The Cupertino Courier

News

North Vallco master plan is under way

By HUGH BIGGAR

The North Vallco section of Cupertino is on its way to becoming the new North Vallco.

At the moment, the area, roughly bordered by Highway 280, Homestead Road, Wolfe Road and the Santa Clara city limits, is home to office parks, vacant land, retail and a few apartment buildings. Apple Computer also announced in April it would build a second campus in the area that would house about 3,500 workers.

All of this could be brought together in a more cohesive way once a North Vallco Master Plan is realized.

"The key is having residential input. It's very important to making this work properly," said Marty Miller, a Cupertino planning commissioner. "We want to build consensus with both residents and stakeholders," he said.

As a part of that process, Miller said he would like to see three community workshops with Cupertino's city council. Miller and city staff are also assembling a community task force of about 20 residents and other stakeholders to address North Vallco issues.

The issues could include increased traffic, the ripple affect on the rest of Cupertino and a toxic waste site in the North Vallco area.

Miller hopes the community workshops and task force will help bring the city together.

"In the past the city hasn't done much until a developer comes in and announces a project and it catches residents by surprise," Miller said, pointing to recent battles between city council and residents over development projects. "With North Vallco, by planning in advance, we can decide what would most benefit the city ahead of a specific development," he said. "That way we can agree on guidelines and bring the community back together."

The Planning Commission has also received $100,000 from the city to hire consulting firm Freedmen, Tung and Bottomley to help with the planning process.

Miller said he recently visited Hercules to tour its revitalized waterfront--a redevelopment achieved with much community involvement. Miller said he would like something similar to happen with North Vallco.

"But ultimately that's not for me to decide," he said. ""We'll have to see what comes through the community process."