At issue is a three-story parking building in lot C on the east side of the De Anza campus. The school completed the structure in early January with funding provided by Measure E, which voters passed in 1999 to help De Anza with renovation and construction projects. While many of the projects sponsored by the measure have been successes, such as the school's new science complex, the parking structure has proved polarizing.

In particular, residents near the college claim the school has misled them about the size and scope of the parking building. The residents say De Anza officials originally told them the building would be one story and lighting would be dimmed by 9 p.m. Instead, the building is three stories in height and the neighbors say the lights stay on until midnight. They are also upset about the loss of mature trees that formerly buffered Stelling Road from De Anza. They are equally unsettled about tennis courts now being built next to the building.

"I think they are not accommodating their neighbors," said Stelling Road resident Doris Yeh.

"It's quite an eyeful on Stelling Road," said Kendra McIntyre, who has lived on Stelling for nine years.

De Anza officials say they have worked with the school's neighbors to lessen the impact of the parking structure and a surface lot surrounding the building. Donna Jones-Dulin, De Anza's director of college services, said she met monthly with neighbors over the last few years to mitigate the project's effects. "We think it is a nice building," she said of the adobe-style structure that blends with De Anza's overall architectural theme. "We made the side facing the neighbors shorter; we tried to do that to minimize the side facing [our] neighbors."

Even so, neighbors remain upset. They say De Anza has misinformed them.

"It is bright until midnight," said Yeh of glare from the parking building into her home.

Residents began meeting with De Anza officials in 2003 to prevent that from happening.

"They did put time in meeting with us, but they either forgot or didn't do what they said," said Yeh. "There have been some inconsistencies."

"What [De Anza] said and does are two different things," said McIntyre. "They have not been upfront with the community."

Jones-Dulin said there may have been miscommunications. The loss of the trees and change in building height were made after an initial environmental impact report, she said. De Anza reportedly informed residents on Stelling Road of the changes via letter, Jones-Dulin also added that she doesn't recall promising the lights would be turned off by 9 p.m.

"We can never turn off the lights completely," she said. "It's a safety hazard." She also explained that seedling trees have been planted to compensate for the loss of the mature trees.

McIntyre, Yeh and other neighbors on Stelling Road hope the situation--particularly lights operating until late at night--will not be repeated with the new tennis courts, which are scheduled for completion by the start of the 2005 fall quarter.

The parking structure should have a name by then. The naming contest is in part a gesture of gratitude by De Anza to the community for the passage of Measure E. The school encourages Cupertino residents to participate by sending suggestions to De Anza by April 22. Two committees will review the submissions to decide on a winner. "The names should be interesting and reflect positively on De Anza," said Jones-Dulin.