To Cupertino City Council
Hello All,
I’ve spent months talking to residents about Vallco and they are not happy with any of the proposed plans and
are just waiting to see what finally lands on the table before they
react. I noticed that the developer’s latest letter to the public left
out the total number of housing units or amount of office at Vallco
which seems totally misleading. We are being sold pretty pictures of a
giant green roof that isn’t going to happen and not the giant office
park that hides underneath. We will be adding over 30% of our City’s population in less than a tenth of a square mile!
I
never heard any residents asking for the huge office allocation
or15-story towers looking down in their yards. The reduction to 6 acres
of parkland which Include a pedestrian bridge and storefront plaza
paving as parkland is ludicrous. That side of town only has 16% of the
necessary parkland. It’s just wrong! Who asked for any of that in the
Charettes? Reed Moulds went on about all of the precious housing that
they will build while ignoring that the number of office workers created
that will be almost double and thus inviting the state to step in and
take control of our City’s future planning. Is that really what you want
to see? And who’s going to occupy our city’s entire 30-year office
allocation? I hope it’s not more Apple like the 90% of it that we got at
Main Street. That’s certainly a poorly balanced portfolio. And the
glorious Performing Arts Center? Where are we going to get the money to
finish the completed interiors and fixtures of the City Hall or
Performing Arts Center? Flint Center has a hard enough time booking or
filling their center, and Mountain View and downtown San Jose have the
contracts for California Theatre, Children’s Theatre, The Opera,
Symphony and more. As someone who does attend these events, I rarely if
ever run into Cupertino residents and the tickets often start at $100. I
would advise that you research this whole PAC issue further and make
sure that it isn’t a setup for a failed venue the SHP will want to
convert into more office later.
At
Tuesdays Planning Meeting you mentioned that all the small expensive
units at Vallco would be great for young well-paid engineers, but might I
ask where they are going to go when they get married and have children?
Multiple studies show that 75% of those millennials eventually want to
have single family homes like they were raised in. So is Vallco just to
become a revolving door community? And 20% BMR is too low for the many
homeless families who have an important place in our community. If we
get a Costco I’d like to see the tax money be dog-eared for BMR housing
property.
The
insufficient and paid parking at Vallco has neighbors very alarmed that
people will park on their streets, not to mention that the traffic will
be so bad that they can’t get out of their neighborhoods onto Steven’s
Creek, Blaney. Tantau or Miller. It will also kill the retail which is
what SHP wants. I would not be at all be surprised to see residents
fight back as they see this traffic and parking overflow as an enormous
threat to their quality of life and their home values.
Where
are the future plans and sources of funding for the transportation
fixes? Good luck getting people out of thier cars. More magical
thinking. The rest of the valley is going to view us as a giant
roadblock in the middle of the already crowded 280. The plans are too
tall, too dense, and we can’t undue it when the traffic becomes
unbearable. Vallco will have 33% of our population in about a tenth of a
square mile. How about the 30% water cutbacks coming our way? What
about earthquake or fire evacuation? I was given the answer that the
buildings would be earthquake safe, but how are you going to get all of
those panicked people out of the area? Do you want to be responsible?
In
the Developer’s Agreement Sand Hill mentioned the imposition of
monetary penalties against the city if the community challenges their
project. As a resident I certainly don’t appreciate it. So accordingly
the developer can propose something unpalatable and then withdraw their
monetary public and school concessions if anyone objects whether it’s
residents, Sierra Club, a housing group, or the YIMBYs? How can you all
sit there and watch SHP bully you like that? You know that residents
will react. In just a few hours on Sunday
I had about 65 residents approach our table to ask what legal action
residents could take. They said that they gave up writing-in or coming
to Council Meetings because our Council doesn’t listen and the Charettes
were a joke. That’s horrible!
You
had better comb that DA for threats like the following before you sign
anything. They are treating all of you like three-year-old children.
“The
City is to automatically return about $10 million of the transportation
benefit funds to us if this Specific Plan, or any of the future
approvals required under it, meets with the same kind of litigation or
ballot box challenge we’ve seen in Cupertino the last few years.”
“$9 Million for CUSD: $9 Million for FHUSD unless the community takes steps to interfere with the approval process.” See PDF 4 of DA:
“Vallco
would pay $11 million to City to fund work in connection with the Wolfe
Road/I-280 and the Junipero Serra Bike/Pedestrian Trail. This would
decrease to $5.5 million if there is a challenge to the Project.
Vallco
would fund up to $1 Million for a 1-year pilot shuttle program and, if
successful $750,000 thereafter for 9 years, which would decrease if
there is a challenge to the Project.”
PLEASE
don’t be so hasty to move Vallco forward that you are losing the forest
through the trees, don’t let the developer bully you like you are
spineless cowards, and remember that the people who you are supposed to
represent will be stuck with this mess of an office park forever and it
will be YOUR legacy. I think of many of you as my friends, and I care
deeply about the future of this city.
Thank you for your consideration. Please enter this into the city records.
Most sincerely,
Danessa T
No comments:
Post a Comment