas lawsuit. Silicon Valley Business Journal, March 24, 2015
7 San Jose’s Traffic-Intense General Plan Held Unlawful, California Clean Energy Committee, May 7, 2015
8 Jason Lungaard, State and Government Affairs, Apple
9 https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7RMc9DXGhUAUVhTQ1B1UU9tSVU/view?pli=1
10 The Hills at Vallco, Cupertino.org
11Vallco 1.3M sf. The Registry, Bay Area Real Estate, August 27, 2015
12 Wikipedia, Westfield Valley Fair
13 LoopNet, Sept. 2015
14 Palo Alto passes emergency law to protect ground floor retail, Silicon Valley Business Journal, May 12, 2015
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