Liang - Diversity as a Guiding Principle? How about Vibrant Retail? (to Opticos Team)

From: Liang- C
Date: Wed, Mar 14, 2018 at 9:25 PM
Subject: Diversity as a Guiding Principle? How about Vibrant Retail?
To: Daniel Parolek <daniel.parolek@opticosdesign.com>, Bill Lennertz <blennertz@gmail.com>, Mitali Ganguly <mitali.ganguly@opticosdesign.com>
Cc: Catarina Kidd <CatarinaK@cupertino.org>, Piu Ghosh <PiuG@cupertino.org>

Guiding Principle #3 The Vallco Project will "celebrate Diversity with a Capital D" by

   3.1 Including and representing ethnic diversity of the community in the public spaces, architecture and programming

   3.2 Assuring that the project supports diversity - ethnic, income, age - in every way possible.

Diversity is certainly important in workplace and other places. Diversity in views, ethnicity, income, age etc makes us a stronger society. I am all for diversity. However, as one of the 6 Guiding Principles of designing a development project? It seems to be out of place. Perhaps, it could be included as a sub-item under "Program" maybe.

Dan said many people mentioned diversity in the kickoff meeting and interviews. So, I looked it up. Here is all the "diversity" I found:

From Feb. 6 group interviews: (In this 16 page document, "diversity" is mentioned only twice.)
"Need diversity of companies in town. What if something happens to Apple?"

"Future vision/ desired end result - Diversity with capital D - ethnic, income,
architecture, ages, trees, everything. Health - trees, active lifestyle, culture (all
lead to health). Livability and aging in place = walkable communities."

From the Feb. 5 kickoff meeting: (In this 40 page document, "diversity" is mentioned twice.)
"People: the place you think of when you think of Cupertino. Young/old, families,
professionals, diversity, local workers" (1 out of 8 in Table 1 for the question "What is your vision for the future of the Vallco site?")

"Racial and economic diversity" (1 out of 20 in Table 2 for the question "What is your vision for the future of the Vallco site?")

Diversity is not mentioned in the other 13 out of 15 tables.

Please. Tell me. Why is Diversity such an important item?

On the other hand, the most important component in the project is buried inside other items: Vibrant retail component.

That's the fundamental feature of this project: "This new Vallco Shopping District will become a destination for shopping, dining and entertainment in the Santa Clara Valley", according to the General Plan.

If your design team cannot follow the General Plan or cannot sense the strong community sentiment towards a vibrant and substantial retail components, you might have been blind and deaf.

Just take a look at the 40-50 flyers sent by Sand Hill to advertise their projects. They packaged an office park with only 16% of retail space as a place for shopping, dining and entertainment because they know exactly people want that.

At the very least, follow the General Plan. I have collected some texts related to Vallco from the General Plan here for your reference:
http://bettercupertino.blogspot.com/2018/03/vallco-as-destination-for-shopping.html

Vallco Shopping District Special Area: The City envisions a complete redevelopment of the existing Vallco Fashion Mall into a vibrant mixed-use “town center” that is a focal point for regional visitors and the community. This new Vallco Shopping District will become a destination for shopping, dining and entertainment in the Santa Clara Valley. (Chapter 3 Land Use, Cupertino General Plan 2014-2020)

Policies and Standards in the Cupertino's General Plan 2014-2020 for Vallco Shopping District:

Land use and economics: The City will look to diversify the City’s tax base, support and retain existing businesses, increase the vitality of aging commercial centers with redevelopment, seek to diversify shopping opportunities so that the community has the opportunity to satisfy their shopping needs within Cupertino.

Strategy LU-9.1.3: Economic Development and Business. Retention. Encourage new businesses and retain existing businesses that provide local shopping and services, add to municipal revenues, contribute to economic vitality and enhance the City’s physical environment.

Vallco Shopping District Special Area: 

The City envisions a complete redevelopment of the existing Vallco Fashion Mall into a vibrant mixed-use “town center” that is a focal point for regional visitors and the community. This new Vallco Shopping District will become a destination for shopping, dining and entertainment in the Santa Clara Valley.

GOAL LU-19 CREATE A DISTINCT AND MEMORABLE MIXED-USE “TOWN CENTER” THAT IS A REGIONAL DESTINATION AND A FOCAL POINT FOR THE COMMUNITY

On Wed, Mar 14, 2018 at 9:01 PM, Liang C wrote:

Vallco Shopping District Specific Plan needs to comply with the General Plan.

In the About or Site Summary page, you did not list at all the General Plan requirements for the project.

How could people participate in the process if they don't know the requirements in the General Plan for this project?

How could people provide informed comments if the current allocation and land uses are not listed?

The NOP provides some information, but they are not visibly linked either.

However, the NOP only provides the skeleton of information.

Please provide sufficient information so that Cupertino residents could provide informed comments.

Thanks.

Liang