Liang - Cupertino Gives Away $1.5 Billion Dollars Worth of Entitlement To Developer For Free?!

[Nextdoor post]
Cupertino City appears to have turned the provisional allocation of 2 million square feet of office space to Vallco Shopping District, rejected by the voters in Measure D, into direct entitlement, free and clear.

This is a very generous giveaway, which is worth almost $1.5 billion dollars (Measure D is valued at $3 billion dollars and 50% of the project is the 2 million sqft office space)

What did the city council negotiate in return for such a free giveaway? None. Any promised community benefits at all? NONE!

The City Council specifically said in the video of Dec. 4 2014 Council meeting that the 2 million sqft office allocation "will expire" in 3 years (by May 31, 2018) if there is not a Vallco Specific Plan approved by the Council.
However, apparently the 2 million sqft of office space has become entitlement WITHOUT any public input and WITHOUT any city council decision and WITHOUT any approval of Vallco Specific Plan.
The free giveaway just suddenly appeared in the Notice of Preparation for Vallco EIR.
http://www.cupertino.org/home/showdocument?id=19386

What's going on?!

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From: Liang C
Date: Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 5:58 PM
Subject: Vallco EIR NOP Provides Inaccurate Information on General Plan Allocation
To: City Council <citycouncil@cupertino.org>, David Brandt <davidb@cupertino.org>, Aarti Shrivastava <AartiS@cupertino.org>, Catarina Kidd <CatarinaK@cupertino.org>

Dear Mayor Paul and City Council Members,

The Vallco EIR Notice of Preparation provides inaccurate information the the General Plan Allocation for Vallco Shopping District.
http://www.cupertino.org/home/showdocument?id=19386

Please instruct the staff to correct the General Plan Allocation as it is stated in the 2040 General Plan.

On December 4, 2014, the City Council promised that the office and residential allocation at Vallco "will expire" by May 31, 2018.

It can be proved by the city council video. The citizens attending the meeting and watching the video later will hold you accountable to your promise.

The Planning Commission recommended 0 office space and 0 housing units specifically because they said "the community hasn't weighed in yet." Some Council members pushed to give Sand Hill a chance to start the design process, so the Council gave them "provisional allocation", not entitlement.

However, As stated in the Vallco EIR Notice of Preparation (quoted below), the office and residential allocation have become "entitled". When did the City Council make such a decision to alter the General Plan? How come the community was never notified?

As shown in General Plan Table LU-1, the General Plan development allocation for the Vallco Special Area is as follows: approximately 1.2 million square feet of commercial uses (minimum 600,000 square feet of retail uses with a maximum of 30 percent of entertainment uses, pursuant to General Plan Strategy LU-19.1.4), 2.0 million square feet of office uses, 339 hotel rooms, and 389 residential dwelling units.2 Pursuant to General Plan Strategy LU-1.2.1, development allocations may be transferred among Planning Areas provided no significant environmental impacts are identified beyond those already studied in the Cupertino General Plan Community Vision 2015-2040 Final EIR (SCH#2014032007).

General Plan Table LU-1 specifically included the condition approved by the City Council.

The Vallco EIR Notice of Preparation did not mention the fact that the Housing Element has two scenarios, specifically because the allocation of 389 units at Vallco is "provisional". The NOP should not attempt to alter the content of the General Plan and the Housing Element.

It is important to establish the baseline in the Vallco EIR Notice of Preparation and the EIR document that the site is still zoned P(CG) and P(Regional Shopping) as of today.
The office and residential allocation for Vallco is "provisional", pending on the approval of Vallco Specific Plan.

In the South Vallco Master Plan, approved by the City Council on September 19, 2008, designated Vallco area as "Regional Shopping".

Who made the decision to turn Vallco Shopping District into a housing development BEFORE the community process?

There is NO entitlement for 2 million square feet of office space at Vallco Shopping District.

There is NO entitlement for 389 housing units at Vallco Shopping District.

Not yet. Not until Vallco Specific Plan is approved.

There might be stronger community sentiment to accept some housing units at Vallco Shopping District, but it is predicated on the condition that the developer would be able to deliver a strong retail experience component, including shopping, dining, entertainment, fitness and more.

The retail experience component cannot be a side note.

Therefore, it is important to establish the baseline that the site is still zoned for Regional Shopping. That should be the starting point of any negotiation.

Please do not allow outside forces to alter Cupertino's General Plan.

Please do not start the Vallco process by altering the General Plan to give out entitlements without any community inputs.

Sincerely,

Liang C

Cupertino Resident