The Cupertino Courier

News

Local referendum drive sparks confrontation

By HUGH BIGGAR

Residents supporting two referendums that would overturn rezoning ordinances in the city had unexpected company the weekend of April 1.

The referendum backers set up tables in front of the Cupertino Library on April 1 and 2 to gather the signatures needed to get the referendums on the ballot.

Opponents of the referendums showed up to counter the signature gathering effort.

"They interfered and tried to tell people [not to sign]," resident Patty Chi said.

Those collecting the signatures, including Chi, allege the attempts to thwart the signature collection were people from Landmark Properties, which oversees Vallco Fashion Park. The individuals also reportedly handed out fliers. Landmark officials did not return phone calls for comment.

Long-struggling Vallco Fashion Park has been the center of a heated debate over its revival. This year Cupertino's city council approved rezoning of the property from commercial to commercial/residential. As a part of that process, the council also approved construction of 137 condominiums at Vallco with the hope that a mixed-use project would help jump-start slumping sales at the mall.

One of the referendums would overturn that decision.

The second referendum also centers on a mixed-use project approved for empty land at Stevens Creek Boulevard and Finch Avenue. That project allows for a park and 380 condominiums, 80 of them allocated for seniors.

Both of the council's decisions met vociferous objection from many in the community--a sentiment that in part sparked the referendum drive. If referendum supporters gather the necessary 3,000 signatures of registered Cupertino voters, the referendums would qualify for the November 2007 ballot as well as block construction on the condominiums until after that election.

"I wish they wouldn't do it," Mayor Richard Lowenthal said of the referendums. "[The Stevens Creek and Finch Avenue] development is an excellent project with a lot of benefits for the community; I would guess a lot of people would vote for it."

Lowenthal said he was unaware of the interruptions at the signature drive at the library and said it was not the way to go.

Chi agreed. "They tried to interrupt, and I told them not to do that," she said.