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Cupertino's city council delayed its decision on a use permit for the proposed Rosebowl condominium project along Stevens Creek Boulevard near Finch Avenue at its meeting Feb. 7. The council is tentatively scheduled to reconsider the permit at its March 27 meeting.
The council did approve rezoning of the Hewlett Packard site to residential and commercial, to allow for a 31/2-acre park and up to 399 condominiums. The exact number of condominiums to be allowed, though, was a topic of much discussion, and with the meeting growing long and tempers short, the council decided it needed more information.
The council said it was important to be cautious about making a decision on Cupertino's last large tract of undeveloped land.
"The land is very unique," said Mayor Richard Lowenthal. "It's the last green field of any size in Cupertino and our last chance to have anything of scale."
As a part of that issue, there was much discussion at the meeting on how to best use the property located between Tantau and Finch Avenue, also known as the Rosebowl.
Adam Bernfeld, a Hewlett Packard employee, spoke about the need for more affordable housing for young workers such as himself. At the moment, the median price for a single-family home in Cupertino hovers around $1 million.
Shiloh Ballard, a representative of the local nonprofit organization Leadership Silicon Valley, said only 18 percent of Santa Clara County residents can afford homes, compared to 48 percent nationally.
Additionally, many individuals at the meeting also addressed the growing need for housing for seniors.
Others questioned the wisdom of
converting potential industrial or office park space into more residences during a time when Cupertino is considering several residential and commercial-residential projects.
"I am shocked Hewlett Packard is going to sell this land and convert it to housing," Councilwoman Kris Wang said. "It is supposed to be an industrial site and provide sales tax. There needs to be more economic resources to support the city."
Wang led a heated exchange among the council members at the end of a four-hour discussion on the issue. Ultimately, council members agreed to disagree for now on how much housing to include in the project--which also affects enrollment on nearby schools. The council and the applicant, Toll Brothers, agreed to rehear the issue March 27. In the meantime, the council asked the city's planning commission and parks and recreation department to prepare independent reports on the proposed development by March 21.
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